Let’s talk Pinterest board covers – how to change your Pinterest board covers. How Pinterest is changing the look of Board covers. And the big question, should you even use custom board covers?
Change Log and Updates on Pinterest Board Covers
February 14th, 2018 Update: HUGE news for board covers and boards in general! Pinterest has made it possible for you to archive boards, rearrange pins inside boards, and sort order your boards are displayed. These features are rolling out today, so you should be getting them sometime this week. My accounts haven’t gotten them yet but I will update with pictures and instructions once I have the new board features.
February 9th, 2018 Update: Board covers are being super glitchy, on all browsers. When you try to change the cover, it flutters an will only scroll through one or two pictures before taking you back to the front image. It is not letting you change your board covers as of right now or select a cover. Will update when it is fixed. In the meantime, grab my custom Pinterest Google Analytics Dashboard and see if your Pinterest marketing is working for you!
December 2017 Update: Users are reporting board being blurry. This is bad news if you have text on your board covers. My recommendation: only use pictures without text.
August 2017 Update: Users are noticing a problem with boards being out of order, not how they arranged them on their profiles. Moving Pinterest boards has always been glitchy, but this seems to be a new problem. The recommendation from Pinterest if you are having problems moving your Pinterest boards around: “Sometimes if you rearrange boards all at once, they don’t save. Try moving a few and then refreshing the page to make sure the new order sticks. If you’re still having trouble, make sure your browser is up to date, then clear your cache and cookies.”
December 2016 Update: Pinterest board covers have changed again, and there’s a cool new place they are being featured now. A big, beautiful showcase. You choose 5 boards that you’d like to display on top of your profile. The board cover image is featured in a SQUARE image to the left with snippets of your most recent pins to the right. Down below, you’ll find your regular boards. Again, the board cover picture is square to the left with 2 of your most recent pins displaying to the right.
I’m a big fan of the final outcome for board covers. Here’s why: You get to choose what your board cover image looks like, and viewers still get a peek at what you’re pinning on that board. I also am so happy that it is a square image because square works better on Pinterest than the old horizontal board cover images did.
Unlike other changes, I think that this one is here to stay. (for a little while at least) Use a square image, at least 600×600 pixels for your board cover, or choose an image you already have pinned and center the square how you’d like it.
October 2016 Update: Many bloggers are reporting that their board covers have changed again. Instead of the horizontal cover image on top of two square images below, they see a large square image to the left and two square images to the right. Mine has not switched over yet, but when it does, I will include a screenshot. My suggestion: don’t waste your time changing board covers to fit new dimensions yet. They’re still finding the perfect solution.
August 9th, 2016 Update: Just as I predicted (see April update) board covers are changing for the desktop version of Pinterest. My personal account switched over the new profile look today, including the new boards. When viewing from my blog account, I still have the old profiles/boards.
Notice the top, horizontal image changed to the picture I selected in the edit screen. Just as before, it was super glitchy when changing. I made several attempts and had to refresh my page often. Eventually, my choice would stick. I’m making a hypothesis that once all accounts switch over, this option will be gone and the covers will reflect recent pins. That’s just my assumption, though, many people think that we will always be able to change the top picture.
On a different note, that I’m sure will make most bloggers happy, the mobile app added in the option (on Android, at least) to sort the boards via the web – meaning to see the boards how the Pinner has chosen to order them in.
Viewers can now choose to sort your boards in the order you’ve arranged them in. So it is still worthwhile to change the order of your Pinterest boards. Makes sure to have a board for your blog specifically up top, followed by boards in the main categories you blog about, and then seasonal boards. 🙂
The boards on the app do not have images that can change, they are just the most recent pins.
May 11th, 2016 Update: Currently, desktop users are experiencing a glitch when trying to change their Pinterest board covers. When you click CHANGE, it is simply taking you back to your Pinterest board. I am experiencing this glitch on IE (aka Edge) and Firefox. As far as I know, there is not a workaround – will keep you posted.
April 2016 Update: Pinterest has been making changes to their platform: “We recently removed board covers from our app. To change board covers as they appear on the web, you’ll need to use the Web version of Pinterest on a laptop or PC.” -Pinterest help.
