YouTube Shorts Thumbnail Downloader
Paste a YouTube Shorts link to download its thumbnail, including the vertical version.
Paste a YouTube Shorts link to download its thumbnail, including the vertical version.
youtube.com/shorts/VIDEO_ID and youtu.be/VIDEO_ID both work.Regular YouTube videos use 16:9 thumbnails. Shorts are vertical (9:16), and YouTube stores an extra image for them at a separate address: https://i.ytimg.com/vi/VIDEO_ID/oar2.jpg. Most thumbnail tools only return the standard 16:9 files, which crop or letterbox a Short. This page gives you both: the true vertical image and every standard size. In our thumbnail statistics study, about 24% of recent uploads had a vertical oar2 image, typically 1080x1920, while their 1280x720 file was a padded landscape frame.
Note that if a creator never set a custom frame, the vertical file may not exist for older Shorts. In that case use the 480x360 or 640x480 file, which YouTube generates for every video. If the same clip was cross-posted to TikTok, its cover there is also 9:16; the TikTok thumbnail downloader saves that one at the video's full resolution.
| Size | File | Always exists? |
|---|---|---|
| 1280x720 | maxresdefault.jpg | Only for HD uploads or custom thumbnails |
| 640x480 | sddefault.jpg | Most videos |
| 480x360 | hqdefault.jpg | Yes |
| Vertical 9:16 | oar2.jpg | Most Shorts |
Want the full list of every thumbnail file YouTube stores, with code samples? Read the YouTube thumbnail URL guide. For the standard 16:9 dimensions and recommended upload size, see the standard YouTube thumbnail size guide. For regular videos, use the YouTube thumbnail grabber on the homepage. To check how your own Shorts cover reads at small sizes before you publish it, run the image through the YouTube thumbnail tester. Live streams and premieres are another video type with their own thumbnail quirks; to grab the custom graphic one shows, see how to download a YouTube live stream thumbnail.
Copy the Shorts link from YouTube, paste it into the tool at the top of this page, and click Get Thumbnail. You can download the vertical 9:16 image or any standard 16:9 size.
Yes. Every Short has thumbnail files stored on YouTube's servers exactly like a regular video, plus a vertical 9:16 cover image that fills the Shorts feed. The horizontal files are generated automatically for all Shorts; the vertical file exists for most of them.
You set it when you upload: in the YouTube app, tap Next after recording, then tap the thumbnail preview to choose a different frame or upload your own image. Changing it after publishing depends on your account. Many creators can now edit it in YouTube Studio on desktop by opening Content, clicking the pencil icon on the Short, and replacing the image under Thumbnail, but the option is still rolling out and some accounts do not see it. If yours does not, the frame you picked at upload is the one that stays.
Sometimes. Check YouTube Studio on desktop first, since the edit-after-publish option appears there before it reaches the mobile app. If the Thumbnail field is missing or greyed out, your account has not received the feature and the only way to change the cover is to delete the Short and upload it again, which loses the existing views and comments.
The vertical cover viewers see in the Shorts feed is 9:16, around 1080x1920 pixels. The standard horizontal files still exist for a Short at up to 1280x720, but they crop the vertical frame. Full dimensions for every format are in the YouTube thumbnail size guide. To turn a 16:9 thumbnail into a 1080x1920 Shorts cover, the YouTube thumbnail resizer has a 9:16 Shorts preset that crops or pads it in the browser.
YouTube stores the vertical Shorts image at https://i.ytimg.com/vi/VIDEO_ID/oar2.jpg. Standard 16:9 files like hqdefault.jpg also exist for every Short.
That Short has no maxresdefault.jpg file. YouTube only creates it for HD uploads or videos with a custom thumbnail, and when it is missing YouTube answers with an HTTP 404 whose body is still a 120x90 grey placeholder image, so a browser shows the tiny grey box instead of an error. This tool checks the real width and steps down to the largest real file instead, which is usually 640x480 or 480x360. If a Short's thumbnail shows as a gray box or will not refresh, see why a YouTube thumbnail is not showing or updating.