Use our clickable sections below

to keep track of what step you're on during this tutorial.

First, upload your video file

and wait for it to finish processing.

When you upload a video to YouTube,

you can choose from several preselected thumbnails

or upload your own.

You can choose a thumbnail when you upload the video,

or you can change your thumbnail later.

Once the video is done processing,

click on your thumbnail

and then continue publishing your video.

In order to upload your own thumbnails,

you must have a verified account.

Go to Youtube.com/verify to complete the process.

Once your channel is verified,

return to the video in YouTube

and click "Upload thumbnail."

Choose the file you want as your thumbnail and upload.

Now you're ready to publish your video.

If your video has already been published,

you can set or change the thumbnail

from your YouTube Studio.

From the YouTube homepage, click your avatar

at the top right of the screen

and choose "YouTube Studio."

In the panel on the left, click "Content."

Click the title of the video you want to change.

On the details page,

you can choose either the three auto-generated thumbnails

or another custom thumbnail.

Choose the one you want to use and then click "SAVE."