How to resize a picture for a YouTube thumbnail
- Choose the picture you want to use.
- Pick the size — thumbnail, channel banner or profile picture — and drag the box to frame your picture.
- Click Create photo and download it, ready to upload to YouTube.
About the YouTube Thumbnail Resizer tool
YouTube recommends thumbnails of 1280 × 720 pixels in a 16:9 shape, under 2 MB. If your picture is a different shape, YouTube adds black bars or cuts parts of it off. This resizer crops your picture to exactly the right shape and size, and you decide what stays in the frame. It also makes channel banners (2560 × 1440) and profile pictures (800 × 800). Pictures are saved as high-quality JPGs, well under YouTube's size limit, and never leave your device.
100% free
No limits, no watermarks and no sign-up.
Private
Your images are processed on your device and never uploaded.
Fast
No uploading or waiting in a queue. Results in seconds.
Works everywhere
Windows, Mac, iPhone, Android and Chromebook.
Frequently asked questions
What is the best YouTube thumbnail size?
1280 × 720 pixels, which is a 16:9 shape. YouTube accepts JPG, PNG and GIF thumbnails under 2 MB that are at least 640 pixels wide.
Will my thumbnail be under 2 MB?
Yes. It is saved as a high-quality JPG, which at 1280 × 720 is usually 200–600 KB — well under YouTube's 2 MB limit.
What size is a YouTube channel banner?
2560 × 1440 pixels. Keep important text and logos in the middle (about 1546 × 423 pixels), because that is the part shown on every device.
Can I use a picture from my video?
Yes. Save a frame from your video with Video to JPG, then resize it here. Many creators then add text to it in a photo editor.