How to embed a YouTube video into Markdown?

There are different ways to embed a YouTube video in Markdown documents.

If the Markdown processor supports inline HTML, a YouTube player can be embedded using an iframe:

<iframe
width="640"
height="480"
src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/UmX4kyB2wfg"
frameborder="0"
allow="autoplay; encrypted-media"
allowfullscreen
>
</iframe>

If the Markdown processor does not support inline HTML, the only way to add a video is to add an image that links to the video. You can use your own image or the thumbnail generated by YouTube. YouTube provides the following thumbnails for each video:

URLDescription
https://img.youtube.com/vi/VIDEO_ID/0.jpgFull-size thumbnail
https://img.youtube.com/vi/VIDEO_ID/1.jpg, https://img.youtube.com/vi/VIDEO_ID/2.jpg, https://img.youtube.com/vi/VIDEO_ID/3.jpgSmall thumbnail images
https://img.youtube.com/vi/VIDEO_ID/default.jpgDefault thumbnail image
https://img.youtube.com/vi/VIDEO_ID/hqdefault.jpgHigh-quality default thumbnail image
https://img.youtube.com/vi/VIDEO_ID/mqdefault.jpgMedium-quality default thumbnail image
https://img.youtube.com/vi/VIDEO_ID/sddefault.jpgStandard-definition default thumbnail image
https://img.youtube.com/vi/VIDEO_ID/maxresdefault.jpgMaximum-resolution default thumbnail image

Additionally, i.ytimg.com can be used in place of img.youtube.com in all of the URLs listed above.

Using one of the thumbnails, it is possible to add a link with a still from a video, e.g.:

[![IMAGE_ALT](https://img.youtube.com/vi/UmX4kyB2wfg/0.jpg)](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UmX4kyB2wfg)

See also

Made by Anton Vasetenkov.

If you want to say hi, you can reach me on LinkedIn or via email. If you like my work, you can support me by buying me a coffee.