YouTube Thumbnail Resizer (1280×720, 16:9)

Make any image fit a YouTube thumbnail: it's cropped to fill a 16:9 frame at 1280×720, keeping the centre, and saved as a JPG or PNG that YouTube accepts. Resizing happens in your browser, with nothing uploaded.

How to use YouTube Thumbnail Resizer

Drop an image here or choose a file.
It's resized and cropped to 1280×720 straight away. For 4K, pick YouTube: Thumbnail, 4K (3840×2160) from the Size for list.
Choose JPEG or PNG as the format; YouTube lists JPG and PNG as thumbnail formats.
Download the thumbnail and upload it in YouTube Studio.

Frequently asked questions

What size should a YouTube thumbnail be?

YouTube Help says to make it as large as possible and recommends 3840×2160 pixels, with a minimum width of 640 pixels and a 16:9 aspect ratio. 1280×720 is a common, widely used size that meets those rules.

What is the file size limit for a thumbnail?

According to YouTube Help, 2 MB when you upload from a phone and 50 MB from a computer. A 1280×720 JPEG is usually far below 2 MB; a 4K PNG can be over it, so use JPEG then.

Which format should I use?

JPG or PNG, the formats YouTube Help names. The tool can also save WebP and AVIF, but don't use them for thumbnails.

Why can't I upload a custom thumbnail?

YouTube only allows custom thumbnails on verified accounts. Also check the file size limit and the format.

What about Shorts thumbnails?

YouTube Help recommends 9:16 for Shorts, at 2160×3840, with a minimum height of 640 px, and they can only be added in YouTube Studio on a computer. Pick YouTube: Shorts thumbnail (1080×1920) from the Size for list for the right shape.

Will my image be stretched?

No. It's scaled to fill 1280×720 and the edges that don't fit are cropped, keeping the centre.

Is my image uploaded?

No. Resizing happens in your browser.

YouTube thumbnail requirements

From YouTube Help's custom thumbnail page.

	Videos	Shorts
Recommended size	3840×2160	2160×3840
Minimum	640 px wide	640 px high
Aspect ratio	16:9	9:16
File size	2 MB from mobile, 50 MB from a computer	50 MB, from a computer only
Formats	JPG or PNG	JPG or PNG

Making it readable

Thumbnails are often shown small in search and suggestions, so use large text and one clear subject.
YouTube shows the video length in the bottom-right corner; keep important text away from it.
Need a channel banner too? The Size for list has YouTube Channel banner (2560×1440). For other sizes, use the image resizer, and if a file is too big, the image compressor.

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