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For an upcoming scheduled encoder stream, open YouTube Studio, go to Create > Go Live > Manage, select the stream, and choose Edit. Update the thumbnail in the stream details and save. YouTube’s help pages explain how to edit scheduled stream details and how to upload a custom thumbnail, but they do not confirm that you can change the thumbnail in place during an active 24/7 broadcast. If the stream is already live, avoid assuming an edit will be available or appear immediately.
Change the thumbnail for a scheduled stream
- Sign in to YouTube Studio and select Create > Go Live.
- Open the Manage tab in Live Control Room.
- Select the scheduled stream you want to update, then choose Edit.
- In the stream details, locate the thumbnail control, upload the image, and save your changes. YouTube documents editing stream metadata from the stream settings page or while scheduling, and separately documents its custom-thumbnail upload workflow. The help pages do not spell out every thumbnail-specific click in one combined procedure. YouTube: Manage live stream settings · YouTube: Add custom thumbnails
Choose an image YouTube accepts
YouTube requires a verified account to upload a custom video thumbnail. Its current guidance recommends a 16:9 JPG or PNG, with a recommended resolution of 3840 × 2160 pixels and a minimum width of 640 pixels. The listed upload limits are 50 MB on desktop and 2 MB on mobile. Check the current YouTube guidance if you are uploading from a particular device, since the limits differ. YouTube’s custom thumbnail requirements
Can you change the thumbnail while the stream is live?
YouTube’s cited instructions establish how to edit stream settings and upload video thumbnails, but do not explicitly confirm that the thumbnail can be changed during an active broadcast. They also do not establish whether a change made in Studio during a 24/7 broadcast will update that live stream’s thumbnail. For a planned change, update the scheduled stream before it goes live; for an already-live stream, check the available controls in Studio without relying on an unconfirmed in-place edit.
Even when a thumbnail change is accepted, YouTube cautions that it may take time to appear. Do not treat a delayed display as proof that the upload failed. YouTube Help: Add custom thumbnails
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Does “Made for Kids” prevent thumbnail editing?
The cited YouTube thumbnail guidance does not say that marking a channel or video Made for Kids blocks thumbnail editing. A separate restriction applies to creating a mobile live-stream Short highlight: YouTube says that feature is for qualifying vertical streams made in the mobile app, with chat, lasting 10 minutes to 12 hours, and not set as Made for Kids. That restriction concerns Short highlights, not the thumbnail workflow above. YouTube: Promote your live stream
Keep the thumbnail change separate from stream connection settings
YouTube describes the stream URL and stream key as the connection between an encoder and the YouTube feed. Its thumbnail workflow uses Studio’s thumbnail controls; the cited documentation does not indicate that changing a thumbnail requires changing the stream key or encoder settings. This is a distinction between the documented workflows, not an explicit YouTube statement about every active-stream scenario. YouTube: Create a live stream with an encoder
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What to know about a 24/7 broadcast
YouTube says streams under 12 hours are automatically archived. The cited guidance does not establish that every stream described as 24/7 is handled as one uninterrupted broadcast, nor does it explain thumbnail behavior across a stream that remains live for longer than 12 hours. Avoid assuming that archive guidance determines how a continuous channel’s live thumbnail behaves. YouTube’s encoder setup guidance
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