YouTube thumbnail size
A YouTube thumbnail should be 1280 by 720 pixels (16:9), a JPG, PNG or GIF, and under 2 MB. How to make one that is sharp and accepted first time.
Last updated
In short: YouTube thumbnails should be 1280 by 720 pixels in 16:9, saved as JPG, PNG or GIF, and under 2 MB. The minimum width is 640 pixels.
YouTube thumbnails at a glance
| Size | 1280 × 720 (16:9) |
|---|---|
| Minimum width | 640 pixels |
| Format | JPG, PNG or GIF |
| File size | Under 2 MB |
Last checked against YouTube thumbnails's own documentation on . Limits change; if something here is out of date, the tool will still tell you exactly what your file is.
Getting under 2 MB
A 1280 by 720 PNG with a photo in it is often 2 to 3 MB. Saving it as a high-quality JPG brings it to a few hundred kilobytes with no visible change.
A still from the video itself
Extract Frames saves the exact frame you want as a PNG, which you can then crop to 16:9 and compress.
Questions
What size is a YouTube thumbnail?
1280 by 720 pixels, 16:9, under 2 MB.