Video thumbnails let viewers see a quick snapshot of your video. You can choose from the options YouTube automatically generates or (if your account is verified) you can upload a custom thumbnail.
How to add a thumbnail to your video using the YouTube Studio app
Add custom or automatic thumbnails
- In the YouTube Studio app, tap Menu
then Videos.
- Select the video you want to edit the thumbnail for.
- Tap Edit
.
- Tap Edit thumbnail.
- Select your thumbnail:
- Tap Custom thumbnail to upload a custom video thumbnail from an image on your device.
- Select one of three auto-generated thumbnails.
- Confirm your thumbnail selection and tap Select.
- Tap Save.
Custom thumbnail best practices
Your custom thumbnail image should be as large as possible since it will also be used as the preview image in the embedded player.
- 1280x720 resolution (with minimum width of 640 pixels)
- JPG, GIF, BMP, or PNG image formats
- Under the 2MB limit
- 16:9 aspect ratio
Custom thumbnails are automatically fixed to 16:9 ratio, but you can zoom in or out and move the image to adjust the thumbnail.