Resize an image for YouTube thumbnail

Drop images here

or click to choose - JPG, PNG, WebP, GIF or BMP. Batch supported.

Your images are processed on your own device and never uploaded to a server.

How to resize an image for YouTube thumbnail

  1. Drop your image into the box above, or click to browse your device.
  2. The dimensions are pre-filled with 1280 x 720. Keep them, or type any size you need.
  3. Choose a sizing mode: crop to fill the frame edge to edge, or fit to keep the whole picture with a white background.
  4. Download the resized image - it keeps the original format where possible.

Feed a wrong-sized image to YouTube thumbnail and it gets cropped unpredictably, letterboxed, or rejected outright. The safe answer is to resize it yourself to 1280x720 - the 16:9 canvas YouTube thumbnail expects - before you upload it.

PixSquash offers two modes. Crop (cover) scales the image to fill the whole 1280x720 frame and trims the overflow, which is what you want for a clean edge-to-edge post. Fit (contain) scales the image down until the entire picture fits inside the frame, padding the empty space with white, which avoids cutting anything off.

Choose the mode from the dropdown, and the resize happens instantly on your own device - no upload, no account, no watermark.

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X / Twitter post

Resize to 1600x900 (16:9) for X / Twitter post.

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Resize to 1200x630 (1.91:1) for Facebook link share.

WebP to JPG

Convert WebP files to JPG instantly in your browser.

GIF to PNG

Convert GIF files to PNG instantly in your browser.

Frequently asked questions

What size should a YouTube thumbnail image be?
1280 by 720 pixels, a 16:9 aspect ratio. YouTube custom thumbnails, which must be exactly this size. That is the size PixSquash sets by default on this page.
What is the difference between crop and fit?
Crop (cover) expands the image until it fills the target frame, then cuts off whatever spills over the edges - the result fills the whole canvas with no borders. Fit (contain) shrinks the image until all of it fits inside the frame, and fills the leftover space with a white background. Use crop for photos and fit for diagrams or screenshots you cannot afford to lose.
Will resizing make my image blurry?
Enlarging any image beyond its native resolution will soften it - that is unavoidable. But if your source photo is larger than 1280x720, as most phone and camera photos are, resizing actually sharpens the result on screen because the platform is no longer doing the scaling itself.
Can I resize multiple images at once?
Yes. Drop in as many files as you need and PixSquash will produce a correctly sized copy of each one.