10 Dating Profile Picture Dos and Don’ts, According to Experts

Whether you’re dating over 50, dating as a Gen Zer or dating as a single parent, I think we can all agree, regardless of generations or time of life: It’s rough out there. From contra-dating to set-ups by mutual friends and “Tarzaning,” it seems like we’ve tried it all. But what if I told you that you could be making some simple tweaks to your dating profile that might help? Enter these 10 dating profile picture do’s and don’ts, the latter of which sadly seem to be incredibly common—speaking from experience. Below, I’ve chatted with Hinge’s director of relationship science, Logan Ury, and Bumble’s sex and relationship’s expert, Shan Boodram, to uncover everything you need to know about curating a visual profile that’ll have potential matches swiping right.

• Logan Ury is the Director of Relationship Science at Hinge, the dating app that’s designed to be deleted. She is a behavioral scientist turned dating coach, and the author of How to Not Die Alone. At Hinge, she leads a research team dedicated to helping people find love, and her work has appeared in The New York Times, The Atlantic, The Washington Post and more.
• Shan Boodram is a certified sex educator and intimacy expert with a M.S. in Psychology. Boodram is Bumble’s sex and relationships expert, the host of The Marriage Pact on The Roku Channel, the host of the top podcast Lovers and Friends the workshop facilitator on Netflix's Too Hot to Handle, and the author of the best-selling book The Game of Desire. She is a member of the American Sexual Health Association and is based in Los Angeles.

This is your first impression, and if you’re lucky a potential match might give it a three-second glance. That makes it imperative to show your face accurately and in good lighting. If you need to take a headshot, I recommend standing facing a window, or anywhere the light is even without harsh shadows. There’s a time and place to feel like a Caravaggio painting. This isn’t one of them. [tk link to taking selfies]

It’s not true catfishing, but it can feel like that to your date. A friend of mine recently remarked that her date had inaccurate photos of himself on his profile, which made him difficult to recognize IRL. Don’t make people play guessing games. Or, as Ury puts it, “Kiss those decade-old photos goodbye.” That doesn’t mean you’re doomed, though. Remember: The photo can be flattering. It just also needs to be accurate. (Need some tips? Here’s a PureWow guide on how to look better in pictures, according to a photographer.)

After spending the summer on dating apps, I’ve come to the conclusion that being on one kind of feels like I’m on a…meat market. Such as it is, you have to play the game if you want to win. That includes posting at least one full-body shot, which will give prospective matches a better idea of your overall appearance. 

We can’t relate to robots. Ury tells me that Hinge users report that seeing photos of someone with friends and/or family helps convey that the prospective date has a healthy social life.

As Ury has previously shared with me, you need to make it as easy as possible for someone to start a conversation. (Or, allow that you’re both at the mercy of AI conversation starters—boring!) She’s said that you should consider your profile as an opening line, and hobbies are a great way to show what makes you happy and how you spend your time. If someone else shares these interests, it’s a lot easier for them to feel emboldened to connect. Boodram adds that Bumble’s 2025 dating trends indicate that almost 46 percent of daters “say unique and quirky interests are key to attraction.”

“In a recent Bumble survey, 40 percent of Gen-Z and Millennial respondents agreed that seeing a pet in a dating app profile photo is a major turn-on,“ Boodram says. “Sharing a photo of you with your pet (or your bestie’s that you treat as your own) can showcase your soft side and make your profile stand out.”

Remember, your photos create the first impression. There are several common mistakes people often make when selecting their photos, which can make it hard to understand what they look like and who they are. Here are four things to avoid:

Yes, we do have a “mysterious stranger” trope in the rom-com genre, but in real life, this sadly doesn’t check out. “Avoid photos that make it hard to see what you look like,” Ury advises. “Don’t feature images where your face is hidden by sunglasses or heavy filters, as these can make it difficult for people to see your true features.”

I mean, who hasn’t leaned over a friend’s phone to make fun of someone who only posts group pictures? I’ve done this many times, giggling with a gaggle of girlfriends at this seemingly obvious blunder, trying to guess who the person is in a sea of similar faces. “While one group photo is great to show off your social life, having too many can make it challenging for daters to figure out who or where you are in each group photo. You don’t want to turn this into a guessing game,” Ury says.

Another complete eye roll for me and my friends is the flex—literally. As it turns out, we’re not alone. Ury shares that Hinge research reveals that gym selfies are major turn-offs for daters…so though you may love the #gymrat life…maybe don’t put that on the feed.

Dating is a complete timesuck, and it’s tempting to upload the most recent photos in your camera roll and call it a day. But, Ury says, there’s value in curation. You only get a handful of photos, and they need to effectively communicate your story. Otherwise, you’ll be in even more of a timesuck, believe me.

Above all, Boodram advises refreshing your profile from time to time to prevent it from feeling stale. That means swapping in photos from your skiing trip to a one of you in a botanical garden in the spring, or selecting a new leading photo after you’ve gotten a haircut. That, and keep things positive in your captions. Now, it’s time to meet your match.