YouTube Thumbnail Downloader

Why some resolutions show as unavailable

YouTube generates thumbnails at fixed URLs per video, but not every size is guaranteed to exist for every video — maxresdefault (1280×720) in particular is only generated for videos uploaded in HD. When a requested size isn't available, YouTube's server returns a small 120×90 grey placeholder image instead of a real error, so this tool checks the actual pixel width of what loaded and marks anything that came back as that placeholder as unavailable rather than showing it as a broken result.

The five sizes YouTube serves

From largest to smallest: Max Resolution (1280×720), Standard Definition (640×480), High Quality (480×360), Medium Quality (320×180), and Default (120×90). Default and Medium Quality are generated for essentially every public video, so they're the most reliable fallback when the higher resolutions aren't available.

Works from any link format

Paste a watch link, a youtu.be short link, a Shorts URL, an embed URL, or a live stream link — the video ID is pulled out of whichever format you paste, so there's no need to convert it first.