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🎬 YouTube Thumbnail Downloader or scraper

** Easily scrape and download high-quality thumbnails from public YouTube videos or channels using public access. Perfect for creators, analysts, or anyone needing quick access to YouTube thumbnails **

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📌 Overview

This actor allows you to extract thumbnails from YouTube videos or channels instantly. You can select the desired thumbnail quality and get structured output including metadata, resolution info, and multiple qualities.

It’s ideal for:

• Social media managers 📱
• Content creators 🎥
• Analysts and data enthusiasts 📊

✔ It should be able to scrape the thumbnail in any selected size and quality

• default
• medium
• high
• standard
• maxres

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🛠 Features

• ✅ Extract thumbnails from any public YouTube video or channel URL
• ✅ Choose thumbnail quality: default, medium, high, standard, maxres
• ✅ Get full metadata including video title, channel name, and thumbnail details
• ✅ Structured JSON output for easy integration
• ✅ Handles multiple URLs in a single run
• ✅ Provides fallback to the best available thumbnail if requested quality is unavailable

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📊 Data Provided

For each video URL, the actor provides:

1. Original video URL – The link you provided.
2. Video title – Name of the video.
3. Channel name – The channel which uploaded the video.
4. Thumbnail URL – Direct link to the thumbnail matching your preferred quality.
5. Thumbnail metadata – Detailed info including resolution, width, height, upload date, and channel.
6. Qualities – List of available thumbnail resolutions along with an explanation.

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📂 Output Fields Explained

Here’s a breakdown of the key output fields:

Field	Description
original_url	The YouTube video URL you provided.
title	Video title.
channel	Channel name.
duration	Video duration (currently N/A as this data is not available from public APIs).
thumbnail	Direct URL of the selected thumbnail.
thumbnail_metadata	Object containing detailed info about the thumbnail:
thumbnail_url	URL of the selected thumbnail.
thumbnail_id	YouTube video ID.
thumbnail_ext	File extension (currently null).
thumbnail_width	Width of the thumbnail in pixels.
thumbnail_height	Height of the thumbnail in pixels.
thumbnail_resolution	Resolution as width x height.
thumbnail_channel	Channel name.
thumbnail_upload_date	Date the thumbnail was retrieved.
thumbnail_title	Video title.
qualities	Array of available thumbnail resolutions with explanation:
resolution	Numeric resolution value (height in pixels).
thumbnail	URL of the thumbnail at this resolution.
explanation	Short description of this resolution/thumbnail.

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📥 Input

The actor requires input in JSON format. You can paste one or multiple YouTube URLs and select thumbnail quality.

Input example:

{
    "startUrls": [
        {
            "url": "https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dQw4w9WgXcQ"
        },
        {
            "url": "https://youtu.be/cmGo8hM_nhs?si=YW0Tgy37iaLeHDmY"
        },
        {
            "url": "https://youtu.be/fLexgOxsZu0"
        },
        {
            "url": "https://youtube.com/shorts/5GlgIRLQ96g"
        },
        {
            "url": "https://youtube.com/shorts/ewI-PqgGybE?si=DSrPJ28H_NujCLbl"
        }
    ],

    "thumbnailQuality": "maxres"
}

Fields explained:

Field	Description
startUrls	Array of YouTube video or channel URLs to scrape.
thumbnailQuality	Preferred quality: default, medium, high, standard, maxres.

