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Preview your YouTube thumbnail before you publish

Drop in a thumbnail and see it at the size people scroll past it: on the home page, in search, beside a video and on a phone, in light and dark, next to up to three others. Add your title, channel and video length. Nothing leaves your device.

or drop one here, or paste it with ⌘V. JPG, PNG, WebP or GIF.

What you can check

  • Real size

    Each layout shows thumbnails at the width they get on a laptop or a phone, so small text looks as small as it will.

  • The corner the length covers

    The video's length sits over the bottom-right corner everywhere. Keep faces and words out from under it.

  • Light and dark

    Plenty of people browse in dark mode. Check that your edges and colours still stand out on a black page.

  • Four places it shows

    The home page, search results, the Up next column beside a video, and a phone's feed, where thumbnails go edge to edge.

  • Your title and channel

    Type the real title to see where it wraps, and whether the picture and the words tell the same story.

  • Next to other thumbnails

    Add up to three more thumbnails, other versions of yours or another channel's, and see which one stands out.

How it works

  1. Add your thumbnail

    Choose a JPG, PNG, WebP or GIF, drop it on the box, or paste it from your clipboard.

  2. Fill in the details

    Type the title, your channel's name and the video's length, and pick a channel picture if you like.

  3. Look at every layout

    Switch between the home page, search, Up next and a phone, in light or dark, and fix what doesn't read.

Make the thumbnail in Orcanva, and preview it as you go

Orcanva's editor has this preview built in: press Preview to see your design in every layout while you work on it, then download it at exactly 1280×720. Free, with a Google or email account.

Make a thumbnail

Questions

Is it free?
Yes, with no account, no limit and no watermark. It all runs in your browser.
Is my thumbnail uploaded anywhere?
No. Your browser shows the image straight from your device. The title, channel and picture you type stay in this browser too.
Is this the real YouTube page?
No. It's a mock layout that copies the sizes thumbnails are shown at, not YouTube's own design, and it isn't affiliated with YouTube. The sizes change from time to time; these were last checked in November 2026.
Can I compare it with other thumbnails?
Yes. Add up to three more images and see them mixed in with other videos or side by side. They're shown from your device too, never uploaded.
What size should a YouTube thumbnail be?
1280×720 pixels, a 16:9 ratio, which is what YouTube recommends. Pictures in other shapes show between black bars.
Why does the length cover part of my thumbnail?
The video's length sits over the bottom-right corner in every layout, so whatever is under it is hidden. Keep faces, text and logos out of that corner.
Why does it look so small?
That's the size people see it at. On a laptop a thumbnail in the Up next column beside a video is about 288 pixels wide, and one on the home page about 360. When the window is too narrow, the page shrinks the whole mock and says by how much.

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