A Self-Portrait Journey: How to Setup Your Facebook Cover with an Avatar Backdrop

Facebook rolled out avatars back in 2020, but there wasn’t much to do with them. Now they can take pride-of-place in a customized cover photo.

Making one is easy enough, but if you don’t have the Facebook app, you might not know any of it is possible at all.

How to Make a Facebook Avatar Cover Photo

You need a Facebook avatar to feature one in your cover photo, and you can only make a Facebook avatar if you have the Facebook app. So, if you want to follow along and don’t have a Facebook avatar yet, downloading the app and making an avatar is the first place to start.

If you haven’t updated your avatar in a while, it’s probably time. All of the clothing options available for the VR avatars that Meta Introduced in 2021 are also available for your Facebook avatar, including outfits unlocked by buying VR games.

When Facebook users with a Facebook avatar navigate to their home page, they now see aCreate with avatar button over the familiarEdit cover photo button in the lower right corner of their profile’s cover photo.

Selecting this button opens a randomly generated cover photo using your Facebook avatar.

You can selectSet as cover photo and be on your way. However, scrolling down reveals options to create a custom cover photo with your Facebook avatar.

This setup probably looks familiar to you, as it’s arguably an under-powered clone of Snapchat’s Bitmoji avatar profile picture. Two tabs offer a selection of poses and backgrounds for your avatar.

You can edit your cover photo on the browser interface, but only the pose and background. If you want to edit the avatar or its clothing, you’ll have to use the Facebook app.

When you’re done, pressSet as cover photo .

One More Thing to Do With a Facebook Avatar

Facebook avatars were already usable on the platform largely as custom emojis in messages and comments. These were fun features, but it’s no wonder that some users don’t even know that Facebook avatars are available.

As we spend more time online, avatars are becoming an increasingly important part of our digital identities. Creating more spaces to showcase those avatars, like the Facebook cover photo, is always an exciting development.