# YouTube thumbnail size

**3840 × 2160 pixels (16:9)** is the size YouTube recommends for a video's custom thumbnail, and **2160 × 3840
(9:16)** for a Short's. A video's thumbnail must be **at least 640 pixels wide**, a Short's **at least 640 pixels
tall**. Upload a **JPG or PNG** under **2 MB from the YouTube app on a phone**, or under **50 MB from YouTube Studio on
a computer**.

Checked on November 2, 2026, against YouTube's own help pages, linked inline and under [Sources](#sources). To see
your own thumbnail in YouTube's cards, use the free [YouTube thumbnail preview](/youtube-thumbnail-preview).

## The numbers

YouTube's [custom thumbnail help](https://support.google.com/youtube/answer/72431?hl=en) gives these:

| | Video | Short | Podcast playlist |
|---|---|---|---|
| Recommended size | 3840 × 2160 pixels | 2160 × 3840 pixels | |
| Minimum | 640 pixels wide | 640 pixels tall | |
| Shape | 16:9 | 9:16 | 1:1 |
| File type | JPG or PNG | JPG or PNG | JPG or PNG |
| File size from a phone | 2 MB | | 10 MB |
| File size from a computer | 50 MB | 50 MB | 50 MB |

YouTube's page says the image "should be as large as possible", because it is also the preview image in the embedded
player. A smaller 16:9 image, such as 1280 × 720 or 1920 × 1080, still meets the 640-pixel minimum.

The 2 MB limit applies only to uploads from a phone. If a thumbnail is over 2 MB, upload it from YouTube Studio on a
computer, where the limit is 50 MB, or save it smaller. The [YouTube Data API](https://developers.google.com/youtube/v3/docs/thumbnails/set)
that scheduling tools use also takes up to 50 MB, and only JPG or PNG.

## Who can add one

YouTube lets a channel upload its own thumbnail only once the account is
[verified](https://support.google.com/youtube/answer/171664?hl=en). Without that, you pick one of the stills YouTube
suggests. A Short's custom thumbnail can be added only in YouTube Studio on a computer, not in the app. YouTube also
limits how many custom thumbnails a channel can upload each day, by country and channel history, and every thumbnail
must follow the [Community Guidelines](https://support.google.com/youtube/answer/9288567?hl=en).

To add one on a computer, open **YouTube Studio**, choose **Content**, open the video (or the **Shorts** tab, then the
Short), and under **Thumbnail** choose **Upload file**, then **Save**. A new thumbnail can take a while to appear.

## How it shows on a phone, a computer and a TV

YouTube draws one thumbnail at many sizes. Flaghand measured its cards on youtube.com and m.youtube.com:

| Where | Picture size | Shape |
|---|---|---|
| Home, on a computer (three to a row at 1440 pixels) | 347 × 195 | 16:9 |
| Search results, on a computer | 500 × 281 | 16:9 |
| Up next, on a computer | 248 × 139 | 16:9 |
| Shorts shelf, on a computer | 218 × 326 | 2:3 |
| Home, search and Up next, on a phone | 390 × 219, the full width | 16:9 |
| Shorts shelf, on a phone | 175 × 263, two to a row | 2:3 |

So the same picture shows anywhere from 139 to 281 pixels tall. Words that read at the largest size can blur at the
smallest. The [preview](/youtube-thumbnail-preview) draws your image in each of these cards, light and dark.

**On a phone**, a vertical video with a 16:9 custom thumbnail gets an automatic 4:5 thumbnail on the home, Explore and
subscription pages instead, YouTube's help says. Your 16:9 thumbnail still shows in the watch feed, watch history and
off phones.

**On a computer and a TV**, YouTube's help counts these as non-mobile platforms, where the custom thumbnail always shows.
YouTube publishes no separate TV size. 3840 × 2160 is the full resolution of a 4K TV screen, so a thumbnail made at
YouTube's recommended size has the pixels a TV can show.

## Safe areas

YouTube's help publishes no safe area for thumbnails. What covers part of the picture is the video's length, in the
bottom right corner of every video card: 20 pixels tall, 8 pixels in from the edges on home and in search, and 4
pixels in Up next, as Flaghand measured them. On the Up next card, the smallest, a length such as 10:07 covers about
the bottom right 660 × 370 pixels of a 3840 × 2160 thumbnail; a video over an hour has a wider one. Keep faces and
words out of that corner.

The Shorts shelf shows a Short's 9:16 thumbnail at 2:3. Cut from the middle, as the preview draws it, that takes about
300 pixels off the top and bottom of a 2160 × 3840 image, so keep a Short's title and faces out of its top and bottom
eighths.

## Where Flaghand fits

Flaghand drafts YouTube videos and Shorts with their thumbnail for its owner to approve. Before approval, it checks that
the thumbnail is a JPG or PNG and that the channel is verified, since YouTube sets custom thumbnails only on a verified
channel. YouTube isn't open to every Flaghand workspace yet: Google has to review it first.
[Start a free Flaghand trial](/schedule).
For a Short's video file, see [YouTube Shorts dimensions](/docs/guides/youtube-shorts-dimensions).

## Sources

Checked on November 2, 2026.

- [Add custom thumbnails on YouTube](https://support.google.com/youtube/answer/72431?hl=en)
- [Verify your YouTube account](https://support.google.com/youtube/answer/171664?hl=en)
- [YouTube Community Guidelines](https://support.google.com/youtube/answer/9288567?hl=en)
- [YouTube Data API: Thumbnails: set](https://developers.google.com/youtube/v3/docs/thumbnails/set)

[All guides](/docs/guides.md)