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YouTube thumbnail resizer

A 16:9 thumbnail at 1280 × 720 and under 2 MB, so YouTube Studio takes it without complaint.

Resize a thumbnail to 1280×720 and under the 2 MB upload limit that YouTube Studio enforces. It is free, needs no account and adds no watermark, and your files are not uploaded: everything runs in your browser on your device. The size limit is your device’s memory, and phones hold less; give the page a short while after one visit to save itself for offline use, and then it works offline.

Drop the thumbnail designor click to choose files. Batches welcome.
    Details

    The highest quality that fits is picked for each image; if even the lowest does not fit, the picture is made smaller.

    Working…

    Done

    Your files are processed on this device and never sent to a server. Reload the page to clear everything from memory.

    YouTube Studio rejects a custom thumbnail over 2 MB with a short error and no fix. A design exported from Photoshop or Canva as a PNG at full resolution is often 3 to 8 MB, and a screenshot from a 4K video is not 16:9 once the edges are trimmed.

    The recommended size is 1280 × 720, with a minimum width of 640. This page makes every image exactly 1280 × 720, cropped around the centre or padded, and searches for the highest JPG quality that still lands under 2 MB, so faces and text keep as much detail as the limit allows.

    Thumbnails appear tiny in search results and on phones. Check your finished file at a small size: bold words and one big face read better than detail.

    How it works

    1. Drop the thumbnail you exported.
    2. Keep 2 MB, or lower it for a faster-loading file.
    3. Press Resize the thumbnail and upload it in YouTube Studio under Details.

    In your browser, not on a server

    Resizing uses stepped downscaling on a canvas so text and edges stay sharp, and the browser encodes the result at the quality you choose. Everything happens in memory in your tab. Large batches are processed one image at a time so the page stays responsive on a phone.

    Compared with upload-based tools: Image compressors that upload your photos limit you to a few files, a small size, or a watermark until you pay. This one has no counter to reset because there is no server to keep one.

    Verify it yourself. Give the page a short while after one visit to save itself for offline use, then turn off Wi-Fi or switch to airplane mode and run the tool again. Or open your browser's developer tools (F12, or Cmd-Option-I on a Mac), pick the Network tab, and watch it while you convert. The panel above does the same count for you.

    Questions

    Is 1280 × 720 still the right size for 4K channels?

    Yes. YouTube scales thumbnails down for every screen and keeps the 2 MB cap; a 3840 × 2160 thumbnail gains nothing and is much harder to fit under the limit.

    Can I do a batch of thumbnails for a series?

    Yes. Drop them all at once; each is cropped, sized and fitted under the limit on its own, then saved together as a zip.

    Does it work for Shorts covers?

    Shorts covers are picked from a frame of the video in the app, not uploaded. For a vertical cover image elsewhere, set the fields to 1080 × 1920.

    My custom thumbnail button is missing.

    YouTube shows it only after the channel is verified with a phone number and has no active strikes. That is an account setting; the file from this page is ready for when the button appears.

    Is the file uploaded anywhere?

    No. There is no server in this process. The page is a static file and the work is done by code running inside your browser tab. Give the page a short while after one visit to save itself for offline use; then you can turn off Wi-Fi and it still works.

    More image tools

    Compress & Resize Images

    Make photos small enough to email or upload. Batch resize, set a quality, see the savings before you download.

    Remove EXIF Data

    See what a photo reveals, then delete it. The image data is copied unchanged and only the metadata is removed; a sideways JPG is re-encoded only if Apply orientation is on.

    EXIF Viewer

    Drop a photo to read its metadata, including the location it was taken. The file is read on this device, so checking a private photo does not share it.

    Crop image

    Drag a box over the part you want, pick a ratio or a circle, and download the crop. The photo never leaves this device.

    Other conversions

    Guides