How to make a profile picture
Upload a photo of yourself and choose a platform: LinkedIn at 400×400 px, Instagram at 320×320 px, WhatsApp at 500×500 px or X at 400×400 px. The preview crops a centred square and shows it inside a circle, because most apps display profile pictures as circles. Use Zoom to bring your face closer, then download the square JPG.
The downloaded file is a square, not a circle. The apps apply the round mask themselves, so keep your face and hair inside the circle you see in the preview and nothing important will be cut off.
Tips for a good profile photo
Profile pictures are viewed very small, often next to a name in a list. Fill most of the frame with your head and shoulders, look toward the camera, and use soft light on your face. A plain or simple background keeps attention on you. For LinkedIn and other professional profiles, a clear, recent photo in everyday work clothing usually works better than a heavily styled one.
To replace a busy background, choose white, light grey, light blue or any custom colour. Picking a colour turns on Replace the background behind me, and AI separates you from the original scene. A consistent colour across your accounts makes you easier to recognise.
Profile photo sizes and quality
The presets use sizes that display cleanly on each platform. Platforms adjust their recommended dimensions over time and usually accept larger images too, scaling them down. If you want more detail for a high-resolution display, start from a sharp original and zoom less, so the crop keeps more of the source pixels before resizing.