Setting profile picture sometimes results in picture rotating 90 degrees

Question

Problem:

When setting a user profile picture using Microsoft.Graph PowerShell module, the resulting profile picture will be sometimes rotated 90 degrees.

Actions taken:

• Download picture from SharePoint Online library
• Compress picture conform limitations
• Set profile picture using

    Set-MgUserPhotoContent -UserId $Email -InFile $CompressedFile
  

Troubleshooting:

• Issue also occurs when manually uploading the picture in Entra ID (GUI).
• Changing resolution to a square picture helps
• Using an online compression tool helps (not changing resolution)

The issue seems random. So, I would like to have a cause I can then work around.

Thanks!

Answer 1

As per the docs, I don't see anything that should cause this. But reading the docs on profile photo specs

The supported sizes of HD photos on Microsoft 365 are as follows: 48x48, 64x64, 96x96, 120x120, 240x240, 360x360, 432x432, 504x504, and 648x648. Photos can be any dimension if they're stored in Microsoft Entra ID.

This explains why the square photo will work. My suggestion is to use other imaging tool o resize the pic to any of the above sizes and try again. If the issue persists after you optimize the photo size to standard, then reach out.

Answer 2

Microsoft is the only company that could possibly make updating a profile pic a complicated thing.