YouTube thumbnail sizes
Every public YouTube video has multiple thumbnail sizes generated automatically:
| Name | Resolution | URL suffix |
|---|---|---|
| Max Resolution | 1280×720 | maxresdefault.jpg |
| Standard | 640×480 | sddefault.jpg |
| High Quality | 480×360 | hqdefault.jpg |
| Medium | 320×180 | mqdefault.jpg |
| Default | 120×90 | default.jpg |
Note: maxresdefault.jpg only exists for videos uploaded in HD (720p or higher).
Why use YouTube thumbnails?
- Blog posts: Embed video previews in articles
- Social media: Share video previews on platforms that don't support YouTube embeds
- Presentations: Include video screenshots in slides
- Documentation: Reference a video with its thumbnail image
How to get YouTube thumbnail URL manually
https://img.youtube.com/vi/VIDEO_ID/maxresdefault.jpg
Replace VIDEO_ID with the 11-character ID from the YouTube URL.
For youtube.com/watch?v=dQw4w9WgXcQ, the ID is dQw4w9WgXcQ.
YouTube embed code options explained
Standard embed
<iframe width="560" height="315"
src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/VIDEO_ID"
frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>
Privacy-enhanced embed (recommended)
Uses youtube-nocookie.com — doesn't set cookies unless user plays the video:
<iframe src="https://www.youtube-nocookie.com/embed/VIDEO_ID">
</iframe>
With start time
Add ?start=90 to begin at 1 minute 30 seconds:
https://www.youtube.com/embed/VIDEO_ID?start=90
Supported URL formats
The tool handles all YouTube URL formats:
youtube.com/watch?v=VIDEO_IDyoutu.be/VIDEO_IDyoutube.com/embed/VIDEO_IDyoutube.com/shorts/VIDEO_ID- Raw 11-character video ID
When maxresdefault.jpg is missing
Not all videos have the maximum resolution thumbnail. If maxresdefault.jpg returns a 404, fall back to hqdefault.jpg (480×360). The tool automatically detects which sizes are available and only shows downloadable thumbnails.
Use cases for custom embed codes
Lazy loading: Replace the iframe with a thumbnail image and only load the iframe when the user clicks — this dramatically improves page speed. The tool generates this "lite YouTube embed" pattern.
GDPR compliance: The privacy-enhanced embed (youtube-nocookie.com) doesn't set cookies until the user actually plays the video, satisfying most EU cookie consent requirements.
Start/end time: Deep-link to a specific moment in a long video. Useful for tutorials where you want to send someone to a specific step.
Checking video availability
A video's thumbnails are publicly accessible even for unlisted videos (if you have the URL). Private videos return 404 for all thumbnail URLs — this is the easiest way to verify a video is private.
How to get YouTube video info free
- Go to YouTube Info & Thumbnails
- Paste any YouTube URL
- View video title and channel name
- Browse all available thumbnail sizes
- Click download for any thumbnail
- Generate custom embed code with autoplay, loop, start/end time, and privacy settings