YouTube thumbnail preview
See exactly how your thumbnail and title will look on YouTube before anyone else does.
Table of contents
YouTube thumbnail preview
Fill in the fields and watch a live YouTube mockup update as you type. Nothing you enter leaves this browser tab.
Three steps, no sign-up
- Fill in your details
Add thumbnail, title, channel name, avatar. Everything stays local to this tab. - Watch the mockup update
The YouTube card re-renders on every keystroke. - Check every view
Toggle home, search, sidebar, mobile to confirm the thumbnail and title still lands everywhere.
Why previewing your thumbnail and title matters
The thumbnail and the title decide the click, and they appear at different sizes on every surface: the home feed, search results, the suggested sidebar and mobile. Seeing them together at each size shows whether the text on the thumbnail is still readable and whether the title survives truncation.
Where your title gets cut on each surface
YouTube truncates titles at about 60 characters in desktop search, about 50 on the mobile home feed, about 40 on the Shorts shelf and around 70 in suggested videos. The thumbnail itself should be 1280 x 720 (16:9), up to 2 MB, at least 640 px wide.
YouTube limits the preview checks
| Field | Limit | Note |
|---|---|---|
| Video title | 100 | hard field limit; the full title is indexed |
| Description | 5,000 | keep the essentials up top |
| Channel description | 1,000 | - |
Finish polishing before you publish
- YouTube Character Counter
- YouTube Hook Generator
- YouTube Shorts Hook Generator
- YouTube Image Resizer
- YouTube Engagement Rate Calculator
- All free YouTube tools
- YouTube growth
Your thumbnail and title looks right. Now get it seen.
A clean thumbnail and title earns the first look. Real likes, comments and subscribers are what keep it in front of your viewers.
Frequently asked questions
What size should a YouTube thumbnail be?
1280 x 720 (16:9), up to 2 MB, at least 640 px wide.
How many title characters show in search?
About 60 on desktop search, about 50 on the mobile home feed and about 40 on the Shorts shelf.
Which surfaces does the preview show?
Home feed, search results, the suggested sidebar and mobile.
Is the preview pixel-perfect?
It is a close approximation of the YouTube layout, not an official rendering. Real rendering can vary by device and app version.
Is my text or image uploaded anywhere?
No. Everything is processed in your browser.
How long can a YouTube description be?
5,000 characters, with about the first 157 visible on the watch page.
How many hashtags should a YouTube video have?
Up to 3 can show near the title, and more than 60 makes YouTube ignore all of them.