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📤 Output Example

[
  {
    "original_url": "https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dQw4w9WgXcQ",
    "title": "Rick Astley - Never Gonna Give You Up (Official Video) (4K Remaster)",
    "channel": "Rick Astley",
    "duration": "N/A",
    "thumbnail": "https://i.ytimg.com/vi/dQw4w9WgXcQ/maxresdefault.jpg",
    "thumbnail_metadata": {
      "thumbnail_url": "https://i.ytimg.com/vi/dQw4w9WgXcQ/maxresdefault.jpg",
      "thumbnail_id": "dQw4w9WgXcQ",
      "thumbnail_ext": null,
      "thumbnail_width": 7680,
      "thumbnail_height": 4320,
      "thumbnail_resolution": "7680x4320",
      "thumbnail_channel": "Rick Astley",
      "thumbnail_upload_date": "2026-01-04",
      "thumbnail_title": "Rick Astley - Never Gonna Give You Up (Official Video) (4K Remaster)"
    },
    "qualities": [
      {
        "resolution": 4320,
        "thumbnail": "https://i.ytimg.com/vi/dQw4w9WgXcQ/maxresdefault.jpg",
        "explanation": "Thumbnail for resolution 4320 (maxresdefault)"
      }
    ]
  },
  {
    "original_url": "https://youtu.be/cmGo8hM_nhs?si=YW0Tgy37iaLeHDmY",
    "title": "REAL 8K HDR - Best of 8K Video ULTRA HD - Dolby Vision",
    "channel": "4K Video ULTRA HD",
    "duration": "N/A",
    "thumbnail": "https://i.ytimg.com/vi/cmGo8hM_nhs/maxresdefault.jpg",
    "thumbnail_metadata": {
      "thumbnail_url": "https://i.ytimg.com/vi/cmGo8hM_nhs/maxresdefault.jpg",
      "thumbnail_id": "cmGo8hM_nhs",
      "thumbnail_ext": null,
      "thumbnail_width": 7680,
      "thumbnail_height": 4320,
      "thumbnail_resolution": "7680x4320",
      "thumbnail_channel": "4K Video ULTRA HD",
      "thumbnail_upload_date": "2026-01-04",
      "thumbnail_title": "REAL 8K HDR - Best of 8K Video ULTRA HD - Dolby Vision"
    },
    "qualities": [
      {
        "resolution": 4320,
        "thumbnail": "https://i.ytimg.com/vi/cmGo8hM_nhs/maxresdefault.jpg",
        "explanation": "Thumbnail for resolution 4320 (maxresdefault)"
      }
    ]
  },
  {
    "original_url": "https://youtu.be/fLexgOxsZu0",
    "title": "Bruno Mars - The Lazy Song (Official Music Video)",
    "channel": "Bruno Mars",
    "duration": "N/A",
    "thumbnail": "https://i.ytimg.com/vi/fLexgOxsZu0/maxresdefault.jpg",
    "thumbnail_metadata": {
      "thumbnail_url": "https://i.ytimg.com/vi/fLexgOxsZu0/maxresdefault.jpg",
      "thumbnail_id": "fLexgOxsZu0",
      "thumbnail_ext": null,
      "thumbnail_width": 7680,
      "thumbnail_height": 4320,
      "thumbnail_resolution": "7680x4320",
      "thumbnail_channel": "Bruno Mars",
      "thumbnail_upload_date": "2026-01-04",
      "thumbnail_title": "Bruno Mars - The Lazy Song (Official Music Video)"
    },
    "qualities": [
      {
        "resolution": 4320,
        "thumbnail": "https://i.ytimg.com/vi/fLexgOxsZu0/maxresdefault.jpg",
        "explanation": "Thumbnail for resolution 4320 (maxresdefault)"
      }
    ]
  },
  {
    "original_url": "https://youtube.com/shorts/5GlgIRLQ96g",
    "title": "Singing nightingale  || The best bird song || #shorts #birds",
    "channel": "TIME PLAYER",
    "duration": "N/A",
    "thumbnail": "https://i.ytimg.com/vi/5GlgIRLQ96g/maxresdefault.jpg",
    "thumbnail_metadata": {
      "thumbnail_url": "https://i.ytimg.com/vi/5GlgIRLQ96g/maxresdefault.jpg",
      "thumbnail_id": "5GlgIRLQ96g",
      "thumbnail_ext": null,
      "thumbnail_width": 7680,
      "thumbnail_height": 4320,
      "thumbnail_resolution": "7680x4320",
      "thumbnail_channel": "TIME PLAYER",
      "thumbnail_upload_date": "2026-01-04",
      "thumbnail_title": "Singing nightingale  || The best bird song || #shorts #birds"
    },
    "qualities": [
      {
        "resolution": 4320,
        "thumbnail": "https://i.ytimg.com/vi/5GlgIRLQ96g/maxresdefault.jpg",
        "explanation": "Thumbnail for resolution 4320 (maxresdefault)"
      }
    ]
  },
  {
    "original_url": "https://youtube.com/shorts/ewI-PqgGybE?si=DSrPJ28H_NujCLbl",
    "title": "He Looks So Badass 🔥 | RoboCop | Song - NO BATIDÃO (Slowed) #trending #shorts",
    "channel": "Maven-Edits",
    "duration": "N/A",
    "thumbnail": "https://i.ytimg.com/vi/ewI-PqgGybE/maxresdefault.jpg",
    "thumbnail_metadata": {
      "thumbnail_url": "https://i.ytimg.com/vi/ewI-PqgGybE/maxresdefault.jpg",
      "thumbnail_id": "ewI-PqgGybE",
      "thumbnail_ext": null,
      "thumbnail_width": 7680,
      "thumbnail_height": 4320,
      "thumbnail_resolution": "7680x4320",
      "thumbnail_channel": "Maven-Edits",
      "thumbnail_upload_date": "2026-01-04",
      "thumbnail_title": "He Looks So Badass 🔥 | RoboCop | Song - NO BATIDÃO (Slowed) #trending #shorts"
    },
    "qualities": [
      {
        "resolution": 4320,
        "thumbnail": "https://i.ytimg.com/vi/ewI-PqgGybE/maxresdefault.jpg",
        "explanation": "Thumbnail for resolution 4320 (maxresdefault)"
      }
    ]
  }
]

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🚀 How to Use

1. Copy or list your YouTube URLs.
2. Paste them in the startUrls array.
3. Select desired thumbnail quality.
4. Run the actor.
5. Download or push the output dataset to your system.

Tip: Multiple URLs can be processed at once to save time.

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💡 Best Practices

• ✅ Use valid YouTube URLs only.
• ✅ Select the highest quality (maxres) if you want HD thumbnails.
• ✅ If a specific quality is unavailable, the actor automatically provides the best available thumbnail.
• ✅ Run the actor in batches for large numbers of URLs to avoid delays.

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⚠️ Possible Errors & How to Avoid Them

Error	Cause	Solution
Could not extract video ID from URL	Invalid or malformed YouTube URL	Verify URL format, e.g., https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VIDEO_ID
No thumbnail found for video	Video may be private, removed, or unavailable	Check video availability; try another URL
Failed to fetch metadata	Temporary network or API issue	Rerun the actor; ensure stable internet connection
Requested quality not available	Certain YouTube videos do not have all resolutions	Actor automatically falls back to best available quality

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🌟 Benefits & Advantages

• Quick access to high-quality thumbnails
• Supports multiple videos simultaneously
• Provides structured metadata for easy automation
• Automatic fallback ensures you always get a thumbnail
• Perfect for content analysis, video catalogs, and thumbnails databases

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📝 Summary

The YouTube Thumbnail Downloader is a powerful and easy-to-use actor that simplifies the process of getting high-quality YouTube thumbnails. With multiple quality options, metadata extraction, and fallback mechanisms, it provides a reliable, structured, and ready-to-use output for any workflow involving YouTube content.

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📧 Support

If you encounter any problems, contact: alphascraper69@gmail.com

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