YouTube Thumbnail Resizer: Resize images to the 1280×720 YouTube thumbnail size. Input: Image files and values you enter. Output: Results shown on the page and a downloaded file. Privacy: Runs in your browser: inputs and files stay on your device and are not uploaded.
How to resize for YouTube Thumbnail
- Drop your image on the box above, or tap it to choose one.
- Pick a size with the buttons: Thumbnail (1280 × 720), Channel banner (2560 × 1440), Profile picture (800 × 800), Thumbnail 4K (3840 × 2160).
- Keep Crop to fill to fill the frame, or choose Fit inside to keep the whole picture with borders.
- Click Download.
YouTube thumbnail size
YouTube now recommends custom video thumbnails of 3840 × 2160 pixels (16:9), at least 640 pixels wide, in JPG or PNG, under 2 MB when uploaded from a phone (50 MB from a computer); 1280 × 720 is still accepted. Thumbnails appear everywhere from large TV screens to tiny phone lists, so starting at full size keeps them sharp. The channel banner is 2560 × 1440, but only the centre 1546 × 423 area is safe on all devices, so keep text and faces in the middle.
Choose a size above and drop your image. If your picture is not 16:9, Crop to fill trims the top and bottom or sides evenly, which is usually what you want for screenshots and photos. Save as JPEG at 90% quality: a 1280 × 720 thumbnail is typically 150–400 KB, comfortably under the 2 MB limit. If it is still too big, lower the quality slightly.
Thumbnails with a clear face, high contrast and three or four big words tend to be readable even at the smallest sizes.
FAQ
What size is a YouTube thumbnail?
YouTube recommends 3840 × 2160 pixels (16:9), at least 640 pixels wide. 1280 × 720 is still accepted. Keep it under 2 MB if you upload from a phone.
Can I use a vertical image?
Yes, but it will be cropped to 16:9. Use "Fit inside" to keep it whole with side bars instead.
What format should a thumbnail be?
JPG is the safest choice for small file size. PNG is fine for graphics as long as it stays under 2 MB.