Addressing YouTube Shorts: No Image Upload Issue?

Video thumbnails are important since they encourage people to click and watch the video. But what if your set YouTube Shorts thumbnail is not showing? YouTube will use a random part of the video as the thumbnail. It may be an unflattering or uninteresting shot. Then, your Shorts video is doomed.

That said, it is a problem you want to solve. Here are 7 FAQs about YouTube Shorts thumbnails. They may help you with fixing this issue.

Q1. Can I Customize YouTube Shorts Thumbnails?

Yes, you can. YouTube did allow short-form video creators to upload custom thumbnails for their Shorts. However, they aren’t that optimized. For instance, some people may not see them on the Shorts shelf. Also, if you share a link to the video somewhere else, the old video thumbnail may show instead of the new one.

Adding a custom thumbnail for YouTube Shorts is the same as adding one for long-form videos on the platform. Follow these steps:

Open the YouTube mobile app. Click the “Plus” icon at the bottom center > “Create Short.” Upload, edit, and post your video.

Get to your desktop computer or laptop. Open your channel’s YouTube Studio.

On the left navigation menu, click “Content.”

Click the “pencil” icon next to the Shorts you just uploaded. This video should be at the top of the list.
Navigate to the Thumbnail section. Click “Create Thumbnail.”

Q2. Why Are YouTube Shorts Thumbnails Not Showing?

It’s not you who’s the only one with Shorts thumbnails not showing. Many short-form content creators on the platform are also facing this issue. A YouTuber took to Reddit to complain about how he uploaded custom thumbnails for all his videos. The thumbnails are correct in the editor. However, YouTube still displays a random frame as the thumbnail on the Shorts shelf.

“They ALL have randomly selected different parts of each video I have uploaded & somehow generated a new/unknown thumbnail that was neither what I uploaded as the custom option nor 1 of the 3 that YouTube auto populated.”

YouTuber on Reddit

The reason behind this is the difference in the thumbnail size. Regular YouTube video thumbnails are in the ratio of 16:9. Meanwhile, Shorts uses a ratio of 9:16. The thing is that YouTube does not yet allow you to upload 9:16 thumbnails. Thus, the thumbnail for Shorts may show correctly on the video section but not on the Shorts shelf.

Q3. How to Fix YouTube Shorts Thumbnail Problem?

Unfortunately, there is no reliable fix to this problem yet. YouTubers have tried different things in hopes that YouTube will display the correct thumbnail for their Shorts.

Some YouTubers have tried using different images. Others have experimented with changing the aspect ratio of the thumbnail or using Adobe editor for ratios. Clearing histories and cache, using different browsers, resizing, and changing the images’ resolution have also been done. Sadly, these are all failed attempts.

Q4. How To Boost Views When I Have no Control Over YouTube Shorts Thumbnails?

Attracting viewers on Shorts is the same as attracting viewers on the main YouTube. You use interesting thumbnails and video titles. Since thumbnails are out of the options, selecting great video titles has become even more important.

Here are some pointers. Your title should be at most 40 characters. Also, it should be concise and irresistible. And forget about SEO since no one is searching for YouTube Shorts anyway. People consume what they see in their feeds. So instead, the title should be “snappy.” It should intrigue, entertain, or enlighten the viewers. That will net you some views for your Shorts content.

Q5. How To Get More Views on YouTube Shorts?

Forgoing the intro is the way to go. An intro will just prolong the video when people are in Shorts to find bite-sized videos. So jump right into the video content. You can also start the video with a still frame instead. Using hashtags, captions, and text effects are also recommended. And interacting with your audience through comments and pinned comments will keep them coming back to your Shorts channel.

Of course, ensuring that the video quality is high is key to getting more views. For that, you need a good video editor. You can try Wondershare Filmora , a powerful and easy-to-use video editor.

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The best thing is that you don’t need to transfer the video from your phone to your computer and back. Wondershare Filmora is available on mobile. And it’s one of the best tools for enhancing a short-form video.

Short-form video watchers love filters, transitions, and effects. And Filmora gives you access to all of that. It provides you with fun and amazing filters, effects, transitions, and stamps that can add a wow factor to your short-form video.

Q6. Do YouTube Shorts Make Money?

