A free YouTube thumbnail resizer for videos and Shorts, at the sizes YouTube recommends, in your browser.
Drop your photos or frames and get YouTube thumbnails for videos and Shorts, each crop on your subject. It all happens in this browser.
Your photos
Sizes
Your images
Add a photo to see it in every size you picked.
Everything happens in this browser, so your photos never leave your computer. Pictures are resized with Lanczos 3, saved as JPG with Google's JPEGli or as PNG with OxiPNG, and scored with SSIMULACRA 2.
This free YouTube thumbnail resizer turns any photo or frame into YouTube thumbnails for videos and Shorts, at the sizes YouTube recommends now.
That's 3,840 × 2,160 for videos, not the 1,280 × 720 most guides still give, and 2,160 × 3,840 for Shorts. Nothing is uploaded.
Here are YouTube's thumbnail sizes and rules in 2026, with examples, and how this resizer did against Buffer's.
TL;DRKey takeaways
What is a YouTube thumbnail resizer?
A YouTube thumbnail resizer cuts a photo or a frame from your video to the exact size of a YouTube thumbnail, so it looks sharp on every screen.
This one makes the 4K video thumbnail, a smaller one for uploading from a phone, and the vertical Shorts thumbnail.
YouTube thumbnail sizes in 2026
Here's every size YouTube's help page gives:
- Pixels
- 3,840 × 2,160
- Shape
- 16:9
- File limit
- 50 MB on a computer, 2 MB on a phone
- Pixels
- 1,280 × 720
- Shape
- 16:9
- File limit
- 2 MB from a phone
- Pixels
- 2,160 × 3,840
- Shape
- 9:16
- File limit
- 50 MB
The 1,280 × 720 is a smaller 16:9 for uploading from a phone, where the limit is 2 MB.
YouTube's thumbnail rules
YouTube's custom thumbnail page sets a few rules worth knowing:
- Shape – 16:9 for videos, 9:16 for Shorts, and 1:1 for podcast playlists.
- Smallest – 640 pixels wide for videos and 640 pixels tall for Shorts.
- Formats – JPG or PNG.
- File size – 50 MB from a computer, 2 MB from a phone, 10 MB for podcasts from a phone.
- Vertical videos – a 16:9 thumbnail on a vertical video is swapped for an automatic 4:5 one on the home, explore and subscription pages.
- Verified accounts – you can upload your own thumbnail once your account is verified.
The resizer keeps every file under its limit, so an upload from your phone isn't rejected.
Examples
This is my own photo of Panama City at sunset, cut to a video thumbnail and a Shorts thumbnail by this resizer:
The video thumbnail keeps the sun and the skyline, and the Shorts one keeps the sun near the top.
Compared with Buffer
Buffer has no YouTube thumbnail resizer page; its address answered "page not found" on October 1, 2026. Its YouTube resizer page offers one size:
- This resizer
- 3
- Buffer's YouTube page
- 1
- This resizer
- 3,840 × 2,160, YouTube's own size
- Buffer's YouTube page
- 1,280 × 720
- This resizer
- 2,160 × 3,840
- Buffer's YouTube page
- None
- This resizer
- Fitted for you
- Buffer's YouTube page
- Listed only
- This resizer
- Never
- Buffer's YouTube page
- After your first 5 images
On the same photos, this resizer's JPGs scored within about a point of Buffer's and were 13% to 24% smaller.
Where these sizes come from
Every size and rule here is from YouTube Help: Add custom thumbnails, checked on October 1, 2026.
Who is the YouTube thumbnail resizer for?
It's for anyone who uploads to YouTube:
- YouTube thumbnail downloader – creators studying other channels' thumbnails
- YouTube keyword tool – creators picking a video's topic
- YouTube hashtag generator – creators tagging a video
- Remove background – creators cutting themselves out for a thumbnail
Editors use it to turn a frame from the video into every thumbnail in one go.
More free image resizers
Here are the other resizers:
- YouTube image resizer – thumbnails, banners and the profile picture
- Social media image resizer – every size of 11 networks
- Image resizer – any size, or a percent
They all work in your browser, with every size from the network's own pages.
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YouTube thumbnail resizer FAQs
Questions about the YouTube thumbnail resizer? Here's what to know.
A YouTube thumbnail resizer cuts a photo to the exact size of a YouTube thumbnail.
This one makes video, phone-size and Shorts thumbnails.
YouTube recommends 3,840 × 2,160 pixels for videos, at 16:9.
The smallest it takes is 640 pixels wide.
YouTube recommends 2,160 × 3,840 pixels for Shorts, at 9:16.
The smallest it takes is 640 pixels tall.
It's 50 MB from a computer and 2 MB from a phone.
The resizer keeps each file under its limit.
Yes, the YouTube thumbnail resizer is free, with no account and no limit.
It runs in your browser, so it costs nothing to run.
No, the YouTube thumbnail resizer works in your browser.
Your photos never leave your computer.
I did.
I'm Navid Moazzez, and the YouTube thumbnail resizer is one of my free tools on navid.me.
Read more about me.
Navid Moazzez
AI business strategist & AI OS builder
Navid Moazzez helps creators and founders master AI and build their own AI Operating System (AI OS) to automate their business and life.
Navid.me is reader-supported. When you buy through links on this site, I may earn an affiliate commission. Learn more.
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