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YouTube Thumbnail Resizer

Exactly 1280x720, under 2 MB, with a visual crop so faces and text stay in frame: the full YouTube thumbnail spec in one local tool. Batch-friendly, nothing uploaded.

Drag images here or browse

JPG, PNG, WebP, GIF · up to 20 files · 80 MB and 50 MP per image · resized locally, files never leave your browser

Resize mode
Output format
Applies to JPG and WebP output (re-encoding lossy formats always loses a little)

With the lock on, set one dimension and the other follows each image automatically. Unlock and fill both to force exact dimensions.

Re-encoding removes EXIF metadata (camera info, GPS location, capture date) from every output. Orientation is applied to the pixels first, so photos stay upright.

    The thumbnail is the ad for the video

    YouTube's own data has said it for years: the thumbnail and title drive the click more than anything in the video itself. The technical part, handled above, is exact 1280x720 framing with your subject positioned deliberately and a file under 2 MB. The craft part is designing for the smallest rendering: most impressions happen in browse rows where the thumbnail is smaller than your phone's app icons. High contrast against both YouTube's light and dark themes, one focal subject, and text that survives the shrink. Batch-export a few variants here and A/B them in YouTube Studio's Test & Compare.

    YouTube thumbnail FAQ

    What is the exact YouTube thumbnail spec?

    1280x720 pixels, 16:9, under 2 MB, as JPG, PNG or WebP (GIF stills too). 1280x720 is the resolution YouTube itself recommends; smaller uploads get stretched and look soft in browse feeds on large screens. The preset above outputs exactly that, and the size badge shows you are under 2 MB.

    Why does my thumbnail look cropped in some places?

    YouTube renders thumbnails at 16:9 almost everywhere, but small surfaces (end screens, some mobile rows) shave the edges slightly. Keep faces and text inside roughly the middle 90 percent. The crop preview above shows the exact 16:9 frame over your source; drag the focal point so nothing critical touches the edges.

    What makes a thumbnail actually get clicked?

    Legibility at 168 pixels wide, because that is how most people first see it. One subject, high contrast, three words of text or fewer, faces with visible expressions. A quick test: downscale your result mentally to postage-stamp size, if the message survives, it works. Design at 1280x720, judge at 168x94.

    JPG or PNG for thumbnails?

    JPG at quality 85 for anything photographic, which is most thumbnails; it lands well under the 2 MB cap. PNG only for flat graphics with hard text edges. This tool re-encodes with the quality slider and shows the resulting bytes per file, so hitting the cap is visible instead of a surprise upload error.

    Is my thumbnail uploaded anywhere?

    Not here: cropping and resizing happen in your browser. The file goes only where you take it, YouTube Studio.

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