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http://img.youtube.com/vi/<insert-youtube-video-id-here>/0.jpg
http://img.youtube.com/vi/<insert-youtube-video-id-here>/1.jpg
http://img.youtube.com/vi/<insert-youtube-video-id-here>/2.jpg
http://img.youtube.com/vi/<insert-youtube-video-id-here>/3.jpg

That works for small thumbnails.

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

That works for HQ but only 1 image. Question is how to get 4 HQ thumbnail images?

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5 Answers 5

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162

Are you referring to the full resolution one?:

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

I don't believe you can get 'multiple' images of HQ because the one you have is the one.

Check the following answer out for more information on the URLs: How do I get a YouTube video thumbnail from the YouTube API?

For live videos use https://img.youtube.com/vi/<insert-youtube-video-id-here>/maxresdefault_live.jpg

- cornips

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12 Comments

Thanks for the asnwer, but the link you gave to me is just for 1 maxresdefault.jpg image, how can i get 3 others in that high res?
I'm pretty sure you can't. Besides getting the other ones
So there's only one high res thumbnail?
The maxresdefault thumbnail does not always exist.
For live videos use https://img.youtube.com/vi/<insert-youtube-video-id-here>/maxresdefault_live.jpg
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31

YouTube resolutions and images

http://img.youtube.com/vi/<video-id>/<resolution><image>.jpg

Resolution
- lowest resolution
sd - Standard Definition
mq - Medium Quality
hq - High Quality
maxres - MAXimum RESolution

Image
default - Default image (1, 2, 3 shot from video, or custom uploaded)
1 - First shot from video
2 - Second shot from video
3 - Third shot from video

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This works. I don't understand why isn't this the accepted answer. No answer really provided that info which the question was is really about. WEIRD. What am I missing? for example, this works just fine: http://img.youtube.com/vi/<video-id>/hq3.jpg
11

You can simply get HQ youtube thumbnails..

http://img.youtube.com/vi/YOUTUBE_VIDEO_ID/hqdefault.jpg

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3 Comments

What's the difference between "maxresdefault.jpg" and "hqdefault.jpg"? I've noticed that while "maxresdefault.jpg" seems more commonly used, YouTube videos often don't have a "maxresdefault.jpg", but they usually have a "hqdefault.jpg".
Just noticed that (depending on the format thought) "hqdefault.jpg" adds black borders on top and bottom, whereas "maxresdefault.jpg" doesn't..
also maxres can be bigger than HQ.
10

Depending on the resolution you need, you can use a different URL:

Default Thumbnail

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

High Quality Thumbnail

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

Medium Quality

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

Standard Definition

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

Maximum Resolution

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

Note: it's a work-around if you don't want to use the YouTube Data API. Furthermore not all videos have the thumbnail images set, so the above method doesn’t work.

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3

You need to get id from:

youtube.com/watch?v=VIDEO_ID

And put it in:

i.ytimg.com/vi/VIDEO_ID/maxresdefault.jpg

I hope that I helped :D

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