YouTube Thumbnail Sizes — The Complete Chart
There are two size questions people mix up: what you should upload, and what YouTube serves to the public afterwards. The first has one answer — 1280×720 — while the second is a ladder of six or more images, and which rungs exist depends on the video.
Quick answer: Upload at 1280×720 (16:9), under 2 MB, as JPG or PNG. YouTube then publishes a ladder of public sizes: maxresdefault 1280×720, sddefault 640×480, hqdefault 480×360, mqdefault 320×180 and default 120×90 — with hq720 and maxres2/maxres3 variants on some videos, plus vertical frames for Shorts.
The public size ladder
- maxresdefault — 1280×720: the largest public size; missing on videos whose owner never uploaded a large cover.
- hq720 — 1280×720: a near-twin of maxresdefault; sometimes present when maxres is not.
- sddefault — 640×480: an early 4:3-era size, still served and widely used.
- hqdefault — 480×360: the dependable rung; exists for almost every video.
- mqdefault — 320×180: 16:9 and small; good for lists and cards.
- default — 120×90: the oldest size YouTube keeps.
- oar2 / frame0 — vertical frames published for Shorts.
Upload rules for your own thumbnail
YouTube's guidance: 1280×720 is the recommended resolution, the minimum width is 640 pixels, the aspect ratio should be 16:9, and the file must stay under 2 MB. JPG, PNG, GIF and WebP are accepted. Uploading below 1280×720 removes the largest rung from your own video's ladder — which is exactly why some covers cannot be downloaded at full size.
Why a size can be missing
The ladder is a maximum, not a promise. Auto-generated covers, older uploads and some Shorts only have the small rungs. When a rung is absent, YouTube may still answer with HTTP 200 and a 120×90 grey placeholder, so the reliable test is the image's real width, not the response code.
Shorts and live streams
Shorts publish vertical frames (oar2 around 1080×1920, frame0 as the opening still) alongside any standard rungs. Live streams use the same ladder as ordinary videos, and their covers keep working after the stream ends.