Carousel Sizes and Slide Limits on Every Platform

Social media carousel dimensions at a glance

Every platform calls the format something different, and each counts slides its own way. Click a platform for its full table: what it’s called, the file limit, how the post shows, and what to pick in aiCarousels.

Carousels on every platform

Pixels are the size to export at; larger is fine where the file limit allows.

LinkedIn: a carousel is a PDF document

On LinkedIn you post a carousel as a document, and each page becomes a slide. The exact pixels, and a tool that turns your slides into a PDF at the right size, are on the LinkedIn carousel size checker. The steps are in how to post a carousel on LinkedIn, and every LinkedIn guide is in LinkedIn guides.

LinkedIn document post

Several photos in one post show as a grid, not a carousel.

Instagram: 20 slides, all in the first slide’s shape

An Instagram carousel is one post with several photos or videos. To see which of your slides Instagram will crop and resize them all in one go, use the Instagram carousel size checker. How to post one is in how to make a carousel on Instagram; more in Instagram guides.

Instagram carousel

TikTok: photo mode fills a 9:16 screen

TikTok’s carousel is a photo post, made in the phone app. To see which slides will get black bars and resize them to fill the screen, use the TikTok carousel size checker. The steps are in how to make a carousel on TikTok; more in TikTok guides.

TikTok photo mode

The file limits are what TikTok sets for apps that post for you (media transfer guide); the TikTok app may differ. Keep words clear of the buttons: the TikTok safe zone checker shows where they land.

Facebook: photo posts and carousel ads

On Facebook, “carousel” means a post with several photos, or a carousel ad that swipes in the feed. Which one you want, and how to post each, is in how to post a carousel on Facebook.

Facebook multi-photo post and carousel ad

Ads Manager shows the current limits as you build the ad.

Threads: up to 20 photos or videos

A Threads carousel is a post with two or more pictures, shown under your text. The steps from the app and the web are in how to post a carousel on Threads.

Threads carousel

The file limits are from the Threads API, for apps that post on your behalf.

X: four pictures per post

X has no carousel format. Its carousel is a post with up to four pictures, side by side. A longer carousel goes out as several posts of four. Photos, GIFs and videos can share a post, as long as there are no more than four in all. Before you post, the free X post preview shows how each picture is cropped.

X post with photos

Pinterest: carousel Pins, made on a computer

A carousel Pin holds two to five pictures. Pinterest only lets you build one on a computer, in Ads Manager or the bulk editor, but you don’t have to pay: you can publish it as an ordinary, organic Pin. Made your slides square? The free image resizer for every platform turns each one into a 2:3 Pin, 1000 × 1500, cropped or fitted whole.

Pinterest carousel Pin

Bluesky: four images, 2 MB each

Like X, Bluesky takes up to four pictures in a post. The limit to watch is the file size: each picture must be under 2,000,000 bytes, about 2 MB.

Bluesky post with images

The limits come from Bluesky’s own protocol definition, so every Bluesky app has them. How the app lays out four portrait slides we haven’t tested yet.

YouTube: image posts of up to 10 pictures

YouTube channels can share posts with pictures in the Posts tab. It’s a natural place for a carousel made from one of your videos: see how to turn a YouTube video into a carousel.

YouTube image post

Who can post depends on the channel: YouTube’s page links to its own eligibility rules.

Is there one carousel size that works everywhere?

Nearly. A 4:5 slide at 1080 × 1350 posts on LinkedIn, Instagram, Facebook and Threads without crops or bars, and X shows a single 4:5 picture in full. Three platforms want something else: TikTok fills the screen only at 9:16, Pinterest takes 2:3 or square, and YouTube suggests square.

So make your carousel at 4:5 first, then make a 9:16 copy for TikTok and a square one for YouTube or Pinterest. Resizing a finished design by hand means moving every text box; in aiCarousels the slides re-flow to the new size for you (see below).

What sizes does aiCarousels export?

In aiCarousels you choose where you’ll post with the platform button (for example LinkedIn · 4:5), and the size, the slide limit and the caption limit follow it. Click a platform and a size below to see each one; the recommended size has a dot. LinkedIn also takes 16:9 slides, for presentations you download as a PDF or PowerPoint.

• Files: LinkedIn gets one PDF to post as a document; Instagram, TikTok, X and Threads get one PNG per slide, in a ZIP on a computer. More on downloading a PDF or PNGs.
• Pixels: every download is HD, twice the pixels: 2,160 px wide for a standard slide, with nothing to switch on. That’s the same on every plan.
• Another app: open Preview and pick that app’s tab: the Download button becomes, for example, Switch to Instagram and download, and the carousel is resized to that app’s recommended size. The Ready to post? check also offers the recommended size if you’re on another one. See Ready to post.
• Too many slides: before a download, the app tells you when you have more slides than an app shows per post, for example “X shows up to 4 per post”, so you can post them in groups.
• Templates: the carousel templates are made for LinkedIn, Instagram, TikTok and X, and come out in their platform’s size.

Downloads come with a free account (with a small mark), Pro and Team.

Five rules for carousel slides on any platform

1. One shape for every slide. On Instagram the first slide sets the shape of the whole post and the rest are cropped to it. On LinkedIn, pages of another shape show smaller inside the first page’s frame. Still cropped or blurry on Instagram? Here is why Instagram crops or blurs slides, and how to fix it.
2. At least 1080 px wide. Smaller pictures get stretched and look soft. On LinkedIn, a picture that fills the page needs about 1080 px across.
3. Words clear of the edges. TikTok puts its buttons on the right and the caption at the bottom, Instagram a counter at the top right, and LinkedIn the document title across the top on phones. The safe zone checkers for TikTok, Instagram and LinkedIn show where.
4. Text big enough for a phone. On a 1080 px wide slide, text under about 24 px is hard to read, and body text reads best at about 50 px. A 1080 × 1920 TikTok slide is just as wide, so the same sizes apply. In aiCarousels, Smart text fit sizes the text on each slide so it fits. Fonts and contrast are in carousel fonts and text size.
5. Within the count and the file limit. Count your slides against the app’s limit, and keep each file under its cap: 2 MB on Bluesky, 5 MB on X, 100 MB for a LinkedIn PDF.

Where the app has an alt text field (Bluesky has one per picture), describe what each slide says. Screen readers can’t read the words inside a picture.

What changed, and when

Carousel limits move. These are the changes we could date from a report or the platform itself. We check every table above against the platform’s own page and change the date when we do.

Carousel limits: the changes