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Free YouTube End Screen Checker: preview your end screen before you upload

Open your video and see its last seconds with outlines of YouTube's end screen elements laid over it: video, playlist, subscribe, channel and link. Drag them where you plan to put them and check the rules: is the video long enough, does the end screen fit YouTube's 5 to 20 second window, do elements overlap each other, cover the busy part of the picture (movement or fine detail, where faces and text usually are), or stick out of the 16:9 frame. Save a PNG preview to share with your editor. Everything runs in your browser: your video never leaves your device.

Updated · Built by Kevin Tabares, long-form YouTube editor at Umbrella Creators. End screen rules from YouTube Help, read October 21, 2026.

Check a YouTube end screen layout on your video

Your video stays on your device. Nothing is uploaded: your browser plays the file and reads its last frames right here, in this tab.

How to use it

  1. Choose your edited video (MP4, MOV or WEBM). It opens at the end screen period with a video and a subscribe element. When you press Check my end screen, I move those two onto empty frames drawn in your outro for them, if it has any, or else to the quietest part of the picture.
  2. Set how long your end screen lasts, add the elements you plan to use and drag them where you want them. Press Check my end screen to read the frames and find the busy parts of the picture.
  3. Read the checks, play the end screen to see it move, and download the PNG preview to share with your editor or keep as a guide when you build the end screen in YouTube Studio.

The checker reads only the end screen period, so a long video takes about as long as a short one. The video is never loaded into the page's memory: the browser plays it straight from your disk.

YouTube's end screen rules

From the YouTube Help article on end screens, read on October 21, 2026:

FAQ

What are the rules for a YouTube end screen?
According to YouTube Help (read on October 21, 2026): the video has to be at least 25 seconds long, the end screen goes in the last 5 to 20 seconds, and a standard 16:9 video can have up to four elements (other aspect ratios may have a lower limit). The elements can be a video, a playlist, a subscribe button, another channel, or a link to an external website if you are in the YouTube Partner Program. Card teasers and video watermarks are hidden while the end screen shows. This checker tests those rules, plus overlaps and the edges of the frame.
How big are end screen elements, and is this preview exact?
It is an approximation. The YouTube Help article on end screens does not publish the size or shape of each element, so I drew video and playlist elements as 16:9 boxes, subscribe and channel as circles and links as squares, at starting sizes I chose. Resize each one with its corner handle or the size slider to match what you see in YouTube Studio's end screen editor, which also has a grid with snap to grid and snap to element. Use this to plan the last seconds of your edit; place the final elements in Studio.
How does it find the important part of my picture?
It reads 12 moments of the end screen period, each with a second frame a quarter of a second later, and marks the parts of the picture with movement or fine detail, which is where faces, hands, text and logos usually are. It does not recognise faces or read text. If your outro has empty frames or circles drawn for the elements, an element placed on one is not counted as covering anything; a frame with something inside it, like a clip that plays, still counts. Fine grain and slow, soft background animations are ignored, but in gameplay almost everything moves. In those cases press Mark important area and drag over what must stay visible: once you mark an area, the checker uses your areas instead of the automatic one.
Why do some viewers not see my end screen?
YouTube Help says viewers cannot see end screens on mobile web (iPad mobile web is the exception), in the YouTube Music and YouTube Kids apps, in Flash videos or in 360 videos, and end screens are not available on videos set as made for kids. Viewers can also hide end screens, and YouTube notes that an end screen may not always show, or may look different from your design, depending on performance, viewer behaviour, device and context.
How long should the ending of my video be for an end screen?
The end screen can last from 5 to 20 seconds, and YouTube Help recommends leaving enough space and time at the end of the video and thinking about its last 20 seconds while you edit. If you plan an outro of more than 20 seconds, the elements can only appear in the last 20, and this checker tells you where that window starts.
Does it upload my video?
No. The video plays inside this browser tab from your own device, the frames are read right here, and the PNG preview is drawn on your device too. Nothing is sent anywhere and nothing is saved.

Who made this

I'm Kevin Tabares. I've edited long-form YouTube videos since 2015 (1,277 videos and 152.2M+ views tracked on YT Jobs) for channels like Rex & Alexa, Puff and Mud. Leaving clean space for the end screen is part of planning the last seconds of an edit, so I built this to check it before the upload instead of after. If you want an editor for your channel, get in touch.

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