YouTube Thumbnail Downloader
Get the thumbnail image URLs of any YouTube video in every available size (1280×720 down to 120×90) — paste the video, Shorts, or youtu.be link and download the image you need.
Input
Works with watch, youtu.be, Shorts, embed and live links — or a bare video ID.
Output
| Quality | Resolution | Image URL |
|---|---|---|
| No data yet | ||
Guides
Paste a YouTube link and get the direct image URL for that video's thumbnail in every size YouTube publishes — from the full 1280×720 cover image down to the 120×90 sprite. Open the link, right-click, save. No account, no extension, no watermark.
Useful when you need a video's cover art for a blog post, a newsletter, a slide, a thumbnail A/B comparison, or a link preview you're building yourself.
How to use it
- Paste the video URL into the box.
- The video ID and a table of thumbnail URLs appear immediately.
- Click (or copy) the URL for the size you want, then save the image from your browser.
Which link formats work?
All the common ones:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VIDEO_IDhttps://youtu.be/VIDEO_ID(including?t=timestamps)https://www.youtube.com/shorts/VIDEO_IDhttps://www.youtube.com/embed/VIDEO_IDhttps://www.youtube.com/live/VIDEO_ID- A bare 11-character video ID
What sizes are available?
YouTube generates a fixed set of thumbnails for every video:
| File | Size |
|---|---|
maxresdefault.jpg |
1280×720 |
sddefault.jpg |
640×480 |
hqdefault.jpg |
480×360 |
mqdefault.jpg |
320×180 |
default.jpg |
120×90 |
Why is the max-resolution thumbnail missing or blurry?
maxresdefault and sddefault only exist if the video was uploaded at (or above) that resolution. For older or low-resolution videos, YouTube serves a placeholder or nothing at all. hqdefault is the safest bet — it exists for essentially every video ever uploaded.
Does this download the video?
No. This tool only builds the URL of the still image YouTube already hosts on img.youtube.com. It doesn't touch the video itself.
Can I use the thumbnail I download?
That's between you and the copyright holder. Thumbnails belong to the person who uploaded the video (or to whoever owns the footage in it). Commentary, review, and news reporting often qualify as fair use; republishing someone's cover art as your own generally does not. Check before you publish.
Is my data private?
Yes. Nothing is fetched or uploaded — the tool simply parses the video ID out of your link and constructs the image URLs from it. The whole thing runs in your browser, so the link you paste is never sent to our servers. Loading the image itself happens between your browser and YouTube, exactly as if you'd typed the address yourself.