YouTube Is Finally Bringing Custom Shorts Thumbnails Back to Desktop

When Shorts first came to YouTube, creators had the option to set custom thumbnails on their desktop. But then YouTube decided to remove it since they figured custom thumbnails weren't needed since the majority of views would be from the Shorts Feed.

Ever since, creators have complained and pleaded with YouTube to bring custom thumbnails back... and they did.

However, you can only change it in the YouTube mobile app, which is not the same as the YouTube Studio app.

How to access vertical custom thumbnails.

DougHewsonYT @DougHewsonYT BREAKING UPDATE: YouTube seem to be rolling out vertical custom thumbnails of desktop for Shorts. 10:23 AM • Jul 20, 2026 2 Retweets 4 Likes Read 1 replies

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Big thanks to Doug Hewson for the screenshot of the vertical custom thumbnails.

YouTube is rolling out custom thumbnails for Shorts, but have yet to make an official announcement (as of the release of this blog).

To check if you have custom thumbnail for Shorts, head to your YouTube Studio. Click on Content, then the Shorts tab, and finally click on edit on one of your Shorts.

Scroll down to Thumbnail and you should see whether you have the option to upload a file or not.

If you don't see it, be patient and wait as YouTube rolls it out to more users. But if you've got access, use it. Published beats perfect, but a custom thumbnail doesn't hurt.

Why is YouTube giving creators the option to upload custom thumbnails for Shorts on Desktop again?

The majority of Shorts views came from the Shorts Feed, where viewers scroll through a copious amount of Shorts. The focus within the Feed is to grab the viewer's attention within three seconds and stop them from scrolling. There was no need for custom thumbnails because the viewers in the Feed wouldn't see it anyway.

That was how Shorts worked in the beginning.

Now, there are so much more surface area for Shorts to show up, such as Search and Browse.

Unlike the Feed, Search and Browse require viewers to click on your video before actually watching it. Which means, thumbnails are once again important for Shorts.