Post Date: February 6, 2020

Tinder allows you to have up to 9 photos when adding pictures to your profile. The number of pictures matters when building a profile to maximize your efficiency in getting matches.

The minimum amount of pictures that you should have on Tinder is 6. Any less and you may appear as if you’re a bot or a catfish. Any more pictures and users will start to form second opinions about your profile.

Whether male or female, scroll through Tinder; they want to make sure your profile is authentic. Nobody wants to waste time scrolling and wondering if a profile with two pictures is the person on the other end.

When signing up for Tinder, we recommend filling out at least 6 picture slots when signing up. To date, 9 picture slots allow you to show off your best features.

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How Many Photos Should I Have On Tinder?

We recommend that you have at least four pictures on your Tinder profile. Four pictures are enough for the user to determine your personality and looks.

If you have fewer than four pictures, people might assume that you are a bot or a catfish and they will swipe left.

If you have any more than six pictures, the user may get overwhelmed and skip right past your profile. They also might find something in those pictures that they may not like, and swipe left.

Adding Photos On Tinder

There are a few reasons you’ll want to have at least six pictures on Tinder. We’re going to break down all the reasons why you’ll want to fill each slot and the benefits of filling each.

Prove You’re Real

First and most important, we want to prove that we’re real. With all of the bot talk around mobile apps, it’s essential to establish that you’re really from the start.

Bot or spam profiles typically have 1-2 pictures and no bio. People who use Tinder frequently can spot these profiles immediately. It’s important not to fall into the “is this a bot” category by having only a few pictures.

This is why we recommend you fill out all the slots with pictures showcasing your personality so people can instantly swipe right on you without hesitation.


❤️ Better Than Tinder: Tinder is great for casual relationships, but a lot more users are looking for serious relationships on it. Avoid the stress, arguments, and drama if you’re simply looking for something casual.

If you’re looking for a platform with users strictly looking for casual relationships & hookups, we recommend checking out Ashley Madison.

Showcase Your Best Features

Let’s face it, the chance of us having nine perfect pictures is rare. There’s a good chance we’ll have 3-4 good photos and possibly two others.

Use these pictures to show off your personality, whether with your friends, with you laughing, or maybe a photo with one of your favorite animals.

If you have nice legs, strong arms, or even a friendly smile, showcase this by a close-up of these features.

Along with putting pictures of your best features, there are also some pictures that you should avoid to optimize your profile.

Check out our complete Tinder User Guide here.

Photos You Should Avoid

You should avoid profile pictures if you want to optimize your Tinder profile for likes. We’re going to break down photos for both guys and girls, so you can determine which picture to take out of your album.

Group Photos

Group photos are great to have if you have one of them and it’s located at the back end of your picture album.

Putting group photos as your first picture is the biggest “no-no” in dating app photo alignments. The reason for this is that you make the user work to see which one is you.

More often than not, users who showcase a group photo as their primary photo will instantly get swiped right. People subconsciously do this for a few reasons.

As mentioned, the work of trying to find out who is frustrating. Simply swiping left is much easier for the user than trying to find out who you are.

The following reason is that the user will instantly start to compare your looks to your friends. For instance, if you’re in a group photo with better-looking people than you, the user will be let down when they see that the less attractive person is the person who owns the profile.

To avoid this, don’t post any group photos, and make sure the spotlight is on you and you only.

Awkward Gym Selfies

Awkward gym selfies may look good if you have nice muscles; however, the overall persona of putting up a gym selfie is awkward. This one mainly pertains to guys who like to flex in the mirror at gyms.

There are plenty of other ways to show off that you have muscles. Simply having a beach picture or even you wearing a tank top is a great way to show off the muscles without looking like you’re trying too hard.

Tinder Gym Seflie

We recommend eliminating the awkward gym selfie. If you’re taking a picture at the gym, and even if it doesn’t seem uncomfortable, it probably is.

Pictures Of Objects Or Animals

When we say pictures of nothing, we mean in the sense of you having a picture of “not you.” If you love your dog or cat, put yourself in that picture with your dog or cat.

If you love the beach, put yourself on the beach. Do not just take a random picture of your animal or the beach. Every picture should be of you and should show off your features. Your dog may be pretty, but the user isn’t swiping for the dog; they’re swiping for you.


❤️ Pro Tip: If you’re sick of finding people who are just looking for one-night stands, we recommend trying eHarmony.

It’s one of the highest-rated online dating apps in the world. eHarmony users are actually actively looking for relationships. Give it a try here for free and see if you can tell the difference.

Pictures With Opposite Gender

Jealousy is one of the most complicated emotions to shake. Once a person is jealous or feels competition, it’s their instinct to fight back.

This is no different when swiping through pictures. If you have a photo with another girl, the girl swiping will instantly feel jealous. There is also a good chance she will swipe left, as she doesn’t want to compete with other girls.

The same goes for girls. Even if the guy in your picture is your brother, other males don’t want to see you with another guy. It’s a natural, competitive instinct guys are hardwired to have. Men want to see a single girl and swipe right/left based on her looks or bio.

Showing Your Kids

If you have kids, mention them. Both guys and girls are going to want to know if you have kids or not. Hiding your kids from your profile picture, then surprisingly telling them later that you have kids, not only looks bad on you as a parent, it puts the person in an awkward spot.

We like to tell people to be as transparent as possible if they have a child. Let them know how old the child is and have 1 or 2 pictures with them. The other 4-5 pictures can showcase yourself and how awesome a mom/dad you are!

Inappropriate Photos

We put this one last because there’s a fine line between the type of promiscuous photos your post. If you’re a guy, it’s completely normal to have your shirt off if you’re at the beach, at the pool, or even doing yard work outside.

Ladies, however, you need to pick and choose where and how you place your promiscuous photos. If you’re almost entirely naked, it’s going to send the signal to the guy that you’re looking for casual dating and not a relationship.

Well-placed cleavage shots and gym photos are a better way to showcase your body rather than just putting up blatantly half-naked photos. Determine what you’re looking to get out of your dating app experience and tailor your pictures toward that end goal.

Tinder Photos Recap

We recommend using all nine photo slots to showcase your best attributes and best body features. Also, be sure to use current photos. Users can tell if you use images that are years old. Grainy pictures will more than likely get swiped left on.

Update your profile with clear and concise photos and show off your personality in each photo!

If you liked this blog, learn more about Tinder in these articles.

About the Author

Julia has over 10+ years in the mobile dating app space as a consultant and analyst. Her work has been featured on top websites like Mashable and Women's Health Mag. She writes these blogs to help singles find their true love and life long companion!