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I know that one can get the YouTube video thumbnails by: https://img.youtube.com/vi/video_link/maxresdefault.jpg

But the problem is some of the videos don't show a full sized image, rather, it shows up an empty box, like this: This link shows up an empty box

Here is the link of the video that I'm trying to get the video link

Rohit Nair
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1 Answers1

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You may refer with this thread. It stated that each YouTube video has 4 generated images. The first one in the list is a full size image and others are thumbnail images.

The default thumbnail image (ie. one of 1.jpg, 2.jpg, 3.jpg) is:

https://img.youtube.com/vi/<insert-youtube-video-id-here>/default.jpg

For the high quality version of the thumbnail use a url similar to this:

https://img.youtube.com/vi/<insert-youtube-video-id-here>/hqdefault.jpg

There is also a medium quality version of the thumbnail, using a url similar to the HQ:

https://img.youtube.com/vi/<insert-youtube-video-id-here>/mqdefault.jpg

For the standard definition version of the thumbnail, use a url similar to this:

https://img.youtube.com/vi/<insert-youtube-video-id-here>/sddefault.jpg

For the maximum resolution version of the thumbnail use a url similar to this:

https://img.youtube.com/vi/<insert-youtube-video-id-here>/maxresdefault.jpg

All of the above urls are available over http too. Additionally, the slightly shorter hostname i3.ytimg.com works in place of img.youtube.com in the example urls above.

Also based from this link, be noted that YouTube only generates high-res stills for high-res videos. Hope this helps!

abielita
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