Best YouTube Thumbnail Dimensions
What resolution and aspect ratio to design at if you're creating your own YouTube thumbnails.
This is about designing a new thumbnail to upload, not downloading an existing one. YouTube's own creator guidelines are specific about the size, ratio, and file constraints that give the best result across devices.
Recommended canvas size
Design at 1280 × 720 pixels. This matches the maxresdefault thumbnail variant YouTube commonly serves for eligible videos, so your thumbnail stays crisp on large displays and TVs instead of being upscaled.
Aspect ratio
Use a 16:9 ratio to match the video player. Thumbnails with a different ratio get cropped by YouTube's interface in ways you don't control, which can cut off text or faces near the edges.
Minimum width and file size
YouTube requires a minimum width of 640 pixels for custom thumbnail uploads, and caps the file size at 2MB.
Safe margins for text and faces
Keep important text and faces away from the outer 5-10% of the frame. Thumbnails are cropped slightly differently across the homepage grid, search results, Shorts shelf, and mobile app, so anything near the edge risks being trimmed.
File format
JPG, PNG, GIF (non-animated), and BMP are all accepted, but JPG at a sensible quality setting gives the best balance of sharpness and file size for photographic thumbnails.
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