Key YouTube Statistics
- 73% of US adults use YouTube regularly (source)
- There are more than 30 million daily active users on the platform (source)
- Over 500 hours of YouTube content are uploaded every minute, making your thumbnails essential to grab attention (source)
- Over 70% of YouTube views happen on mobile, showing that brands need to prioritize mobile-first video (source)
YouTube Image Sizes & Video Dimensions
YouTube Profile Picture
Your YouTube channel profile picture should be chosen to help you establish brand awareness. Using a recognizable logo with branded colors is typically a good choice, but if it’s a personal channel, choosing a headshot or an image that users will recognize works, too. And remember that these images show up small, so choosing simple images with plenty of white space is important. No clutter. Use Snappa’s free profile picture maker to get started!
- 800 x 800 pixels
- 1:1 ratio
- Square and round image renders at 98 x 98 pixels
- Must be JPG, GIF, BMP, or PNG files
YouTube Banner
Also sometimes referred to as “channel art” or your “channel cover image,” your YouTube banner will span the top of your entire channel when viewers click to your Page. That being said, watch out for areas of the image that may be cropped or covered; there’s a “minimum safe area” of 1546 x 423 pixels in the center of your image, which is what won’t be cropped depending on device or display types.
- 2560 x 1440 pixels
- 1.78:1 ratio
- Maximum file size of 6MB
YouTube Video Thumbnail Images
All videos allow you to choose an auto-generated thumbnail or to create one yourself, and we strongly always recommend the latter. You can create interesting, branded YouTube thumbnails that are recognizable and convey the value of the video to the viewer with both thumbnail text and images.
- 1280 x 720 pixels
- 16:9 ratio
- Maximum file size of 2MB
- Must be JPG, PNG, or GIF files
YouTube Video Dimensions
Your YouTube videos are of course an essential part of your YouTube channel, so you want to get the sizing exactly right! It’s important to always keep your video a 16:9 ratio, which allows users to rotate their phones for horizontal videos to watch them vertically and full-screen on mobile.
- 1920 x 1080 pixels for a cap level 1080 user viewing option
- 2560 x 1440 pixels for 1440 viewing option
- 3840 x 2160 for 2160 viewing option (highest quality)
- Minimum dimension of 426 x 240
- Aspect ratio of 16:9
- MOV, MPEG6, MP4, AVI, WMV, MPEGPS, FLV, 3GPP, WebM all accepted
- Max video length is 12 hours
- Max video file size is 128GB
YouTube Images Best Practices
- Choose your own thumbnail instead of using an auto-created one; creating branded thumbnails can boost brand recognition and increase clicks.
- Choose a single color scheme to use across your entire channel for cohesiveness and brand recognition.
- Think about mobile users when creating video; they often like shorter, digestible video content.
- Organize your videos into distinct playlists; you can use different thumbnail styles for each playlist type if you choose.
