YouTube Thumbnail specification
| Dimensions | 3840 × 2160 pixels |
|---|---|
| Aspect ratio | 16:9 |
| Orientation | Landscape |
| Platform | YouTube |
| Best format | JPG for photographs, PNG for flat graphics and text |
| Dimension basis | Exact dimensions stated by the linked primary source |
| Primary source | YouTube Help ↗ |
| Last verified |
Why 3840 × 2160?
YouTube now recommends 3840 x 2160 for standard-video custom thumbnails. It keeps the familiar 16:9 shape while providing a larger source image for high-resolution displays. The minimum is 640 pixels wide, so this canvas is six times that width. Because the shape is 16:9, a 1920 × 1080 frame grabbed from your own video needs no cropping, but it is doubled in each direction to reach 3840 × 2160, and an older 1280 × 720 design is tripled, both without any warning, so fine lettering can look soft. Rebuild text-heavy designs at full size if you can. Crop to fill is the default here: a 4032 × 3024 phone photo is scaled to 3840 × 2880 and loses 360 pixels from the top and 360 from the bottom, a quarter of its height.
Before you upload
Upload limits depend on the device: YouTube allows up to 50 MB from a computer but only 2 MB for a video thumbnail uploaded from a phone. A detailed photo at 3840 × 2160 saved as JPG at the default quality of 82 can pass 2 MB, so if you will upload from mobile, check the file size in the result line and lower the quality before resizing again. YouTube's help names JPG and PNG as upload formats, so choose one of those rather than WebP. A portrait phone photo fits poorly: Crop to fill keeps only the band through its middle, about 42 per cent of its height, while Fit whole image shrinks it to 1620 × 2160 with bands of background colour about 1110 pixels wide at each side. If the video itself is vertical, YouTube replaces a 16:9 custom thumbnail with an auto-generated 4:5 one on the home, explore and subscription pages, so this canvas suits horizontal videos best. Custom thumbnails also need a verified account.
Source and verification
YouTube now recommends a 3840 by 2160 16:9 custom thumbnail for standard videos. Check the YouTube Help guidance ↗.
Last verified: . Platform requirements and visible crops can change, so check the linked primary guidance before a time-sensitive upload.
How to resize an image to 3840 × 2160
- Choose a JPG, PNG or WebP image.
- Pick whether to crop to fill the frame or fit the whole image inside it.
- Resize and download the result at exactly 3840 × 2160 pixels.
Frequently asked questions
What size is youtube thumbnail?
3840 × 2160 pixels, an aspect ratio of 16:9. Add an image above and it is resized to exactly that in your browser.
What aspect ratio is youtube thumbnail?
16:9. It is landscape, so this page starts on Crop to fill, which trims the top and bottom of a taller-shaped original; Fit whole image keeps all of it and pads the sides. Crops are always taken from the centre.
Which file format should I use for a YouTube thumbnail?
JPG is the safest choice for photographs, and most platforms recompress uploads anyway. Use PNG for crisp flat graphics and text, and WebP when file size matters more than compatibility. No format keeps transparency here, because the resizer paints the background colour, white by default, behind every image.
Other image sizes
Need a size that isn't listed? Use the social media image resizer, or resize to any exact pixel size.