A Twitch panel is one of the boxes that appears below your video on your channel page. Each panel is an image plus a short text caption plus an optional link. Panels are what people read when they visit your channel for the first time and decide whether to follow.
Most channels have far too many panels, or far too few. This article gives example panel sets for three common channel types and the design principles that make them work.
Why panels matter
The Twitch channel page is the third place a new viewer looks at, after the stream itself and the chat. Panels are the only static element on the page that the streamer fully controls.
A good panel set tells someone visiting your channel:
- Who you are in one sentence
- What you stream and when
- How to support the channel (subs, donations, sponsors)
- Where to find you off-Twitch
That is four pieces of information. Four panels can do this. Twelve panels usually buries the same content under noise.
What a panel can hold
Twitch allows up to 15 panels per channel. Each panel can include:
- A clickable image up to 320 by 100 pixels
- A title shown above the image
- A description block underneath, with limited markdown formatting and one clickable link
- An optional outbound URL when the image itself is clicked
Panels render on desktop only. The mobile Twitch app does not show panels, so anything critical must also be in your channel description or chat commands.
A starter panel set: small chat-led channel
For a new channel under 100 followers, four panels is enough:
- About me. A photo or chat avatar, two sentences on who you are.
- Schedule. Your stream times in plain text.
- Socials. A single panel listing your Twitter or Bluesky, Discord, and YouTube, each with the URL.
- Setup. A short list of your microphone, camera, and keyboard if anyone has asked.
Four panels. A new visitor reads all four in under 30 seconds.
A working panel set: established gaming channel
For a channel with regular streams and an active community, six to eight panels:
- About. Streamer photo, 2 to 3 sentences.
- Schedule. Stream times.
- Discord. Discord server invite with a one-line description.
- Subscriber benefits. What subs get (custom emotes, ad-free, sub-only chat moments, etc.).
- Donations. A single donation link with the message "tips are optional, here if you want to".
- Specs. Your hardware and peripherals, with affiliate links where applicable.
- YouTube. Link to your highlight or VOD channel.
- Charity. Active charity stream or any campaign you support.
Eight panels. Anything more starts to look like clutter.
A creator-focused channel
For a channel oriented around tutorials, education, or business content:
- Bio. Who you are professionally, what you teach.
- Booking. A link to book consultations, courses, or services.
- Books or resources. Affiliate links to anything you reference.
- Schedule and topics. A panel listing what you cover when.
- Newsletter. A link to your email list.
- Discord community. The community server invite.
Six panels. Less noise, more signal toward the channel's commercial offer.
Design principles that work
Three rules for all panel images:
- Use the same colour palette across every panel. Three colours maximum: a background, a primary, an accent.
- Keep text on the image short. 1 to 4 words. The full description goes in the text below the image.
- Use the same font on every panel. Two fonts maximum.
Practical execution:
- Canva, Figma, or Photoshop all work. A free Canva template for Twitch panels can produce a clean set in 20 minutes.
- Save images as PNG with a transparent background if your channel's overall background colour might change.
- Re-export at 320 by 100 pixels exactly. Larger images get scaled down with quality loss.
What to avoid
A few patterns common in early streams:
- A panel for every social platform you have ever made an account on. Two or three socials is plenty.
- Animated GIF panels. Visual noise that competes with your stream for attention.
- Panel images with all of the information embedded as text. The text block beneath is the place for text; the image is the place for the visual cue.
- Multiple panels with overlapping content. A separate Discord, Community, and Server panel is three places for one thing.
Order matters
Twitch panels are read top to bottom, left to right. Standard order:
- Top: who you are (About)
- Middle: practical info (Schedule, Discord, Setup)
- Bottom: support links (Subs, Donations, Affiliate)
Visitors scan in F-shapes. The first two panels in the top row do the most work. Put your most important panels first.
When to refresh panels
Twice a year is enough. Update when:
- Stream times change
- A sponsor obligation requires a logo or link
- Your channel branding gets a refresh
- A linked service shuts down (this is the most common silent breakage)
Run through your own channel as a guest once a quarter. Click every panel link. If a link is dead, that panel is harming the channel.
The single most useful panel
If you have time to make exactly one good panel, make the Schedule panel. A visitor who knows when you stream is far more likely to come back than one who does not. Everything else can wait.