Resize an image for a YouTube thumbnail

YouTube shows custom thumbnails in a 16:9 frame and caps the upload at 2 MB from a phone. Give it something else and it letterboxes or crops your image for you, usually through the part you cared about.

This page crops to 16:9 from the centre and compresses to fit under 2 MB, keeping as much resolution as the limit allows. It runs in this browser tab, so the image is never uploaded here.

What this page does, and what it cannot

Applied automatically, every time:

• Saved as JPG
• Kept within 2 MB
• Checked against the 640 × 360 pixel minimum, and flagged if it falls under
• Cropped to 1.7777777777777777:1 width to height

These are recommendations, not a gate. YouTube Help does not refuse an image that misses them — it will simply crop or scale yours itself, with results you did not choose. This page gives you control over that, rather than saving you from a rejection.

Your job, because a converter cannot judge it. YouTube Help also asks for the following, and this tool has no way to tell whether your image complies:

• Text large enough to read at the size it is actually shown
• Represents the video honestly — misleading thumbnails breach YouTube policy
• No nudity, violence or other Community Guidelines breaches, which get thumbnails turned off
• Uploading a custom thumbnail at all requires a verified channel

Common questions

Why 2 MB, when I have read 50 MB?

Both are YouTube's own numbers. Its help page gives a 2 MB limit for thumbnails uploaded from a phone and 50 MB from a computer. Since a file sized for the phone limit also uploads from a desktop, this page targets 2 MB — it works either way. If you only ever upload from a computer and want maximum quality, use the general compression tool on this site with a larger budget.

Will YouTube reject a thumbnail that is the wrong size?

No, and that is worth being clear about. Unlike a visa or passport portal, YouTube does not refuse an off-spec thumbnail — its page says "we recommend" these sizes. A wrong-shaped image still uploads; it just gets cropped or letterboxed by YouTube instead of by you, and a low-resolution one looks soft on large screens. This page gives you control over the crop rather than saving you from a rejection.

It says my image is under the 640 pixel minimum.

YouTube asks for at least 640 pixels wide, and the image you dropped in is narrower after cropping to 16:9. Enlarging it would not add any detail that was not there, so this tool tells you rather than faking it. Use a larger source image — a frame exported from the video itself is usually the best one available.

What about Shorts?

Shorts use the opposite shape — YouTube recommends 9:16, portrait rather than landscape. This page crops to 16:9 and is for ordinary videos. A Shorts preset would be a separate page, and is not built yet.