The new mobile profile shows recent pins from your board instead of a board cover. Also, you can no longer manually move your boards around, they can only be sorted alphabetically or by which board was most recently pinned to. Personally, I always forget to move my boards around, so I’m kind of happy about this one. I won’t have Thanksgiving showing up on top when it’s almost summer break.
Currently, if you want to change board covers, you must do so while on a web version. I am able to change Pinterest board covers on Firefox, Chrome, and Edge. The way Pinterest normally works, they roll out changes on the app first and then to the web. I anticipate we won’t have covers for much longer on the web version. Some people have noted in the comments that the ability to change board covers has been removed from them.
END OF CHANGELOG
Pinterest profile covers now show a big, beautiful showcase. You choose 5 boards that you’d like to display on top of your profile. The board cover image is featured in a SQUARE image to the left with snippets of your most recent pins to the right. Down below, you’ll find your regular boards. Again, the board cover picture is square to the left with 2 of your most recent pins displaying to the right.
I’m a big fan of the final outcome for board covers. Here’s why: You get to choose what your board cover image looks like, and viewers still get a peek at what you’re pinning on that board. I also am so happy that it is a square image because square works better on Pinterest than the old horizontal board cover images did.
Unlike other changes, I think that this one is here to stay. (for a little while at least) Use a square image, at least 600×600 pixels, for your board cover or choose a picture you already have pinned and center the square how you’d like it.
To see a change log of the Pinterest board covers, scroll past the instructions section to the gray content box.
How to change Pinterest Board Covers – 2018 edition
- While working on your computer, log in to your Pinterest account and hover over the board you would like to change.
- Click the Change edit button next to Cover (while you’re here you might as well make sure there is a description and category. This is very good Pinterest practice).
- Scroll through your most recent pins and find one that you would like to use as your board’s cover photo and then click save changes. Alternately, if you’d like to change your board to a custom image, create your image and then upload it to your site. Use a custom board cover! Utilize this image and add a URL to the pin, link it directly to your Pinterest board or to the category page on your blog for that particular board. In all honesty though, I recommend using a picture with NO text. It looks pretty, and less of a hassle when Pinterest decides to change.
A few notes: You might have to refresh the page before you actually see the cover change. Some users have expressed in the comments of this post that the image they choose doesn’t always stick. I have experienced this as well. It is frustrating, but you can try again (maybe again) and it eventually updates.
Pinterset Board Cover Examples
Here are examples of what Pinterest Board Covers look like on different devices right now. All examples are from Sugar and Cloth’s Pinterest account.
Pinterest Board Covers in the showcase: 
Pinterest Board Covers on your profile:
Pinterest Board Covers on mobile:
Know that it can take a while (as mentioned above) for Pinterest to recognize the change. Refresh and be patient.
Changing your board cover pictures is an easy way to freshen up your Pinterest profile and represent your blog’s style. What images will you be using for your board covers?
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OMG, that Pinterest Board Cover glitch is driving me insane, I’ve never payed attention to my board covers and I decided to make covers for all my boards just to find out that there’s a glitch with the covers :(.
Is there any workaround? I Tried Chrome and Internet Explorer without any positive results… dang it!
Oh no!
The glitch should be working itself out this month as everyone gets the new update. But, for now I just wouldn’t worry about board covers.
on a different note, I just checked out your Pinterest profile Derek and I can see your custom boards!
I wish to delete a cover on my board, so I have 6 small pins showing instead of 3 (1 large and 2 small).
I have other boards with 6 showing, but it seems since I chose a board cover once, I cannot go back.
Many thanks for any help you can offer.
Unfortunately, I haven’t figured out a way to delete a board cover and revert back to the 6 most recent pins. You can only have this look for new boards that you haven’t set a board cover for yet. Drats.
Hi. Thank you for this info. I am struggling with not having the cover I designed be repeated in the smaller squares next to it, making it look busy. I knew how to move the pins within the board in earlier versions but it seems that now I am not able to keep them in the same board. Any ideas? Thank you.
Hi Jo, you can’t move pins around anymore. To make it so the cover is not repeated, pin two or three new things to the board, the the repeated cover won’t show up. The other images in the cover are the most recent pins.
Hi Kristie.
Thanks for the great article. I’m just in the process of setting up my Pinterest profile and boards and I’m not having any luck getting the cover images I’m custom making to show properly.
