Airbnb Cover Photos: 1024×683, No Mop, No Beach You Cannot Walk To

The cover still shows the mop

Before

After

Guests swipe. A laundry pile, a mop in the hall, or a “SUPERHOST” sticker on a phone export loses the pause. Professional staging is ideal; most hosts shoot between turnovers. The job is to isolate or tidy clutter in the room they will enter — not a boutique hotel’s seasonal window mood (that article is OTA suite atmosphere), and not a Bali still from a stock pack. Airbnb’s photo-tour help says every room needs at least one photo and that resolution should be at least 1024×683. A separate taking-photos article repeats 1024×683 and says bigger is better. Resource-center tips also mention 1200×800 and files up to about 10MB. Use the floor you can prove: at least 1024×683, landscape when you can, larger if you have it.

Cut the clutter; keep the floor plan

Upload the cover still. Isolate a host portrait only if you are using a person in the hero; for empty rooms, remove the mop, the bin, and the ironing board that will not be there at check-in. Do not clone a second sofa. Do not invent a water view the window does not have. Do not paint out a crack you must disclose. A date stamp or guest Story sticker (with permission to reshare) is a text or emoji pass after clutter. This page stays on the room.

First five photos and the tour

Airbnb notes the first five photos matter because they show on the listing. Make the first one the brightest honest wide. Then every room in the photo tour. A room without a photo should be added or temporarily removed from the tour — do not fill it with another listing’s kitchen. Uploads here accept JPG, PNG, WebP, or AVIF up to 10MB and 6000×6000 px. A 2400 px JPEG under 4MB typically returns in under 60 seconds. Export landscape for the cover. Name files `cover-clean.jpg` versus `cover-turnover-as-shot.jpg` so a review complaint has an original.

Search crops square-ish

Search cards crop. Compose with the bed in a center-safe area so a vertical app crop does not lose the headboard. Do not stretch a 9:16 Story into 1024×683. Skip 0.5x ultrawide that bends door frames. Skip files you do not own. Lifting another host’s gallery is how mismatches get flagged when guests arrive.

Amenities you actually have

If the listing says espresso machine, show that machine, not a reconstructed one. Isolation of a laundry pile is ops. Inventing a balcony is a refund. Boutique hotels swapping autumn window light on the same furniture is a different job. Your job is turnover clutter on a home listing.

Batch by room type

Same white balance for bedroom, kitchen, patio. Five rooms, not the whole Camera Roll. A second auto pass will not invent a sharp window. Relight and reshoot when the only still is night and noisy. When peak season opens and the cover still shows a mop, tidy the frame, hit at least 1024×683, and publish a gallery that matches the keys.

Captions versus pixels

“The drop-leaf table seats ten when extended” belongs in a caption, not painted into the JPEG. Baking amenity type into the photo is why you are here every policy change. When the calendar is open and the hero still shows last guest’s suitcase, clear the clutter, keep the floor plan, and skip the fake beach.

Exterior and neighborhood

Help articles ask you to show inside, outside, and a sense of the neighborhood. Isolation of a trash day pile at the curb is fine if pickup is before check-in. Painting out a neighboring wall that is in the survey is not. Do not swap a brick alley into a garden the building does not have.

Accessibility stills

If you list accessibility features, photograph them as they are. Reconstruction of a ramp you do not have is a safety issue, not a clutter issue. When peak season opens and the cover still shows a mop, tidy the frame, hit at least 1024×683, and publish a gallery that matches the keys.

Shared spaces

If the listing is a room in a home, show the shared kitchen as it is. Isolation of your roommate’s laundry is fine if it will be gone; painting out a roommate is not. When the calendar is open and the hero still shows a suitcase, clear the clutter, keep the floor plan, and skip the fake beach.

Plus and Luxe stills

If you are not in a premium program, do not isolate onto a staging look you cannot reproduce with the linens in the closet. Honest light and a mop-free floor beat a CGI suite. When the stay is real, isolate the mess that will be gone, keep the architecture, and upload at least 1024×683.

When the stay is real and the cover is a turnover snapshot, isolate the mess that will be gone, keep the architecture, and upload at least 1024×683.