YouTube Thumbnail URL Generator

Paste a YouTube share/watch/short/embed URL. The tool extracts the 11-character video ID and creates common thumbnail URLs.

Extract the Video ID Top ↑

function getYouTubeId( input ) {
    let url;

    try {
        url = new URL( input );
    } catch ( error ) {
        return "";
    }

    const host =
        url.hostname.replace(
            /^www\./,
            ""
        );

    if ( host === "youtu.be" ) {
        return url.pathname
            .split( "/" )
            .filter( Boolean )[0] || "";
    }

    if (
        host === "youtube.com" ||
        host === "m.youtube.com"
    ) {
        if (
            url.pathname === "/watch"
        ) {
            return url.searchParams.get(
                "v"
            ) || "";
        }

        const parts =
            url.pathname
                .split( "/" )
                .filter( Boolean );

        if (
            [ "shorts", "embed", "v" ]
                .includes( parts[0] )
        ) {
            return parts[1] || "";
        }
    }

    return "";
}

Build Thumbnail URLs Top ↑

const base =
    "https://img.youtube.com/vi/" +
    videoId +
    "/";

const thumbnails = {
    default:
        base + "default.jpg",
    medium:
        base + "mqdefault.jpg",
    high:
        base + "hqdefault.jpg",
    standard:
        base + "sddefault.jpg",
    max:
        base + "maxresdefault.jpg"
};

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Subhendu Mohapatra

Author & Instructor at plus2net

I write and maintain practical tutorials on Python, PHP, SQL, JavaScript, HTML, jQuery, and web development at plus2net. The tutorials focus on clear explanations, working examples, and code that readers can test and adapt while learning.

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