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Why is my YouTube thumbnail blurry?

A YouTube thumbnail looks blurry when the image behind it has too few pixels for the space it fills. YouTube recommends uploading at 3840 × 2160 pixels; and if you A/B test thumbnails, any option under 1280 × 720 makes YouTube show every option at 854 × 480.

YouTube thumbnail downloaderUpdated 3 min read

Check which sizes YouTube made

Paste your video's link below. YouTube's image server keeps copies of your thumbnail from 1280 × 720 down to 120 × 90. If the HD size (1280 × 720) is greyed out, YouTube has no HD copy of this thumbnail, so anything that shows it large will look soft. If it's your video, upload a larger image.

YouTube thumbnail downloader

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Common causes and fixes

The image you uploaded was small. YouTube asks for an image "as large as possible", because the same image is the preview in the embedded player. The minimum is 640 pixels wide. That's legal, but it looks soft on a TV or a large screen. Export at 3840 × 2160, or at least 1920 × 1080, at 16:9.

It was enlarged before upload. Scaling a small screenshot or a low-resolution photo up to 1920 × 1080 doesn't add detail. Start again from the original photo or design file, at full size.

It was squeezed to fit a phone upload. From a phone, YouTube's limit for a video thumbnail is 2 MB. Apps that shrink a file to fit can soften it. Upload from a computer instead, where the limit is 50 MB.

It isn't 16:9 (or 9:16 for a Short). An image in another shape has to be cropped or fitted to the space, so less of the file fills it. Make it 16:9 for videos and 9:16 for Shorts. Our YouTube thumbnail size guide has a resizer that crops to 16:9.

An A/B test scaled it down. In YouTube's A/B testing, if any thumbnail is under 1280 × 720, all thumbnails in the test are downscaled to 854 × 480. Upload every option at 1280 × 720 or larger. See YouTube thumbnail A/B testing.

It's a vertical video. On the home, explore and subscription pages, YouTube replaces a 16:9 thumbnail on a vertical video with an automatic 4:5 one taken from the video. That frame can look softer than your design. Your own thumbnail still shows in the watch feed and watch history.

It's on your own website. If your site uses one of YouTube's smaller copies, such as hqdefault.jpg (480 × 360) or mqdefault.jpg (320 × 180), and shows it wide, it will look blurry. Use maxresdefault.jpg (1280 × 720) when the video has one. The tool above shows which sizes exist.

Make a thumbnail that stays sharp

  • Design at the final size from the start, 3840 × 2160 or 1920 × 1080.
  • Keep text large and the design simple. YouTube's own tips say to use a font that's easy to read and not to make the design too complex.
  • Export as PNG, or as JPG at high quality. Both are accepted.
  • Look at your thumbnail at small sizes too. The 320 × 180 and 120 × 90 copies above show how it reads in a list.

Sources

Questions

What size stops a YouTube thumbnail looking blurry?

YouTube recommends 3840 × 2160 pixels for video thumbnails and 2160 × 3840 for Shorts. In A/B tests, keep every option at 1280 × 720 or larger, or all of them are shown at 854 × 480.

Does YouTube compress thumbnails?

YouTube shows viewers copies it makes from your upload. In our checks, the largest copy on its image server was a 1280 × 720 JPG. Uploading a bigger, cleaner image gives those copies more to work with.

Will making my image bigger fix it?

No. Enlarging a small image adds pixels but no detail, so it stays soft. Go back to the original photo or design and export it at full size.