How to Schedule LinkedIn Carousels (And Why They Crush Every Other Format)

LinkedIn carousels average a 6.60% engagement rate — 278% more than video, 303% more than images, and 596% more than text-only posts. They're the highest-performing organic format on the platform, yet most marketers still default to text posts and single images.

The catch: LinkedIn removed native multi-image carousels in June 2023 and deleted existing carousel posts in December 2023. Today's LinkedIn carousels are document posts — you upload a PDF file and LinkedIn renders each page as a swipeable slide.

This guide covers how to create them, the exact specs and dimensions, how to schedule them (natively and with third-party tools), and the best practices that drive engagement.

TL;DR

• LinkedIn carousels are now document posts (upload a PDF, each page becomes a swipeable slide)
• Recommended dimensions: 1080 x 1350 px (4:5 portrait) for maximum mobile screen space
• Carousels average 6.60% engagement — the highest of any LinkedIn format
• They generate 2-3x more dwell time than text or image posts, which LinkedIn's algorithm rewards
• LinkedIn's native scheduler supports carousels (up to 3 months ahead)
• Third-party tools like PostEverywhere add bulk scheduling, multi-account management, and analytics

Quick Jump Links

• What Are LinkedIn Carousels Now?
• Specs and Dimensions
• How to Create a LinkedIn Carousel
• How to Schedule LinkedIn Carousels
• LinkedIn's Native Scheduler
• Third-Party Scheduling Tools
• Engagement Statistics
• How the Algorithm Treats Carousels
• Design Best Practices
• Content Ideas
• Common Mistakes
• FAQ

What Are LinkedIn Carousels Now?

LinkedIn carousels in 2026 are document posts. You upload a multi-page PDF (or PPTX/DOCX), and LinkedIn renders each page as a swipeable slide that users can navigate through in their feed.

The native multi-image carousel feature was removed in June 2023. Carousel Ads (paid) still exist as a separate product in LinkedIn Campaign Manager. But for organic posts, document/PDF carousels are the format — and they're performing better than ever.

From a user's perspective, they look and feel identical to the old carousels. Users swipe through slides in their feed, and each swipe counts as an engagement signal that LinkedIn's algorithm tracks.

LinkedIn Carousel Specs and Dimensions

Why 4:5 portrait? It takes up the most screen real estate on mobile, where the majority of LinkedIn browsing happens. Square (1:1) works too, but you're leaving engagement on the table by taking up less feed space.

Why PDF? While LinkedIn accepts PPTX and DOCX, PDFs render most consistently across desktop and mobile. PowerPoint and Word files can have formatting issues, font rendering problems, and inconsistent page sizes.

How to Create a LinkedIn Carousel

Method 1: Canva (Easiest)

1. Open Canva and search for "LinkedIn carousel"
2. Choose from 891+ templates or start from a custom size (1080 x 1350 px)
3. Design your slides — one idea per slide, consistent branding
4. Export as PDF
5. Upload to LinkedIn as a document post

Method 2: PowerPoint or Google Slides

1. Create a new presentation with custom slide size (1080 x 1350 px or 20.32 x 25.4 cm)
2. Design your slides with consistent fonts, colors, and spacing
3. Export as PDF
4. Upload to LinkedIn

Method 3: Dedicated Carousel Generators

Tools like Contentdrips, PostNitro, Taplio, and Supergrow are purpose-built for LinkedIn carousels. They offer carousel-specific templates, AI-powered content generation, and direct LinkedIn integration. Some (like Contentdrips) convert text, X/Twitter threads, and CSV files directly into carousel format.

Method 4: Figma

For designers who want pixel-level control, Figma's community templates provide free downloadable carousel frameworks. Design in Figma, export as PDF.

Whichever method you use, always preview on mobile before publishing. Most LinkedIn users browse on their phones, and what looks great on desktop may have tiny, unreadable text on a phone screen.

How to Schedule LinkedIn Carousels

Method 1: LinkedIn's Native Scheduler

LinkedIn's built-in scheduler supports document/carousel posts. Here's how:

1. Create your post and upload the PDF document
2. Instead of clicking "Post," click the clock icon (to the left of the Post button)
3. A "Schedule Post" pop-up appears
4. Set the date and time for publishing
5. Click "Schedule"

Native scheduler limitations:

• Can only schedule up to 3 months in advance
• Time must be at least 1 hour from current time
• Time options are in 30-minute increments (you can type exact times)
• Cannot edit a scheduled post once confirmed — must delete and reschedule
• No bulk scheduling — each post individually
• No multi-account management
• No approval workflows or team collaboration
• Works the same for personal profiles and company pages

Method 2: Third-Party Scheduling Tools

If you manage multiple accounts, need bulk scheduling, or want team collaboration, third-party tools fill the gaps LinkedIn's native scheduler leaves:

Notable exception: Hootsuite does not support LinkedIn document/carousel scheduling as of 2026.