The cover for the board I’m working on is showing 1 larger square image on the left, and 2 smaller squares, one on top of the other, to the right.
When I upload a 600 X 600 image and set it as my cover image, in the larger square to the left, it looks really blurry and only shows part of the image, but in one of the smaller squares on the right, it’s completely clear and shows the entire image.
Can you tell me:
1) What size image I need to create in order for the larger square image to be clear?
2) Is there a maximum file size I should be compressing my custom images to in order for them to show clearly?
Thanks so much!
Hi Debbie, can you link to the example so I can check it out?
Hey Kristie,
I don’t have any boards that are live yet – I’m creating them as secret boards and then will make them live once they’re all done, so I can’t give you a link.
This was very helpful thanks. I’ve seen some very beautiful profiles and it’s amazing the difference your covers can make!
Your board covers look great, Chris! So uniform 🙂 Glad this post was able to help you get them up.
My pinterest board says I have 151 photos in the board but when I got to change the cover design it only gives me a handful of pictures to choose from. Why? Am I doing something wrong? My pinterest has been giving me issues lately.
Pinterest has been giving everyone lots of issues lately! Hmph. This happens every time the roll out new features (which they did this month). You’re most likely not doing anything wrong. Their just making changes and it causes everything to glitch.
I’ve had the same issue, and discovered that they were only letting me choose from the 50 most recent pins. If there’s an older pin you want to use for your board cover, try repinning it to that board so that it’s among the more recent pins. It worked for me.
Thank you for that insight, Denise!
The changes to the Boards are terrible, as a retired Art Director I can only presume an accountant was involved.
All motivation to use Pinterest and to see other people’s Boards has left me.
Why on earth meddle with something that didn’t need changing?
hahaha… Love the accountant comment. I didn’t like the changes at first, but now that they have switched to squares I’m a fan. I also really like the showcase. And that everything is the same across devices.
I would like to add a few comments about Pinterest as well. I think making it mandatory that we have 3 “covers” for our boards is messy and unattractive. It is so “busy” that it is not very nice to look through the pins in that way. Also, very few of my pins fit the 3-photo space, and editing does not make them fit. I hope that the Pinterest people allow us to put up 1 cover pin as before. Those who like the 3-pin cover can do that. I know most people today like a minimalist and clean look to their pins, and I wish that was taken into account.
Thank You.
The “change cover” option no longer appears when I click edit on one of my boards, whay is this?
Which browser are you using?
Your link was the only thing on the internet addressing change of board covers. I hate the three picture view. I am a visual person and to me they are ugly. Don’t understand why they made this change.
It is a bit of an adjustment! I know they changed the board covers on the desktop to try and match the app more, but not sure why they want a multi image board cover.
Same here, hate the board cover split into three, ugly, ugly Pinterest change. Hate it so much I’ve basically given up on Pinterest.
I did email them but basically, they couldn’t care less.
We’re jest a means to raise revenue; it seems to me any sense of creating a community has been damaged by their failure to take on board their member’s feedback.
Ah well, I didn’t miss it before I knew it existed, so I’ll get over missing it now too.
I totally agree!!
Thanks so much for the information! Could do it on the mobile, and I guess it really doesn’t worth it!
I agree, they really should have left some of the applications the way they were. It is also hard to do some of these things if you do not have a PC but just an IPad.
I agree! It was so easy to change board covers & move boards around to alphabetize them. I’m VERY disappointed that Pinterest has made these applications more difficult for those of us who use IPads.
I do not like the changes in PInterest. I can not find how to: 1) send a message to friends 2) center/size a pic when I change my cover pic. When ever I do change the pic there is only the “upper left corner” of the pic showing.
It is very discouraging for an iPad user like me. And many of my friends too. We had no trouble navigating Pinterest on our iPads before, but these changes are ridiculous.
I believe when you make changes, they should be user friendly for all applications.
THANK YOU!!!!!
For some reason, I can no longer follow the method that you suggested. I tried it tonight, and when I click “change cover” in the edit board option, it just brings me back to my profile and refuses to let me change the cover at all. Very frustrating! I’m starting to dislike all of these new Pinterest updates… I wish they would listen to user feedback and just leave things the way they are!
