Thumbnails are mandatory for video delivery but if you wish to up please either follow the steps below or use our thumbnail optimization tool to choose a new thumbnail for your video.
1. Search for the video you wish to update the thumbnail for
2. Click into the video
3. Go to the Thumbnail tab
4. Click on Upload
5. Drag in the new thumbnail image or click Or select file to choose an image from your computer
6. If needed drag the highlighted element to center the image
7. And/or use the bar at the bottom to zoom in or out on the image if desired
8. Once you are happy with the image placement click on Save
9. You will then be able to see the new thumbnail compared to the old thumbnail if you are happy with the change click publish in the top right-hand corner
10. You will be able to see a success message showing that this update has been sent
11. You will then see the status change to processing and the message "Recent changes to this video are still being processed by YouTube "will appear reminding you that no changes will be able to be made until this update has been completed
12. You can also monitor this update in the changelog tab
13. Once the status message has updated to unreleased/public the thumbnail update has been completed
