Twitch Emote Size Guide (2025): Dimensions, Formats, & Pro Tips

Twitch emotes are a huge part of how streamers and their communities express themselves. Whether you’re reacting to a clutch play, a bad pun, or a hype moment, emotes are the language of Twitch chat.

In this guide you’ll learn the exact sizes, formats, and design tips to help you create sharp, eye-catching emotes that stand out. You’ll also get access to a free downloadable template to make the process easier.

🧠 What are Twitch emotes?

Twitch emotes are small custom images that viewers use in chat to react, respond, and express themselves. They’re a core part of Twitch culture and help build a stronger connection between streamers and their communities.

Unlike standard emojis, Twitch emotes are unique to each channel. Streamers can upload their own designs, giving subscribers exclusive access to emotes that reflect the personality and vibe of the stream.

If you’re looking for ideas or inspiration, check out our full collection of custom emote designs to see what’s possible.

Emotes appear at a tiny size in chat, so they need to be instantly recognizable even at low resolution. That’s why a good emote design focuses on bold expressions, clear shapes, and strong contrast.

📏 Twitch emote sizes (all tiers)

Twitch requires each emote to be uploaded in three sizes: 28×28, 56×56, and 112×112 pixels. These are automatically used in different places across the platform, like chat, hover previews, and the emote picker.

To keep your emotes looking sharp at every size, you’ll need to design them at the largest resolution first and then scale them down. This helps preserve clarity and prevents blurring or distortion.

Twitch emote size requirements:

You can either upload each size manually or use Twitch’s auto-resize tool during the upload process. However, manually exporting all three sizes yourself gives you better control over quality.

Want a shortcut? Download our free emote size template to skip the setup and get started faster.

🛠️ Best canvas size to start with

When designing Twitch emotes, always start with a larger canvas than the final size. This gives you more control over detail, line weight, and overall clarity.

The ideal starting size is at least 500×500 pixels, but many designers prefer working at 1120×1120 pixels or higher. This allows for clean scaling down to Twitch’s required emote sizes (112, 56, and 28 px) without losing sharpness.

Recommended setup:

Resize tips:

This workflow helps ensure your emotes look professional and crisp no matter how they’re displayed.

⚡Want a custom design for your Twitch or Stream?

We create banners, icons, overlays, and animated packages that are perfectly sized for Twitch and styled to match your brand, stream, or community vibe.

🎨 Tips for great emote design

Great Twitch emotes are easy to recognize, full of personality, and readable even at the smallest size. Since most emotes show up as just 28 pixels wide in chat, your design choices need to be bold and clear.

Some essential tips to help your emotes stand out:

🔍 Focus on clarity

Great Twitch emotes are easy to recognize, full of personality, and readable even at the smallest size. Since most emotes show up as just 28 pixels wide in chat, your design choices need to be bold and clear.

😄 Exaggerate expressions

Emotes should instantly show emotion or reaction. Go big with facial expressions and body language as subtle details won’t translate at 28px.

🎯 Keep text minimal

If you’re adding text to an emote, use only one or two large letters. Most full words won’t be readable at small sizes, and they often make the emote look cluttered.

🎨 Stay on-brand

Make sure your emotes match your stream’s style and color palette. This helps build brand recognition and gives your community a consistent visual language.

Want professional-looking emotes without starting from scratch? Check out our custom Twitch emote packages or use our free template to build your own.

💡 Animated emote sizes

Animated Twitch emotes follow the same size rules as static ones, but with a few extra requirements. If you want to add movement to your emotes, make sure your files meet Twitch’s specific animation guidelines.

Size and format requirements

Designers typically create animated emotes using tools like Adobe After Effects, Photoshop, or Spine, then export to a GIF format that matches Twitch’s limits.

Pro tips:

Done well, animated emotes can add life to your channel and encourage more subscribers to unlock them.

📦 Free Twitch emote template (.PSD or .PNG)

To speed up your design process, we’ve created a free Twitch emote template you can download and use right away. It includes properly sized artboards at 112×112, 56×56, and 28×28 pixels. This is exactly what Twitch requires.

What's included:

This template is perfect whether you’re creating your first emote or just want a reliable setup to speed things up. It’s formatted for Photoshop but can also be used in other design tools that support layers.

Want a more custom look? Use the template as a base or starting point for your own unique designs.

🚀 How to upload emotes to Twitch

Once your emotes are ready and meet Twitch’s size and format rules, uploading them to your channel is simple. Here’s how to do it step by step:

Upload process:

  1. Go to your Twitch Creator Dashboard

  2. Navigate to Viewer Rewards > Emotes

  3. Choose your emote slot (e.g. Tier 1, Bit Emotes, or Follower Emotes)

  4. Upload all three required sizes: 112×112, 56×56, and 28×28 px

  5. Name your emote and assign a unique code (like LIONHYPE)

  6. Submit for review (Twitch usually approves within a few hours)

Tips to avoid rejection:

You can also find Twitch’s full emote guidelines and requirements on their official help page.

🤔 Twitch Emote FAQ

Twitch emotes are required in three sizes: 28×28, 56×56, and 112×112 pixels. All must be PNG files with transparent backgrounds and a file size under 25KB.

You’ll need to upload all three: 28px, 56px, and 112px versions. This ensures your emotes scale cleanly across all Twitch devices and chat settings.

Start with a large canvas like 500×500 or 1120×1120 pixels. This gives you plenty of room to work with detail before exporting the smaller required sizes.

Most often, it’s due to scaling down from a low-resolution canvas or using fine details that get lost at 28×28. Stick to bold shapes, thick lines, and high contrast.

Twitch only accepts PNG for static emotes and GIF for animated ones. Both must have transparent backgrounds.

It varies. Twitch may approve your emote within minutes, but during busy periods, it can take up to 48 hours or more. Verified Partners get faster review times.

Head to your Creator Dashboard → Viewer Rewards → Emotes and click “Upload.” Drag in your 28px, 56px, and 112px PNGs. Once submitted, Twitch will handle the approval process.

🔗 More resources

Want to dive deeper into Twitch graphics and stream branding? These guides break down everything you need to know:

Discord Size Guide – Optimize icons, banners, and profile images for your server

Twitch Size Guide – Find the ideal dimensions for everything Twitch related.

Each one includes design tips, file format advice, and ready-to-use templates.