Free guide
In search results, guests see a single image of your listing. That image decides whether they open it.
In short. The cover photo is the first photo in your photo tour and the one Airbnb shows in search results. The first five are featured when a guest opens the listing. A good cover photo is landscape, bright and shows the strongest room in the home in full, not a detail.
According to the Airbnb Help Center, the first photo in the tour is the large one that shows up in search, and the first five are displayed prominently on the listing page.
In search results, your listing is one box among dozens: same format, same area, similar prices. Guests scroll through in a few seconds. The cover photo is the only part of your listing they see before deciding whether to open it, and every click and every save to a wishlist counts towards popularity, one of the ranking factors Airbnb describes.
Does your cover photo hold up next to the listings around you?
| Works | Does not work |
|---|---|
| The strongest room, in full: a bright living room, a bedroom with a view, a terrace | A detail: a cushion, a mug, a painting |
| Landscape format | A portrait photo, which gets cropped in search results |
| Natural light, true colours | A dark, yellowish photo or one with a white sky |
| Straight lines | Leaning walls and windows |
| A tidy space | Personal items, cables, cluttered surfaces |
| The home as it is | A view or furniture guests will not find |
The outside belongs on the cover only when it is the real reason to book: a trullo, a mountain cabin, a pool, a garden by the sea. In a city flat, guests want to see where they will sleep and spend their time, not the front door.
Mistakes with light, colour and perspective, with before-and-after examples, are covered in The photos that get a listing chosen. The minimum sizes are in Photo size and format for Airbnb and Booking.com.
We will tell you which of your photos deserves to be the cover.
In the Airbnb listing editor: Photo tour → All photos, then select the photo and choose Make cover photo. On the same screen you can reorder the first five by dragging them. Airbnb notes that changes may take up to 30 minutes to appear.
If none of your photos is good enough, you do not necessarily need a new shoot: the right photo is often already there and just needs work. That is what we do with Photo Enhancement. To see how a photo will be cropped in search results before you use it, try the free Cover photo preview.
Frequently asked questions
It is the first photo in your photo tour. Airbnb shows it in search results, and it is the first of the five featured on the listing page.
In the listing editor: Photo tour, All photos, select the photo and choose Make cover photo. The change may take up to 30 minutes to show.
It depends on what makes people book the home. If the reason is outside (a pool, a garden, a view, an unusual building), put it on the cover; otherwise the main room, shown in full and full of light, works better.
It is not a good idea: Airbnb shows photos in landscape format in search results, so a portrait photo gets cropped and loses part of the room.
There is no need to change it often. It makes sense when you get plenty of views but few clicks into the listing, or between seasons if the home looks very different in summer and winter.
The first step
Send us the link to your listing and we will tell you what to improve, with no obligation.
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