Your GitHub profile picture and README banner are the first things visitors see when they land on your profile. Getting the sizes right means sharp, professional-looking images instead of blurry thumbnails or awkwardly cropped banners. Here's every dimension you need.
GitHub profile picture (avatar) size
GitHub displays profile avatars at multiple sizes across the platform:
- 460 × 460 px — maximum stored size (GitHub scales down from this).
- 230 × 230 px — displayed on your profile page.
- 64 × 64 px — shown next to commits and comments.
- 20 × 20 px — the tiny icon beside your username in the top navigation.
Upload your avatar at 500 × 500 px (square) or larger. GitHub crops it to a circle in most views, so keep faces, logos, or key visual elements centered. Avoid placing text near the edges — it will be hidden. PNG is recommended for logos; JPEG works well for photos.
GitHub README header banner size
Profile README files (username/username repo) can include a header image. GitHub renders README content at a maximum width of 888 px on the profile page. For a crisp banner on retina screens, upload at 1776 × 592 px (2× width at the same 3:1 ratio) and let CSS scale it down, or use 1200 × 400 px as a practical starting point.
In your README, reference the image with:
GitHub will constrain it to the column width automatically.
Repository social preview card
When you share a GitHub repository link on social media or in a Slack message, GitHub displays a preview card. You can set a custom Open Graph image under Settings → Social Preview in your repository.
GitHub's recommended size for the social preview is 1280 × 640 px. Use PNG or JPEG; PNG is preferred for images with text overlays, logos, or sharp lines. The card is cropped to a 2:1 ratio, so keep all important content in the center area and avoid placing key text within 50 px of any edge.
Organization logo and company profile
GitHub organization logos follow the same rules as personal avatars: upload square images, minimum 200 × 200 px, ideally 500 × 500 px or larger. Organization profile READMEs (in the .github repo) also display at the same 888 px width as personal profile READMEs.
Contribution graph and pinned repository thumbnails
Pinned repositories on your profile show a small thumbnail if the repo has a social preview image. This thumbnail is displayed at approximately 400 × 200 px — the same 2:1 social preview image, scaled down. A clean, high-contrast image with large text reads well even at this small size.
Preparing images for GitHub
GitHub has a maximum file upload size of 10 MB for images attached via the web UI (drag-and-drop into issues or README editor). For banner images stored in your repository, keep file sizes under 1 MB to avoid slowing down repository clones.
Use our Image Resizer to hit the exact dimensions, and our Image Compressor to reduce file size before committing images to a repository. Converting PNG logos to WebP cuts size by 30–50% with no visible difference.
Quick reference table
- Profile avatar: 500 × 500 px (displayed as circle)
- README header banner: 1200 × 400 px (or 1776 × 592 px for retina)
- Repository social preview: 1280 × 640 px
- Organization logo: 500 × 500 px
- Pinned repo thumbnail: uses social preview at ~400 × 200 px display