Reddit Image Sizes 2026: Community Icons, Banners, and Post Images

Why Reddit Image Sizing Is Different from Other Platforms

Reddit presents a unique challenge because it runs on two visually distinct layouts at once — the modern redesigned interface and the legacy "old Reddit" theme that a meaningful share of long-time users still browse with. A community banner or icon that looks perfect on the new design can be invisible or misplaced on old Reddit, since the legacy theme doesn't render banners at all and displays icons in a completely different position. Moderators and marketers who only test in one layout routinely ship community branding that a large chunk of their audience never actually sees correctly.

Post images have their own quirk: Reddit does not force a fixed crop ratio the way Instagram or LinkedIn do. Instead, the feed dynamically scales your image to fit a card, which means an image that isn't sized thoughtfully can appear tiny, oddly cropped, or surrounded by excess whitespace depending on the viewer's device.

Subreddit Community Icon Size

The community icon is the small circular image representing a subreddit next to its name in search results, the sidebar, and post headers across the redesigned interface.

• Recommended upload size: 256 × 256 px
• Aspect ratio: 1:1 (square)
• Display shape: Circle
• Accepted formats: PNG, JPG
• Maximum file size: 500 KB

Because the icon is cropped to a circle and shown at a small size throughout the app, keep the subject centered within the middle 80% of the canvas. Simple, high-contrast logos or mascots are far more recognizable at icon size than detailed illustrations.

Subreddit Banner Size

The banner is the wide header image displayed at the top of a subreddit on the redesigned interface. Reddit renders two separate banner variants depending on viewport width, and providing both is the only way to guarantee your design looks correct everywhere.

• Desktop banner: 1920 × 384 px
• Mobile / narrow viewport banner: 1920 × 256 px
• Accepted formats: PNG, JPG
• Maximum file size: 10 MB
• Not visible on: Old Reddit (legacy theme) — the banner only renders on the redesigned layout and official mobile apps

Since the desktop and mobile banners use the same width but different heights, design your source artwork at 1920 × 384 px with the most important visual elements — logo, key art, community name — centered in the middle 1920 × 256 px region. That way the same composition works cleanly whether Reddit crops it to the taller desktop version or the shorter mobile strip.

Reddit Post Image Size

Unlike community branding, individual post images aren't cropped to a fixed aspect ratio. Reddit scales the image to fit the feed card while preserving its original proportions, but extreme aspect ratios still cause practical display problems.

• Recommended size: 1200 × 900 px (4:3) or 1080 × 1080 px (1:1)
• Minimum width: 320 px (images narrower than this render as a small, hard-to-tap thumbnail)
• Ideal aspect ratio range: 4:5 to 4:3 for the most reliable feed display across devices
• Maximum file size: 20 MB for images, 1 GB for video posts
• Accepted formats: JPG, PNG, GIF (static and animated)

Very tall (portrait) or very wide (panoramic) images get heavily truncated in feed previews, forcing users to click through to see the full image. If the composition works as a screenshot, meme, or infographic, staying within the 4:5–4:3 range keeps the entire image visible directly in the feed, which meaningfully increases engagement compared to images that require a click to view fully.

Reddit Profile Avatar and Snoo Customization

A user's profile picture on Reddit is either an uploaded image or a customized "Snoo" avatar (Reddit's mascot character, editable through Reddit's built-in avatar builder).

• Recommended upload size: 256 × 256 px
• Aspect ratio: 1:1 (square)
• Display shape: Circle
• Accepted formats: PNG, JPG

Custom Snoo avatars are built entirely within Reddit's avatar editor and don't require an external image upload. For brand or business accounts, an uploaded square logo at 256 × 256 px is the more professional choice over a customized Snoo character.

Old Reddit vs. Redesigned Reddit: What Actually Renders

A significant and often-overlooked detail: subreddit banners, custom post flair styling, and several redesign-only visual elements simply do not appear on old Reddit (accessible at old.reddit.com), which remains the default view for many power users, moderators, and third-party apps. On old Reddit, only the small community icon renders, positioned next to the subreddit title in the sidebar.

If your community's audience skews toward long-time Reddit users, don't rely on banner artwork alone to communicate branding or rules — assume a meaningful percentage of visitors will never see it, and put essential information in the sidebar text widgets instead, which render on both layouts.

Reddit Image Size Quick Reference

• Community icon: 256 × 256 px, circle crop, max 500 KB
• Desktop banner: 1920 × 384 px, redesign only
• Mobile banner: 1920 × 256 px, redesign only
• Post image: 1200 × 900 px (4:3) or 1080 × 1080 px (1:1), max 20 MB
• Profile avatar: 256 × 256 px, circle crop
• Old Reddit renders: community icon only — no banners