YouTube thumbnail resizer

Crop any image to a 16:9 thumbnail in HD or 4K.

Size

Output: 1280 × 720 px (landscape)

or drop it here · paste with Ctrl+V

What it does

YouTube thumbnails need a 16:9 shape and at least 640 pixels of width. Frame your image, choose HD (1280 × 720) or 4K (3840 × 2160, YouTube’s current recommendation), and download a thumbnail that fits with no black bars.

How to use it

  1. Pick a size: HD 1280 × 720, 4K 3840 × 2160.
  2. Choose your image, then drag the box to frame the part you want to show.
  3. Click “Create image” and download it at exactly the size shown.

Common uses

  • Custom thumbnails for new videos
  • Turning a screenshot or photo into a 16:9 thumbnail
  • Updating old thumbnails to YouTube’s current recommended size

Tips

  • Keep faces and text large: most people see thumbnails at a small size on their phones.
  • Leave the bottom-right corner clear, where YouTube shows the video length.

Questions

Which size should I choose?

4K (3840 × 2160) is what YouTube now recommends and looks sharpest on big screens. 1280 × 720 is the safer pick if you upload from the YouTube mobile app, which has a 2 MB limit.

What is the file size limit for thumbnails?

YouTube accepts thumbnails up to 50 MB when you upload from a computer and 2 MB from the mobile app. The tool warns you when a thumbnail is over 2 MB.

My image isn’t 16:9. What happens?

You choose which 16:9 part to keep by moving the crop box, so you decide what’s cut instead of YouTube adding bars or cropping the middle.

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