Schedule LinkedIn carousels alongside all your other platforms. PostEverywhere lets you plan, schedule, and publish LinkedIn carousels, Instagram posts, TikToks, and more from one calendar. Start your free trial.

LinkedIn Carousel Engagement Data

The numbers make a compelling case for carousels:

Beyond raw engagement rates:

• Carousels generate 2-3x more dwell time than single-image or text posts (15-20 seconds vs 8-10 seconds)
• Posts with 61+ seconds of dwell time average 15.6% engagement rate
• Posts with less than 3 seconds of dwell time see only 1.2% engagement
• A Buffer experiment found the carousel version of the same content got 4x more engagement and 12 new leads in a week
• Carousels generate 2x higher click-through rates than single images

Personal Profile vs Company Page

This matters more than most people realize:

• Personal profiles get 2.75x more impressions and 5x more engagement than company pages
• Personal profiles achieve 7-8% engagement vs 1-2% for company pages
• Employee-shared content gets 5-10x higher engagement than brand posts

The takeaway: Post carousels from your personal profile when possible, especially for thought leadership content. Reserve company page posts for official announcements and branded content.

How the LinkedIn Algorithm Treats Carousels

LinkedIn's algorithm heavily rewards carousels because of how users interact with them:

Dwell Time (The #1 Hidden Metric)

LinkedIn's own engineering blog describes how they use dwell time to rank content. Carousels naturally generate more dwell time because users must swipe through multiple slides. Each swipe = time spent = positive signal.

Dwell time benchmarks:

• >15 seconds: LinkedIn's reach multiplier kicks in
• >61 seconds: Average 15.6% engagement rate
• <3 seconds: Only 1.2% engagement (algorithm suppresses)

Completion Rate

How often people swipe to the last slide. Carousels with 60%+ completion rate get a significant algorithmic boost. This is why slide count matters — enough slides to generate dwell time, but not so many that people abandon before the end.

On-Platform Retention

Carousels keep users on LinkedIn (no outbound links). The algorithm rewards content that doesn't send people away from the platform.

The First 60 Minutes

Initial engagement in the first hour determines whether LinkedIn distributes your carousel to a wider audience. Post when your audience is most active — Tuesday through Thursday, 8-10 AM in your target audience's timezone, with Wednesday at 9 AM being the peak engagement window.

Post at the perfect time every time. PostEverywhere's best-time-to-post feature analyzes your audience to find optimal posting windows across LinkedIn and every other platform. Try it free.

Design Best Practices

Slide 1: The Hook

Slide 1 is the only slide visible in the feed. It must stop the scroll.

• Keep text under 8-10 words
• Use bold, benefit-driven headlines OR curiosity-piquing questions OR striking statistics
• Make it clear what the viewer will get by swiping
• Effective hooks: "8 Visuals That Will Help You Make More Money," "From 1K to 50K Followers in 90 Days," "7 Things Marketers Get Wrong About LinkedIn"

Visual Consistency

• Use the same color palette, fonts, and layout across all slides
• Stick to 2-3 brand colors and 1-2 fonts
• Maintain uniform spacing throughout
• Avoid mixing aspect ratios between slides — it creates jarring transitions

Text and Typography

• Headers: 40-60pt minimum
• Body text: 24-36pt minimum, never below 18pt
• One idea per slide — carousels are visual, not text walls
• Use sans-serif fonts (Helvetica, Arial, Montserrat, Open Sans) for readability
• High contrast between text and background
• Use semi-transparent overlay behind text when placing on images

Swipe Cues

Add visual cues that encourage swiping: arrows, text that gets cut off at the edge, overlapping design elements that bleed from one slide to the next. These subtle cues increase completion rates.

The Final Slide: CTA

Every carousel should end with a clear call-to-action. One CTA, not three competing ones. Examples: "Follow for more," "Comment your experience," "Download the template (link in comments)," "Share this with your team."

Caption Best Practices

• Keep to 300-500 characters — enough context without competing with slides
• Start with a strong opening line addressing the problem or outcome
• Don't reveal the full value in the caption (drive people to swipe)
• Consider posting hashtags as a first comment to keep the caption clean
• Use 3-5 relevant hashtags for discoverability

Carousel Content Ideas That Perform

Highest-Performing Formats

1. Educational/How-To Guides — Step-by-step tutorials, one step per slide. High save rate.
2. Tips and Listicles — "5 Ways to..." / "10 Tips for..." format. Easy to swipe through.
3. Data and Insights — Statistics, research findings, benchmarks. High save and share rate.
4. Case Studies — Client transformations, before/after, real results.
5. Myth-Busting — "Myth vs Fact" slides. High share rate.
6. Checklists — Actionable checklist for a specific task.
7. Comparison Posts — Compare strategies, tools, or approaches side by side.
8. Resource Lists — Tool roundups, reading lists, template collections.

