YouTube thumbnail downloader
Get the cover image of any public YouTube video in every size YouTube provides — useful for reference, presentations or checking how your own thumbnail looks.
How to use the YouTube thumbnail downloader
- Paste a YouTube video link (watch, youtu.be, Shorts or embed) or the 11-character video ID.
- Press Get thumbnails — available sizes appear with previews.
- Download the size you need or copy its image address.
When it's useful
- Saving your own video's thumbnail when you lost the original file
- Checking how a thumbnail looks at different sizes
- Adding a video preview image to a blog post that links to the video
Limits to know
- Only thumbnails YouTube publishes are available. Older or low-resolution videos often have no maximum-resolution version, and it's marked as unavailable.
- Thumbnails belong to the video's creator. Use them for reference or with permission.
- This tool doesn't download videos.
Your privacy
Thumbnails load straight from YouTube's image servers. We don't store the links you check.
Questions
Why is 'Maximum resolution' unavailable for some videos?
YouTube only creates a 1280×720 thumbnail when the uploaded video or custom thumbnail is HD. The tool checks each size and hides the ones that don't exist.
Does it work with Shorts?
Yes. Paste a youtube.com/shorts/ link and the video ID is read from it.
Can I download private videos' thumbnails?
No. Only public and unlisted videos have publicly accessible thumbnails.