GUIDES · NOVEMBER 3, 2026
Whatnot thumbnail size
A Whatnot show thumbnail is vertical. Whatnot’s help center asks for a 9:16 image or video and recommends 1080 × 1920 pixels. Leave it off and the show uses your profile photo.
1080 × 1920, 9:16
The number is from Whatnot’s article on scheduling a show, read November 3, 2026. Under the optional steps, Whatnot says:
- Use a vertical image or video, 9:16.
- Recommended size: 1080 × 1920 pixels.
- If you add neither a thumbnail nor a preview video, your profile photo is used.
That article does not publish a file-type limit or a megabyte cap for the show thumbnail. Do not borrow the profile-photo limit and treat it as a rule for this file. Export the canvas at 1080 × 1920 rather than stretching a horizontal graphic. A 16:9 still from a camera will be cropped until the subject is a strip.
Whatnot also points sellers to its Show Thumbnail Template and Thumbnail Guidelines for safe zones. Those files are Whatnot’s. This page does not redraw them. If the template and a blog disagree, use the template you downloaded from Whatnot.
Add it when you schedule the show
From the app or whatnot.com, open Seller Hub. On the web, open Shows, then Schedule a Show. The required pieces are the name, the date and time, the category, and the primary selling format. The thumbnail is optional, next to tags, moderators, a repeat schedule, show shipping settings, and content settings.
The category controls where the show is listed. A thumbnail that advertises a different category than the one you selected is a listing problem, not a pixel problem. Shows only appear in the category you chose.
Put the words where a phone crop still has them
Buyers meet this image in a vertical feed, smaller than 1080 pixels wide. The product and the format of the show, auction or Buy It Now or a break, need to be readable there. A paragraph of text fails that. So does type parked on the extreme edge, which is the part a crop eats first.
Use the same show name on the thumbnail and on the show. A reused file from last week, with last week’s product still on it, is the ordinary mistake. Change the product line before you change the background.
A preview video follows the same 9:16 recommendation. It does not replace show notes. Rules a buyer has to see, including break rules, belong in the notes or the listings, not only in a picture.
The pixel size was read from Whatnot’s help on November 3, 2026. nothub does not generate show art and is not affiliated with Whatnot.
Questions sellers ask
What size is a Whatnot thumbnail?+
Whatnot’s help article on scheduling a show says to use a vertical image or video in a 9:16 ratio, and recommends 1080 by 1920 pixels. If you add neither, Whatnot uses your profile photo.
Is a Whatnot show thumbnail required?+
No. Adding a thumbnail or preview video is optional when you schedule a show. The show still needs a name, a date, a category, and a primary selling format.
Where do I add a Whatnot thumbnail?+
Schedule the show from Seller Hub. On the web, that is the Shows page. The thumbnail or preview video is one of the optional settings, with tags, moderators, a repeat schedule, and show shipping settings.
The thumbnail is the invitation.
nothub is an independent workspace in development for Whatnot sellers. It does not design show art or connect to Seller Hub.
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