How Often Should You Update Your Professional Headshot?

The short answer: when it stops looking like you. The more useful answer depends on your industry, how fast your appearance changes, and what the headshot is for.

Most professionals use headshots that are 3-5 years old. Most of those headshots no longer accurately represent the person. That disconnect costs opportunities you never know about. A recruiter doesn't recognize you. A client feels misled. A connection scrolls past your profile because the photo looks outdated.

Here's when to update and why it matters more than most people think.

The General Rule: Every 1-2 Years

A professional headshot should be updated every 1-2 years as a baseline. Not because the photo degrades, but because you change. Even if you think you look the same, subtle shifts in weight, skin, hair, and overall appearance accumulate. The camera catches what the mirror normalizes.

Two years is the outer limit for most professionals. After that, the headshot is increasingly a photo of who you were, not who you are.

When to Update Immediately

Some changes warrant an immediate update regardless of when your last headshot was taken:

Significant appearance changes:

• New hairstyle or hair color
• Grew or shaved a beard
• Started or stopped wearing glasses
• Noticeable weight change
• Major dental work

Career transitions:

• New job or new company with a different dress code or industry norms
• Promotion to leadership role where your headshot should match your seniority
• Career pivot. A tech startup headshot doesn't work for a consulting firm.
• Starting a business. Your personal brand is now your company's brand.

Platform changes:

• Joining a new company's website where you need to match the team photo style
• Speaking at a conference where organizers want a current photo
• Publishing a book or article where readers will see you in person or on video

Quality issues:

• Your current headshot was a crop from a group photo
• The photo was taken with a low-resolution camera
• The lighting, background, or expression is unprofessional

Update Frequency by Industry

Different industries have different expectations:

Corporate and Executive

Every 1-2 years. Corporate headshots appear on company websites, annual reports, and investor materials. Outdated photos undermine credibility, especially for client-facing roles. Senior executives should update with every major role change. Corporate headshot guide.

Real Estate

Every year. Real estate agents' headshots appear on yard signs, business cards, and listing portals. Clients meet you in person regularly. An outdated photo is immediately obvious and damages trust before the first handshake. Real estate headshot guide.

Law

Every 2-3 years. Law firm headshots are typically more conservative and age more slowly. But partners who've used the same headshot for a decade are common, and clients notice. Lawyer headshot guide.

Healthcare

Every 2 years. Patients choose doctors from practice websites and insurance directories. An accurate, current photo helps patients recognize their doctor and feel comfortable before the appointment. Doctor headshot guide.

Tech and Startups

Every 1-2 years. Tech moves fast and appearances change frequently. The industry is also more casual about headshots, so a slightly dated photo is less jarring than in law or finance. Still, your GitHub, LinkedIn, and company page should show the current you. Tech headshot guide.

Actors

Every 6-12 months. Casting directors need to see what you look like right now. An outdated headshot wastes everyone's time when you show up to an audition looking different. This is the one industry where frequent updates are genuinely mandatory. Actor headshot guide.

Therapists and Counselors

Every 2 years. Clients in vulnerable states are choosing who to trust. An accurate, warm, current photo matters. Therapist headshot guide.

Why People Don't Update (And Why Those Reasons Are Wrong)

"I still look the same." You don't. Ask someone who hasn't seen you in two years. Changes are gradual enough that you don't notice them yourself.

"It's too expensive." Traditional headshots cost $150-400 per session. That's a real barrier to annual updates. But AI alternatives have made this excuse obsolete. More on that below.

"I don't have time." A photographer session takes half a day including prep and travel. Again, AI changes this calculus.

"My old headshot is better than any new one would be." If your old headshot is so good it can't be improved, it's probably heavily retouched, and the gap between that photo and reality is exactly the problem.

"Nobody cares." They do. They just don't tell you. A recruiter who passes over your profile because the headshot looks outdated doesn't send you a rejection note explaining why.

The Cost of Not Updating

Hard to quantify, which is why people ignore it. But consider:

• A recruiter skips your LinkedIn profile because the photo looks dated or low-quality
• A potential client feels deceived when you look different in the meeting than in the photo
• A conference organizer uses your 5-year-old headshot in marketing materials and you cringe
• Your company's About page has a patchwork of photo styles because nobody coordinated updates

None of these generate a measurable data point. All of them happen constantly.

How AI Makes Updates Trivial

The biggest reason people don't update their headshot is that the traditional process is expensive and time-consuming. A photographer session is a half-day commitment costing $200-400. Doing that annually is impractical for most people.

AI headshot generators remove both barriers:

• Cost: $29 for 200 photos. Annual updates cost less than a single photographer session.
• Time: 15 minutes from upload to finished photos. No scheduling, no travel, no studio session.
• Variety: Update your LinkedIn, company website, and conference bio with different styles from the same generation.

The practical result: you can update your headshot whenever your appearance changes rather than waiting for the cost and time to be justifiable. Changed your hair? Generate new headshots tonight. Got new glasses? Update tomorrow. The friction is gone.

For tool comparisons, see best AI headshot apps. For the full AI vs. photographer breakdown, see our comparison guide.

Quick Guide

Your headshot is often the first impression you make. Make sure it's an accurate one.

For industry-specific headshot standards, see our complete guide to types of professional headshots.