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Adding a custom thumbnail to a video

Learn how to upload a custom thumbnail for YouTube videos on your B12 website.

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Written by: Madeline B.

Last updated: 03 Dec., 2025

A custom thumbnail helps your video look polished and on brand. When you use a Video Gallery section with a YouTube link, you can replace YouTube’s default thumbnail with your own image.

Before you begin, make sure you have added a Video Gallery section to your page.

Adding a custom thumbnail

1. In the left sidebar menu, go to website Website > pages Pages. Go to the page and section where video is displayed.

2. Scroll to Collection then click on your video.

3. Scroll to Image then click Choose from library.

4. Click Upload media, then add the file from your computer.

5. Click Continue.

The chosen image will now display as the custom thumbnail for your video in the gallery layout.

 

Additional information:

YouTube thumbnails

    • B12 automatically pulls the default thumbnail from YouTube.

    • You can override it by uploading a custom image using the steps above.

YouTube Shorts

    • Video galleries do not support Shorts links.

    • If your URL looks like: https://youtube.com/shorts/V70fUUO7-qQ
      Change it to the supported format: https://youtu.be/V70fUUO7-qQ
      Replace youtube.com with youtu.be and remove /shorts/.

Uploaded video files

    • Custom thumbnails cannot be set for uploaded videos.

    • B12 uses the first frame of the file as the thumbnail.

    • If you need a specific thumbnail, upload your video to YouTube or Vimeo, set the thumbnail there, then embed the link in B12.