Quick answer
Choose a photo, zoom out a little, then adjust the circle and drag your subject into place. Download PNG for transparent corners or JPG for a white background. Use the result as a profile picture, community icon, badge, or round logo.
How to crop an image into a circle
Follow these four steps in the tool above. The screenshots use the built-in red panda sample; your own photo uses the same controls.
Add a clear original image
Choose, drop, or paste a JPG, PNG, WebP, HEIC/HEIF, AVIF, or BMP file up to 10 MB. Use the original photo when you can: a screenshot of a small avatar or a picture saved from a chat may already have lost detail. Your image stays on your device.
Zoom out first, then adjust the circle
If you have zoomed in, reduce Image zoom a little before tightening Crop circle size, then drag the image to position the subject. Doing it in the opposite order can leave hair, ears, or glasses outside the frame. At minimum zoom, try a larger circle to include more of the image; a smaller circle crops more away.
Choose Original, a preset, or a custom size
Choose Original to keep the pixels available inside your crop, without resizing that area. Choose 256 × 256 for a small directory or chat icon, or 512 × 512 as a starting point for a profile picture when the destination gives no size requirement.
Choose Custom, from 16 to 4096 pixels per side, when a site or design needs an exact size. These are this tool’s export options, not universal platform requirements: check the platform table below, and remember that enlarging a small crop cannot add missing detail.
Pick the format, download, and check it where you will use it
Choose PNG for transparent corners, JPG for white corners, or WebP if your destination accepts it and preserves transparency. Download the image and check the destination preview before saving your new avatar: an app may crop it again, flatten transparency, or resize it.
PNG or JPG: which format for a round image?
PNG keeps the corners transparent; JPG cannot store transparency, so this tool fills them with white. Use PNG for a round logo on a colored website, presentation, or card. Use JPG when the destination requires it and a white background fits your design.
Transparent corners do not mean background removal. The original background inside the circle stays in the image; only the area outside the circle is cleared. To remove a wall or scenery behind a face, use a background-removal tool before cropping.
If a downloaded PNG still shows a white block in the destination, the app may not support or preserve transparency. A white viewer background alone does not prove transparency is missing: check the PNG against a colored background first.
The right size for a round profile picture
Use the destination’s published requirements when available. Upload dimensions and display dimensions are different: a small on-screen avatar does not mean you should upload a tiny file. The table labels official guidance, third-party suggestions, and our own starting points separately.
| Platform | Suggested upload size and source | Usual display shape | Common problem |
|---|---|---|---|
| 640 × 640 px (third-party guidance: Lime Connect [1]; not a verified personal-account requirement) | Circle in chats; the opened photo may differ | The app may resize the upload. A larger export cannot repair an already compressed source. | |
| 320 × 320 px (third-party recommendation: Buffer [2]) | Circle for the profile avatar | Hair or text near the corners disappears under the circular mask. | |
| Discord | 512 × 512 px (third-party recommendation: On Air Kit [3]) | Circle, sometimes with an avatar decoration | A decoration can overlap the outer edge; this cropper cannot preserve an animated avatar. |
| At least 400 × 400 px (official upload specification: LinkedIn Help [4]) | Circle for a personal profile; company logos can differ | A tight headshot can lose hair or glasses, especially with a profile frame. | |
| 320 × 320 px (third-party recommendation: Buffer [2]) | Circle in profile thumbnails; the photo viewer may differ | The thumbnail crops the corners even when the full photo looks fine. | |
| X | 400 × 400 px (official recommendation: X Help [5]) | Circle for standard personal avatars; other account types can differ | Small text becomes hard to read, and important details near the corners may be hidden. |
| YouTube | 800 × 800 px (third-party recommendation: Buffer [2]); 98 × 98 px is a render size (official: YouTube Help [6]) | Circle for the channel avatar | Using the small render size as your upload target leaves little detail for larger views. |
| Gravatar | Original crop detail (our starting point, not an official pixel target); image requests support up to 2048 × 2048 px (official API docs [7]) | Square image; the receiving site chooses its mask | A site can request a small version or apply its own circular crop. |
How these numbers were chosen
We have not verified an official avatar pixel target for personal WhatsApp accounts or Discord in the help pages reviewed. Their figures above come from named third-party guides, not our own upload tests; they are starting points, not guarantees of sharpness or acceptance.
To compare uploads yourself, start with the same clear 1600 × 1600 source and keep the crop fixed. Export 128, 256, 512, 640, 1024, and 1080 pixels per side, then compare the destination’s avatar preview and enlarged view on the same device. These are comparison settings, not platform specifications; the screenshots below show local tool behavior, not platform upload results.
Sources for the table
[1] Lime Connect: WhatsApp profile picture resolution (third-party integration guidance). [2] Buffer: social media image sizes (third-party recommendations). [3] On Air Kit: Discord profile picture sizes (third-party recommendation).
