How to download a YouTube thumbnail

Grab the cover image of any public YouTube video — handy for reaction posts, references, or archiving.

Steps

1. Paste a YouTube URL. All common shapes work: youtube.com/watch?v=…, youtu.be/…, youtube.com/shorts/…, embed, live, or a bare 11-character video ID.
2. Preview the resolutions — from maxresdefault (highest, when available) down to default.
3. Download the one you want; it's saved as a JPG.

Note: not every video has a maxresdefault image — if it's missing, use the next size down.