The rules that work everywhere
- Square image — every platform crops to a square or a circle.
- Circle-safe framing: head and shoulders centred, with space around the head, because the corners get cut off.
- At least 400 × 400 px; 800–1000 px stays sharp on high-resolution screens.
- Recognisable at tiny sizes: in chat lists the photo is often only 32–40 px wide, so the face should fill a good part of it.
A background that does not distract
A busy room or a holiday scene turns into noise at small sizes. In Change background place yourself on a soft colour or gradient — the same one on every platform creates a recognisable personal brand.
Step by step
- Take a photo facing a window, from about 1.5 m away at eye level.
- Replace the background in Change background and choose size 1:1.
- Fine-tune the framing with Crop image if needed.
- Download one JPG and upload it everywhere.
Frequently asked questions
Should I use the same photo on LinkedIn and WhatsApp?
For work tools (LinkedIn, Teams, Slack, Gmail) one consistent photo is ideal. Private messengers are up to you.
Why does my photo look blurry in Teams or Zoom?
Usually because the uploaded image was small or heavily compressed. Upload a square photo of at least 400 px.