Content Repurposing

You don't need to create carousel content from scratch every time:

• Blog posts → Extract headings and key points as slide titles
• X/Twitter threads → Convert individual tweets to slides
• Webinar recordings → Pull key insights and steps
• Email newsletters → Repurpose top-performing content
• Podcast episodes → Highlight key quotes and themes
• Case studies → Summarize customer success stories

Tools like Contentdrips and Taplio can automate much of this conversion.

Common Mistakes to Avoid

Design mistakes:

1. Too much text per slide — aim for 10-30 words, not paragraphs
2. Inconsistent branding — different fonts, colors, or layouts across slides
3. Ignoring mobile — always preview on a phone before publishing
4. Poor contrast — text that doesn't stand out from the background
5. Inconsistent page sizes in PDF — causes display glitches

Content mistakes: 6. Weak first slide — no hook, no curiosity gap, no reason to swipe 7. No CTA on the final slide — always tell viewers what to do next 8. Multiple competing CTAs — one clear CTA per carousel 9. Revealing everything in the caption — the caption should drive swipes, not replace the carousel

Need help creating carousel content? PostEverywhere's AI content generator writes captions, generates hashtags, and plans content ideas for LinkedIn and every other platform. Try it free.

Strategy mistakes: 10. Uploading as images instead of PDF — must be a document for the swipeable experience 11. Not tracking analytics — measure what works and iterate 12. Posting from company page only — personal profiles get 5x more engagement 13. Not repurposing — carousel content can be reused across Instagram, newsletters, and X 14. Inconsistent posting — the algorithm rewards consistency over one-off viral attempts 15. Not adding alt text — missing accessibility and discoverability

Frequently Asked Questions

Can you schedule LinkedIn carousels natively?

Yes. LinkedIn's built-in scheduler supports document/PDF posts. Click the clock icon next to the Post button, set your date and time, and schedule. You can schedule up to 3 months in advance.

What file format should I use for LinkedIn carousels?

PDF is strongly recommended. While LinkedIn supports PPTX and DOCX, PDFs render most consistently across desktop and mobile devices and avoid formatting issues.

What's the best size for LinkedIn carousel slides?

1080 x 1350 pixels (4:5 portrait ratio) for maximum mobile screen real estate. 1080 x 1080 (1:1 square) also works but takes up less feed space.

How many slides should a LinkedIn carousel have?

6-12 slides is the sweet spot. LinkedIn allows up to 300 pages, but engagement drops significantly after 15 slides.

Are LinkedIn carousels still effective in 2026?

Yes. Carousels achieve 6.60% average engagement — the highest of any LinkedIn format, outperforming video, images, and text-only posts by 278-596%.

Did LinkedIn remove carousels?

LinkedIn removed the native multi-image carousel feature in June 2023 and deleted existing carousel posts in December 2023. However, document/PDF carousels are fully supported and are the dominant carousel format in 2026.

Should I post carousels from a company page or personal profile?

Personal profiles significantly outperform company pages — 2.75x more impressions and 5x more engagement. Post from your personal profile when possible, especially for thought leadership.

What tools can schedule LinkedIn carousels?

PostEverywhere, Buffer, SocialBee, SocialPilot, Planable, Sendible, and Loomly all support LinkedIn carousel scheduling. Hootsuite does not support document/carousel scheduling as of 2026.

What font size should I use on carousel slides?

Headers should be 40-60pt and body text 24-36pt. Never go below 18pt for any text to ensure mobile readability.

When is the best time to post LinkedIn carousels?

Tuesday through Thursday, 8-10 AM in your target audience's timezone. Wednesday at 9 AM is the peak engagement window for most audiences.

Related Reading

Ready to level up your LinkedIn game? These guides have you covered:

• How the LinkedIn Algorithm Works — understand what drives reach and engagement
• Best Time to Post on LinkedIn — data-backed posting windows by industry
• How to Go Viral on LinkedIn — strategies for breaking out of your network
• How to Get More LinkedIn Followers — grow your audience organically
• 100 LinkedIn Content Ideas — never run out of carousel topics
• 21 Best AI Tools for LinkedIn — speed up content creation
• LinkedIn Scheduler — schedule carousels, posts, and articles from one dashboard
• Social Media Scheduler — manage LinkedIn alongside all your other platforms
• Cross-Posting Features — repurpose carousel content across platforms
• Multi-Account Management — manage multiple LinkedIn profiles in one place

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Sources: PostUnreel, Buffer, SocialBee, LinkedIn Engineering Blog, Social Media Today, Refinelabs, Expandi