Making money from YouTube Shorts was challenging. The platform pays content creators who are doing well through the Creator Fund. However, as Shorts grew, the payout became smaller.

Luckily, that’s going to change. Starting this year, Shorts will be a part of the YouTube Partner Program. This means that you can make money from the ads that people watch on Shorts. According to YouTube, creators will keep 45% of the revenue. It will be distributed based on your share of total Shorts views.

YouTube also adjusted the requirements to qualify for the YPP. They made it easier for Shorts content creators to get into the program.

Q7. How Do You Make YouTube Shorts Play Normal?

You can watch Shorts like normal YouTube videos where you can rewind when you want to. Follow these steps.

On a Desktop Computer

Open a Shorts video on YouTube.

Pause the video.

Click “Library” on the left panel.

Select the Shorts you just watched. It should be on the top and first on the list.

On a Mobile Phone

Open the YouTube app. Watch a Shorts video.

Like the Shorts video.

Tap “Library”

Scroll down to find “Liked Videos.” Click on it.

Select the Shorts video you just watched. It should be at the top of the list.

Conclusion

Unfortunately, custom thumbnails not showing on Shorts does not have a fix yet. So to attract viewers, you must leverage the things in your control. You must title your videos in a way that will make users click the video. Also, adding effects and filters on the video using an editor like Wondershare Filmora can help.

Users can subscribe to Shorts channels. And if they see that your videos are well-edited and high-quality, they’ll be more likely to do so. Once they are subscribed, they will see and watch your videos more often.

Free Download For macOS 10.14 or later

Q6. Do YouTube Shorts Make Money?

Making money from YouTube Shorts was challenging. The platform pays content creators who are doing well through the Creator Fund. However, as Shorts grew, the payout became smaller.

YouTube also adjusted the requirements to qualify for the YPP. They made it easier for Shorts content creators to get into the program.

Q7. How Do You Make YouTube Shorts Play Normal?

You can watch Shorts like normal YouTube videos where you can rewind when you want to. Follow these steps.

On a Desktop Computer

Open a Shorts video on YouTube.

Pause the video.

Click “Library” on the left panel.

Select the Shorts you just watched. It should be on the top and first on the list.

On a Mobile Phone

Open the YouTube app. Watch a Shorts video.

Like the Shorts video.

Tap “Library”

Scroll down to find “Liked Videos.” Click on it.

Select the Shorts video you just watched. It should be at the top of the list.

Conclusion

Immediate YouTube Audience Insights

Top 12 Real-time YouTube Subscriber Trackers

Richard Bennett

Oct 26, 2023• Proven solutions

There are many components that are important for the success of your YouTube channel, but none of them are as important as subscribers .

Your subscriber count will tell you how well your channel is doing. Understanding who your audience is will enable you to come up with the content for your channel that is more perfectly suited to the tastes of the majority you’re your subscribers. Even though YouTube allows you to see who your subscribers are, monitoring the sub count in real time requires the use of subscriber trackers or counters (more interested in seeing exactly who your subscribers are? ).

If you would like to keep track of the ever-changing number of subscribers to your channel, or gather information such as the sub counts and views of other YouTube channels, then using a live subscriber counter is a good choice.

Here are the top 12 YouTube subscriber counters:

Social Blade
Subscribercounter.com
Akshatmittal.com
LiveCounts.net
Grin.co
YouCount.github.io
RealTimeSubCount.com
SubscriberCount.org
Live.SumScreen.com
YTCount.com
Realtime Subscriber Count
Realtime Sub Count

Click here for 4 fast ways to boost your own subscriber count.

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Top 12 Best YouTuber Subscriber Trackers You Should Use

This is probably the best tool you can use to monitor how the number of subscribers to any YouTube channel changes in from second to second. What’s more, Social Blade allows you to compare up to three different YouTube channels and you can also keep track of the number of subscribers top channels on YouTube have. In addition, you will be able to see how many videos they have uploaded and how many views they got. To start monitoring sub counts live via Social Blade simply enter the name of a channel and let the algorithm do the rest.