[4] LinkedIn Help: photo upload specifications. [5] X Help: profile photo upload guidance. [6] YouTube Help: profile picture guidelines. [7] Gravatar: image request sizes. Sources reviewed October 31, 2026; platforms can change their requirements.
Circle crop or rectangular crop: which one?
Use a circle for an avatar, community icon, badge, or round button: the destination often hides the corners anyway, and the circular preview helps you protect the important details. Use a rectangular crop for a banner, thumbnail, exact width and height, or images that need to line up in a grid.
For a square file without a circular cutout, use the square image maker to crop to a square or keep the whole photo with padding. A square upload is often enough when the platform already applies its own circle.
If you are building a website or app and only need the image to look round, use CSS border-radius: 50% on a square image element, with object-fit: cover where needed. You do not need to crop the file unless you also want a downloadable image with transparent corners.
Framing: keep the face inside the circle
Start with the eyes slightly above the circle’s center. Leave roughly one-sixth of the circle’s height between the top of the head and the upper edge as a visual starting point, then adjust for the hairstyle and pose.
Keep ears and glasses arms away from the edge, and check both sides of the face after dragging. If you have zoomed in too far, reduce Image zoom first; shrinking the circle around a crowded face cuts away more of it.
Leave a little extra room for the destination: a platform may add a ring, overlay a decoration, or apply a tighter crop. The comparison below uses the same red panda sample at two actual crop settings to show what extra room changes.
What this tool does not do
It does not detect faces or frame them automatically
If a face starts off-center, the tool will not find it for you. Drag the image and adjust the zoom and circle size yourself; check the live preview before downloading.
It does not remove the background inside the circle
If a wall or scenery remains behind your subject, that is expected: this tool changes the outline only. Remove the background separately first if you need the subject itself on transparency.
It does not accept GIFs or preserve animation
A GIF is rejected rather than imported as a first-frame crop. Export a still frame as PNG or JPG to crop it here, or use an animation editor when you need a moving result.
It cannot open every image, regardless of size
Each file must be no larger than 10 MB, and decoded images are limited to 40 megapixels. If a file is rejected, resize or compress a copy before opening it; a compressed file can still exceed the decoded-image limit.
It cannot guarantee every HEIC variant will decode
HEIC/HEIF is accepted and this tool includes a local decoder, but an unusual file or browser limitation can still prevent it from opening. Try converting a copy to JPG or PNG, then crop that version.
It cannot restore missing detail or control the destination’s crop
If an enlarged result is soft or a platform trims it again, return to a sharper original and leave more room around the subject. All framing here is manual; export size alone cannot fix either problem.
This editor handles one image at a time
For rectangular crops across several files, use the bulk image cropper. It does not make circular cutouts; round images currently need to be cropped one at a time here.
Supported formats and file size
Open JPG, PNG, WebP, HEIC/HEIF, AVIF, or BMP, up to 10 MB per file and 40 megapixels once decoded. Downloads are PNG, JPG, or WebP; accepting an input format does not mean the tool exports that format.
Native HEIC support is limited in Chrome and Firefox, so an HEIC may not open as an ordinary browser image. This tool includes a local HEIC decoder to handle that gap; if a particular file still fails, convert a copy to JPG and try again.
| Input format | Can the format store transparency? | Common sources | Suggested use |
|---|---|---|---|
| JPG / JPEG | No | Cameras, Android phones, downloaded photos | Photo input; JPG output when a white background is acceptable. |
| PNG | Yes | Screenshots, logos, exported graphics | Logos and graphics; choose PNG output to keep the corners transparent. |
| WebP | Yes | Images downloaded from websites or exported by web tools | Web graphics; confirm the destination accepts WebP before choosing it for output. |
| HEIC / HEIF | The format can; photo files usually have an opaque background | iPhone and iPad camera photos | Open the original photo; download a more widely accepted PNG or JPG. |
| AVIF | Yes | Images downloaded from websites or exported by image tools | Use as input when your browser can decode it; export PNG or JPG for destinations that reject AVIF. |
| BMP | Varies; do not rely on it for transparency here | Windows bitmap exports and older desktop software | Use as input; export PNG for transparent corners or JPG for a smaller photo file. |
Troubleshooting
There is a white box outside my circle
Download PNG instead of JPG, then check the file against a colored background. If the PNG is transparent there but white in the destination, that app or import path is flattening transparency; use a compatible format or match the background color.
My photo looks blurry after I upload it
Go back to the clearest original and avoid a tiny export: below 256 pixels per side may be too small for an enlarged avatar, although the destination’s needs vary. If the local download is sharp but the uploaded version is soft, the platform may be resizing or recompressing it; increasing the download size cannot recover detail missing from the source. The comparison shows local exports, not a WhatsApp upload test.
The platform cuts off part of my face
Reduce Image zoom if you have zoomed in, or widen the crop circle to include more of the original. Move the subject farther inside the frame and check the destination preview: its mask, ring, or border may hide more of the edge than this tool’s preview.