TikTok slideshow size: the official answer and a safe default

What size is a TikTok slideshow?

There is no official size. As of November 2026 TikTok's Creator Academy photo-posting article (opens in a new tab) advises cropping all photos to the same ratio for a cleaner look and gives no pixel size or aspect ratio for photo posts.

The size most guides use is 1080 by 1920 pixels (9:16, full-screen portrait). Community guidance on tiktok.com also cites 1080 by 1350 (4:5) for carousels, and reports that the caption overlay can crop 9:16 slides. Those numbers are unofficial and the sources are low confidence. One tool vendor, PostNitro, describes 1080 by 1920 photo carousels (opens in a new tab) for TikTok on its own product page, which suggests that is a working convention, not a TikTok requirement.

Pick one ratio, use it for every slide, and test it once.

Which size-related numbers are official?

Several numbers float around that look like specs. Most are real, but they belong to something else.

Two cautions follow from the table. First, the API limits are written for developers publishing through TikTok's Content Posting API, and the pages we read do not state what the app accepts when you upload from your phone. Second, third-party tools disagree about PNG: some say the API accepts it and others say it is rejected, while TikTok's guide lists only WebP and JPEG. Do not assume either.

Why is 1080 by 1920 the usual default?

It fills a portrait phone screen and it matches the usual meaning of "1080p", where 1080 is the shorter side. That reading would make 1080 by 1920 fit TikTok's "Maximum 1080p" figure, but the guide does not define the term, so treat this as an interpretation and not as a confirmed limit.

A larger canvas has no confirmed benefit. We found no official statement on how TikTok resizes or compresses uploaded photos, so we cannot tell you that a 2160 by 3840 slide looks better than a 1080 by 1920 one.

What happens with other ratios?

We found no TikTok description of how it displays different ratios. The table shows only geometry: the height of each ratio at 1080 pixels wide, compared with a 1920 pixel tall portrait screen. What the app does with the leftover space is for you to test.

Three practical points:

• Full-screen 9:16 gives the most room for the picture, but the caption and buttons sit on top of the lower part. That overlap is why some community guides prefer 4:5. The safe zone page covers where text is likely to be covered.
• Shorter ratios leave unused space. Whether TikTok fills it with bars, a blurred background or something else is unconfirmed, so check it in the app.
• Mixed ratios in one post are the thing the Creator Academy advises against. It does not describe the result, so crop first.

For wider design rules such as text size and contrast, see the slideshow design guide.

How do you test a size in ten minutes?

A short private test beats any guide, including this one.

1. Make five slides at 1080 by 1920. Draw a thin grid every 100 pixels, label the lines with their pixel numbers and put a large number on each slide.
2. Make a second set at 1080 by 1350 and a third at 1080 by 1080 if you want to compare.
3. In the TikTok app, tap Add Post (+), then Photo, then Upload, and select one set. The Creator Academy describes this flow and says the editor lets you change privacy.
4. Set the post to the most restrictive privacy option before you publish.
5. Open it on at least two phones, take screenshots and note which grid lines the interface covers or crops.
6. Repeat once with a very long caption, because the covered area may change with caption length.
7. Write down the phone models, the app version and the date. Delete the test posts.

Re-run it every few months, since the interface can change without a notice.

What file format should you export?

Photographs work as high-quality JPG, and flat graphics with sharp text edges work as PNG. These are our defaults. The 20 MB limit is far above what a 1080 by 1920 slide needs. If you publish through a scheduler that uses the API, stay with JPEG, which is the format TikTok's guide lists. Fyslide exports PNG or JPG slides with the caption and a zip to a folder of your choice, and you upload them yourself. The export guide has the details.

If a finished slideshow looks soft or cropped in the app, the blurry slideshow page lists the usual causes.

What if you also post on Instagram?

Instagram's Help Center says it uploads photos at up to 1,080 px wide (opens in a new tab), keeps the original resolution for ratios between 1.91:1 and 3:4, and crops unsupported ratios to a supported one. A 9:16 slide is narrower than 3:4, so expect a crop. Plan a center band that works on both, as explained in the Instagram carousel size page.