2. Subscribercounter.com

This website doesn’t provide advanced statistics, but it is easy to use. If all you need to find out the number of subscribers of a channel, insert the channel’s name into the search box. The search results also include the number of videos featured on the YouTube channel as well as the number of views. Subscriber Counter is an easy-to-use tool, but just don’t expect much more than basic information from this live subscriber tracker.

3. Akshatmittal.com

The users of this tool can get the accurate number of subscribers for any YouTube channel in real time and they are also granted an insight into the number of views and comments a channel has received and how many videos are uploaded to it. Channel username, channel ID, YouTube URL can all be used as search terms on Askat Mittal’s YouTube Real-time subscriber counter.

A fringe bonus of Askat Mittal’s service is that the information is all displayed beautifully alongside the channel art of the YouTubers you look up.

4. LiveCounts.net

If you are in need of an easy-to-use YouTube subscriber counter, then LiveCounts is a strong option. However, if you want to learn more about a YouTube channel than its subscriber count, such as the number of videos a creator has uploaded, how many views they have received, or how many comments their videos have, then LiveCounts may not be a good choice since it only monitors subscriber numbers in real time. There is a views tool, but it does not appear to be working.

On LiveCounts you can change the color of the display background.

5. Grin.co

Grin.co is a California-based company that provides services for marketers has designed a perfect sub count tool that enables you to know the exact number of subscribers for any YouTube account. Furthermore, this easy to use real-time subscriber counter allows you to share the latest statistics about your YouTube’s leading channel easily to Facebook or Twitter. You can either search the channels by entering the user or a channel name into the search bar.

6. YouCount.github.io

YouTube creators in need of an advanced real-time subscriber count tool will without a doubt benefit from YouCount. Besides a live subscriber counter, YouCount also provides advanced statistics such as real-time trends with a 30-second refresh rate as well as information about total views or the number of videos the channel you are researching features.

Some of the more unique tools on YouCount allow you to compare a channel’s recent success (the statistics of the last 5 videos posted there) with the popularity of the channel as a whole. This is a good way to see if a channel is picking up momentum.

7. RealTimeSubCount.com

Getting real-time statistics from the YouTube Subscriber Count is easy because all you need to do in order to get an exact number of subscribers for your channel, or any other YouTube channel, is to type the channel’s name into the search box. There is also an app for Android Smartphones available if you like to work on your smartphone. The version of the app for iPhones should become available in the near future.

8. SubscriberCount.org

Information like the number of video uploads, views, and the creation date of the YouTube channel are all easily accessible via the SubscriberCount website. Simply insert the name or the URL of the channel you’d like to find out more about and enjoy the benefits. After you’ve made your search query the website will automatically suggest similar YouTube channels which can be a great way to discover new channels and find interesting content.

9. Live.SumScreen.com

You can either insert the name (or the ID sequence from the channel’s URL if the channel doesn’t have a custom URL) of the channel into the search bar on the website’s welcome screen and be just one click away from real-time subscriber counts.

[Update August 21, 2018: Live.SumScreen tracker feature is currently unavailable]

10. YTCount.com

This is a website that offers an app you can use on youriPhone, iPad or iPad Touch , or even on your Android smartphone . All versions of the app are free to download and allow you to follow several YouTube channels simultaneously, receive a notification every time you reach a milestone, and customize the app however you want. YT Count will enable you to analyze the statistics of any YouTube channel and monitor the latest changes in real-time.

11. Realtime Subscriber Count

Although remarkably easy to use this Google Chrome extension doesn’t offer much more than basic statistics, such as the current number of subscribers or the number of videos the channel features. YouTubers who are looking for more advanced analysis of data should look elsewhere because this extension doesn’t provide any additional information. Realtime Subscriber Count is a great way to keep track of subscriber numbers while you browse, but that is all it can do.

12. Realtime Sub Count

The Realtime Sub Count app is only available for iOS devices. This app was launched in April 2017 and, even though it provides some detailed information, it is still under development. If you decide to download this app you will be able to save your favorite channels and always get accurate data for them. The app updates every two seconds.

Want to learn more about your YouTube statistics and how they can help to grow your channel ?

Have you discovered an interesting way of using subscriber trackers? We’d love to hear your process in the comments.

Richard Bennett

Richard Bennett is a writer and a lover of all things video.

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