YouTube: no maxresdefault thumb anymore? #11603

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opened 2026-02-21 06:16:00 -05:00 by deekerman · 3 comments
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Originally created by @MacDada on GitHub (Sep 2, 2017).

  • I've verified and I assure that I'm running youtube-dl 2017.09.02
  • At least skimmed through the README, most notably the FAQ and BUGS sections
  • Searched the bugtracker for similar issues including closed ones
  • Bug report (encountered problems with youtube-dl)

I'm gonna repeat my issue from here: https://github.com/rg3/youtube-dl/issues/14079#issuecomment-326392063

It's marked as duplicate, but i searched all issues with maxresdefault and found nothing.

$ youtube-dl --version
2017.08.27.1
$ youtube-dl -j https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V7oiro8tYA4 | grep -Po '"thumbnail":.*?[^\\]",'
WARNING: unable to extract uploader nickname
"thumbnail": "https://i.ytimg.com/vi/V7oiro8tYA4/default.jpg",

youtube-dl now returns a default thumb: https://i.ytimg.com/vi/V7oiro8tYA4/default.jpg

I'm quite sure it used to return maxresdefault thumb: https://i.ytimg.com/vi/V7oiro8tYA4/maxresdefault.jpg

Question: is it going to be "fixed" and youtube-dl will return maxresdefault thumbs or should I generate thumb urls by myself, without the use of youtube-dl for that matter?

Originally created by @MacDada on GitHub (Sep 2, 2017). - [ ] I've **verified** and **I assure** that I'm running youtube-dl **2017.09.02** - [x] At least skimmed through the [README](https://github.com/rg3/youtube-dl/blob/master/README.md), **most notably** the [FAQ](https://github.com/rg3/youtube-dl#faq) and [BUGS](https://github.com/rg3/youtube-dl#bugs) sections - [x] [Searched](https://github.com/rg3/youtube-dl/search?type=Issues) the bugtracker for similar issues including closed ones - [x] Bug report (encountered problems with youtube-dl) I'm gonna repeat my issue from here: https://github.com/rg3/youtube-dl/issues/14079#issuecomment-326392063 It's marked as duplicate, but i searched all issues with [maxresdefault](https://github.com/rg3/youtube-dl/search?o=desc&q=maxresdefault&s=created&type=Issues&utf8=%E2%9C%93) and found nothing. ``` $ youtube-dl --version 2017.08.27.1 $ youtube-dl -j https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V7oiro8tYA4 | grep -Po '"thumbnail":.*?[^\\]",' WARNING: unable to extract uploader nickname "thumbnail": "https://i.ytimg.com/vi/V7oiro8tYA4/default.jpg", ``` `youtube-dl` now returns a default thumb: https://i.ytimg.com/vi/V7oiro8tYA4/default.jpg I'm quite sure it used to return maxresdefault thumb: https://i.ytimg.com/vi/V7oiro8tYA4/maxresdefault.jpg Question: is it going to be "fixed" and youtube-dl will return `maxresdefault` thumbs or should I generate thumb urls by myself, without the use of `youtube-dl` for that matter?
deekerman 2026-02-21 06:16:00 -05:00
  • closed this issue
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@MacDada commented on GitHub (Sep 2, 2017):

nvm, with 2017.09.02 it's back to maxresdefault again ;)

@MacDada commented on GitHub (Sep 2, 2017): nvm, with `2017.09.02` it's back to maxresdefault again ;)
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@KingMob commented on GitHub (Sep 20, 2017):

I wouldn't say it's invalid just yet, since we're still seeing the issue on a decent fraction of our requests.

It may be related to missing VideoObject schemas, since if youtube-dl can't find <span itemprop="thumbnail"...>, the backup thumbnail methods only find the low-res thumbs. It could also be the disable_polymer=true query param, since without it, the Youtube web page doesn't have the VideoObject schema on it.

I wonder if it's related to the intermittency issues or choice of DNS servers as mentioned in the comments of #11270.

@KingMob commented on GitHub (Sep 20, 2017): I wouldn't say it's invalid just yet, since we're still seeing the issue on a decent fraction of our requests. It may be related to missing VideoObject schemas, since if youtube-dl can't find `<span itemprop="thumbnail"...>`, the backup thumbnail methods only find the low-res thumbs. It could also be the `disable_polymer=true` query param, since without it, the Youtube web page doesn't have the VideoObject schema on it. I wonder if it's related to the intermittency issues or choice of DNS servers as mentioned in the comments of #11270.
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@victornpb commented on GitHub (Oct 10, 2017):

I'm getting 120x90 thumbnails here

@victornpb commented on GitHub (Oct 10, 2017): I'm getting 120x90 thumbnails here
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starred/youtube-dl-ytdl-org#11603
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