YouTube Thumbnail Size

The recommended YouTube thumbnail, banner, and video dimensions for 2026

Your thumbnail is the first thing people see when they're scrolling through YouTube. A blurry or poorly cropped thumbnail can tank your click-through rate, even if the video itself is great. So getting the dimensions right matters more than most creators realize.

What size should a YouTube thumbnail be?

The ideal YouTube thumbnail size is 1280 x 720 pixels with a 16:9 aspect ratio. This is the same resolution as 720p HD video, which makes sense - YouTube designed thumbnails to match their video player proportions. The minimum width YouTube accepts is 640 pixels, but you should always go with the full 1280x720 for the sharpest result.

YouTube's thumbnail file size limit is 2 MB, and it applies whether you're uploading from desktop or mobile. Go even a few kilobytes over and YouTube will reject the upload, so export your thumbnail clean and check the file size before you upload it. Supported formats are JPG, PNG, GIF, and WEBP - JPG and PNG are your best options for quality and file size.

For podcast playlists, YouTube uses a 1:1 square aspect ratio for thumbnails instead of the standard 16:9. Keep that in mind if you're running a podcast channel.

Thumbnail safe zones - what gets covered?

There's a catch with YouTube thumbnails that trips up a lot of creators. YouTube overlays the video duration in the bottom-right corner of every thumbnail. That timestamp badge covers roughly a 10-15% area in that corner, so avoid putting any text or important visual elements there. If your call-to-action or face is partially hidden behind "12:34", that's a problem.

On mobile, thumbnails display smaller and tighter, so keep your main subject large and centered. Text on thumbnails should be big and bold - if you can't read it when the thumbnail is the size of a postage stamp, it's too small.

YouTube Channel Banner Size

Your channel banner (also called channel art) displays at the top of your YouTube channel page. The recommended upload size is 2560 x 1440 pixels, but here's where it gets tricky - YouTube shows different crops depending on the device.

The text and logo safe area is 1235 x 338 pixels in the center of the image - that's the only part guaranteed to show on every device without cropping. Put your channel name, logo, and any important text within that zone. The minimum upload size is 2048 x 1152 pixels, and the max file size is 6 MB.

YouTube Profile Picture Size

Your YouTube profile picture (channel icon) should be 800 x 800 pixels - a perfect square. YouTube crops it into a circle, so keep everything important within a centered circular area. Don't put text or details near the corners because those will get cut off.

The minimum accepted size is 98 x 98 pixels, but anything under 800x800 looks noticeably blurry on desktop and tablet screens. Supported formats are JPG, PNG, BMP, and GIF, with a 15 MB file size limit.

YouTube Video Upload Dimensions

For standard YouTube videos, the recommended upload resolution is 1920 x 1080 pixels (1080p Full HD) with a 16:9 aspect ratio. YouTube supports resolutions up to 4K (3840 x 2160) and even 8K, but 1080p is the sweet spot for most creators - it looks great and doesn't require massive file sizes.

YouTube also accepts other aspect ratios and will add black bars (letterboxing or pillarboxing) to fit the player. But 16:9 fills the player completely, so that's what you want. The maximum upload file size is 256 GB, and videos can be up to 12 hours long. YouTube recommends MP4 format with H.264 video codec and AAC audio, though it also accepts MOV, AVI, WMV, WebM, and several others.

YouTube Shorts Dimensions

YouTube Shorts use a vertical 9:16 aspect ratio at 1080 x 1920 pixels. Shorts can be up to 3 minutes long (expanded from 60 seconds in late 2024). The minimum resolution is 720 x 1280 pixels. Square 1:1 videos also qualify as Shorts, so you have some flexibility. The recommended format is MP4 with H.264 video codec at 30fps or 60fps.

Keep critical content within the safe zone: leave about 180 pixels from the top edge, 390 pixels from the bottom edge, and 60 pixels from each side. That gives you an effective safe area of roughly 960 x 1350 pixels centered in the frame. YouTube's UI overlays (channel name, description, sound info, action buttons) cover the margins outside this zone.

Shorts thumbnails follow the same specs as regular video thumbnails - 1280 x 720 pixels at 16:9. And yes, uploading below 720x1280 resolution will cause visible pixelation on larger phone screens, so don't cut corners on resolution.

YouTube Live Stream Dimensions

Live streams support resolutions from 426 x 240 pixels up to 3840 x 2160 pixels (4K at 60fps). Standard horizontal streams use a 16:9 aspect ratio. YouTube now also supports native 9:16 vertical live streaming, which makes your stream discoverable in the mobile Shorts feed - a great way to reach more viewers.

The live broadcast itself can run as long as you want, but the resulting Video On Demand (VOD) archive follows the standard limits of 12 hours or 256 GB. Live stream thumbnails use the same 1280 x 720 pixel specs as regular video thumbnails.

YouTube Community Post Images

Community post images look best at 1080 x 1080 pixels (square) or 1080 x 1350 pixels (portrait). YouTube recommends the 1:1 aspect ratio because images are displayed as squares in both mobile and desktop feeds without users needing to expand them. The max file size is 16 MB.

You can upload up to 5 images in a standard text/image post, or up to 4 images for a visual image poll. Supported formats include JPG, PNG, WEBP, and animated GIFs (one of the few places on YouTube where animated GIFs are supported).

YouTube Video Watermark (Branding Icon)

The video watermark is the clickable subscription icon that appears in the bottom-right corner of your videos on desktop. The recommended size is 150 x 150 pixels with a 1:1 aspect ratio. Keep the file under 1 MB. Use a PNG with a transparent background for the cleanest look - JPG, BMP, and non-animated GIF also work.

YouTube End Screens

End screens are interactive overlays that appear during the final 5 to 20 seconds of your video. Your video must be at least 25 seconds long to be eligible. You can place up to 4 elements on screen - subscribe buttons, video links, playlist links, or external website links.

There's no separate upload size for end screens since they overlay directly onto your video. Just make sure the final 20 seconds of your 1920 x 1080 pixel video has enough blank space for YouTube's drag-and-drop elements to sit comfortably without covering important content.

Many YouTubers also stream on Twitch. If you use both platforms, check out our Twitch image size guide to get your channel graphics right there too. And if you're sharing clips on other social platforms, our TikTok video size guide and Instagram image size guide have you covered.