How to Get a YouTube Thumbnail in 3 Ways

To get a thumbnail you like from a YouTube video, there are three easy ways that are commonly used to get it done. Whether you prefer a safe, fast, or versatile solution, you can find the corresponding solution you need.

The thumbnail image is one of the decisive factors in whether the viewer will click to watch the video. Thus, many of the YouTube thumbnails are made attentively to gain more views for videos. These well-designed images are so attractive that many of you want to get them for personal use.

However, YouTube offers no way for you to download the YouTube thumbnails from videos, either published by your own or others. But that doesn't mean you don't have the chance to get YouTube thumbnails. On the contrary, the ways to grab thumbnails from YouTube are quite easy, even without the help of any official solution.

Option 1. Get YouTube Thumbnails Online

Just like downloading YouTube videos, many users prefer an online tool to download YouTube thumbnails. Indeed, using an online tool is the simplest solution to get YouTube thumbnails without any software installation. Among various YouTube thumbnail downloaders, grabbers, or extractors (they generally do the same thing), I'd like to recommend you try the one shown below. It offers thumbnail images of different qualities and won't redirect you to unrelated pages during the whole process. It will give you a bother-free and fast experience to grab YouTube thumbnails.

To get a YouTube thumbnail:

Step 1. Go to YouTube to copy the URL of the video.

Step 2. Copy the link in the address bar.

Step 3. Go to the online YouTube thumbnail grabber, paste the link into the box, then click "Download."

Step 4. Now you can preview the thumbnail image in different sizes and qualities. Click the download button above the option you like to save the image to your computer.

Step 5. Go to the "Downloads" folder to check the YouTube thumbnail.

Option 2. Get YouTube Thumbnails by Getting the Image Address

Another common way that frees you from downloading a thumbnail downloader app is to get the image address by changing the URL. By doing so, you can visit the thumbnail image directly and save it to your computer. Since it will get the image in the highest quality by default, you should try one of the other ways if you want to get a thumbnail image in inferior qualities.

To download a thumbnail image from YouTube:

Step 1. Get the video address from YouTube, for example: "https://youtube.com/watch?v=-32npUfJjUQ."

Step 2. Copy the part after the equal sign, which is the ID of the video, namely "-32npUfJjUQ."

Step 3. Now replace ID in the URL "https://img.youtube.com/vi/ID/maxresdefault.jpg" with the specific ID of the video. Then you will get "https://img.youtube.com/vi/-32npUfJjUQ/maxresdefault.jpg."

Step 4. Go to the URL via a browser and then you will see the thumbnail image of the video.

Step 5. Right-click the image and choose "Save Image As."

Step 6. Choose a folder to save the YouTube thumbnail on your computer.

Option 3. Download YouTube Thumbnails or Full Videos with a Professional Downloader

If you also need to download YouTube videos or audio files, using a versatile video downloader like EaseUS Video Downloader is a better choice. Such a tool also allows you to get thumbnails from YouTube and supports many other sites. It's a suitable choice when you need to download thumbnail images, videos, or music from YouTube often. Since it also supports downloading items in bulk, you can save much time downloading videos, songs, or thumbnails from YouTube. 

Other than YouTube, you can also download video or audio files from other sites using EaseUS Video Downloader. For example, you can download Facebook videos in HD quality, download Twitch VODs over 3 hours, or convert Twitter videos to MP3 when you need to. Don't hesitate to give it a try.

To download YouTube thumbnails:

Step 1. Open EaseUS Video Downloader on your Windows or Mac. There is a "Settings" icon from the top bar on its main interface. Click on it. 

Step 2. Check for "Download Thumbnail" option and it will automatically save the thumbnail and the video together.

Step 3. Open the video page by searching from the specific sites. Then, you'll see there are buttons you can click to choose the video format and quality. The default format of video is MP4. 

Step 4.  Click the "Download" button again to start saving the video and the thumbnail together. 

Disclaimer: Please make sure that your download behavior is legal in your country! EaseUS does not advocate downloading any video/audio for sale, distribution, or other commercial purposes.

The Bottom Line

With the thumbnail you get, you should know that you can't use it for commercial purposes or re-edit it to avoid copyright issues. Other than the ways above, there is one more trick for you to get thumbnails, which is to take a screenshot. It's even faster than using an online YouTube thumbnail extractor. But if you need a thumbnail image of high quality, this is not the best choice. Carry out the way best suited to your needs to download YouTube thumbnails within seconds.