So sorry for your frustrations Katherine. As mentioned in the gray box at the beginning of this post, I don’t think board covers are going to be around for much longer, and as they are already gone on the app, the majority of the people aren’t seeing the cover anyway. 🙁
My change cover button has dissapeared from my edits?
Is there a way to get it back?
Currently, you can only edit board covers from the web version of Pinterest. Pinterest has removed board covers from the app version. On the app, boards can now be sorted alphabetically or by most recently pinned to. See details about the new mobile profile.
Mine are gone too…what is up? I can’t edit the boards at all.
Mine has gone too. What’s going on?
I can’t change my board cover, it has disappeared from the edit. My boards have stop moving, can’t put them in the order that I want. What is going on?
Pinterest has removed board covers from the app version. Boards can now be sorted alphabetically or by most recently pinned to. See details about the new mobile profile
I find that even with this method (which I discovered after Pinterest, for some reason, stopped making it possible to change covers via the ‘hovering’ method), I often have to re-do the cover 2-3 times before it actually seems to register the change. It drives me nuts! I don’t change covers nearly as often now because it’s just too frustrating.
Agree. Even on laptop 50% of the time cover changes. Not available on my iPad anymore?! Frustrating!
Board covers are on their way out. Pinterest has removed board covers from the app version already and I anticipate they will do the same on the web version soon as well. Boards can now be sorted alphabetically or by most recently pinned to. See details about the new mobile profile\
For now, it is still working for me to change my board covers on the web (I’ve been able to do so on Chrome, Firefox, and Edge). You do have to refresh the page sometimes before you see the change take place.
Any idea why they’re doing this? You can tell so much about a pinner by the board covers, not to mention how much I’ve enjoyed finding the perfect cover photo for each of my boards.
I agree. I don’t like the new changes at all n
This is so maddening I don’t use a laptop and certainly don’t sit at a pc all day. I love my iPad and smartphone and don’t like this new “version”. Reconsider please.
I agree 100%! Very frustrated. I love my board covers and like to be able to move my boards on my iPad. Why fix something that isn’t broken???
This is not available under my edit board.
Which browser are you using? Also, I should note that this is only available on the desktop, not the app.
Mine too. No longer an option. I use Safari.
Me too I used to use this exact method on my ipad all the time. But just recently, that change cover option disappeared . .
Me too! It was super easy to change board pics on my iPad, now all of a sudden that option is gone?? Has anyone figured this out?
I could seriously hug you right now! I wish this had been the very FIRST result in Google, this is the only thing that has worked for me, GOD BLESS YOU!!!!!
You are SO welcome Tracy. I’m working on getting this post to the number 1 spot… slowly but surely (I hope!)
Thanks for tweet as well!
I find it impossible to change board covers. #1hate. ………….#2 hate……I am on pinterest & pinning then all of a sudden, it says pinterest has stopped–ok? & I have to tap ok,but don’t want to, after tapping ok, board goes black…..
#3 hate…………I’m pinning & it stops & says pinterest or silk browser, I pick pinterest & says it stopped, & then I go on silk browser & when I pin on my board, it goes on another board….it jumps around like a drastic idiot…….very unhappy, at first when I got this kindle fire & got on pinterest there was nothing better in my life——- now, it changed & all screwed up…..I even have to hold a certain way to pin…..Oh ! Well happy to be able to get all this off my chest………
Thank you – this was driving me mad and as often happens I just needed to find out that it is called the cover!
You’re welcome! It was frustrating me too! Curious, how often do you change your board cover pics?
I tried changing my board cover as told on this site, however, changing the cover seems impossible. Can someone get back to me about this? thanks, Dalene
Hi Dalene, which web browser are you using?
Awesome, funny I was off to Pin a bunch of post that I had not done yet…. Shameful I know. Also on twitter I had sent you a tweet asking about the New Google Recapchta??? Have you looked into it, and if so what are your thoughts?
I need to look into the new Google Recapchta still, have you tried it out yet?
I have not, I am nervous to… That’s why I asked your opinion. I get about 20 spammers a week, drives me crazy. I am sure you and others get loads more. Anyway let me know what you think. Thanks.
Spammers are the worst!
Great tip! And thanks for featuring my boards! I definitely put a ton of time into choosing the perfect cover photos. I probably should change them though since they’ve been the same for awhile!
It is very obvious that you put in a lot of time!