YouTube guide
How to add chapters to a YouTube video
Add a plain text list of times and titles to your video description in YouTube Studio, then save. Each time marks the start of a section viewers can jump to.
By Marker · Updated
Chapter requirements
- Start at
00:00. - Include at least three timestamps, in increasing order.
- Make every chapter at least 10 seconds long.
These are YouTube's chapter rules. Check the last chapter against the video's full duration, too.
Add timestamps in YouTube Studio
- Open YouTube Studio and select Content.
- Choose the video you want to edit.
- In Description, enter each timestamp and its title on a separate line.
- Click Save, then open the watch page to check the chapter boundaries.
Watch the finished edit while choosing your times. If you removed a long pause or trimmed the opening, notes from the original recording may point to the wrong moment. Name the topic that starts at each boundary, so viewers know where a jump will take them.
Copy an example for an eight-minute video
This made-up tutorial ends at exactly 08:00. Replace the times and titles with sections from your own video.
00:00 Intro
00:35 Set up
02:10 Record
04:25 Review
06:40 Export| Start | Title | Length |
|---|---|---|
| 00:00 | Intro | 00:35 |
| 00:35 | Set up | 01:35 |
| 02:10 | Record | 02:15 |
| 04:25 | Review | 02:15 |
| 06:40 | Export | 01:20 |
Subtract each start from the next one to find its length. The final section runs from 06:40 to 08:00, giving it 1 minute 20 seconds. An extra chapter at 07:55 would leave only five seconds, so it would fail the minimum.
The end time is for checking the list. Do not add an 08:00 chapter to this example, because no video remains after it.
Why aren't my chapters showing?
Check the list against the requirements above. Look for duplicate times, an omitted 00:00, or a last section that is too short. Confirm you saved the description on the intended video.
Then check Settings → Channel → Feature eligibility in Studio. YouTube lists chapters under Advanced features, with access through channel history or identity verification. Its feature access documentation does not list a subscriber minimum for chapters. Check your channel's status instead of waiting to reach a subscriber milestone.
YouTube also warns that active strikes or content inappropriate for some viewers can prevent chapters. A correctly formatted list alone does not guarantee availability.
Manual or automatic chapters?
Manual timestamps override automatic chapters. To allow automatic chapters, open the video's details, choose Show more, enable Allow automatic chapters, and save. YouTube does not create automatic chapters for every video, even when eligible. See YouTube's instructions.
Write your own list when exact topic boundaries matter. In the tutorial above, a viewer looking for export settings should land at the start of that explanation, with enough context to follow it.
Prepare your list or share timestamp links
For chapters, paste the plain timestamp list into the YouTube description. The YouTube timestamp link tool has a different purpose. Give it a video URL and existing timestamps to make clickable Markdown links for places that support Markdown. It does not watch your video or generate the timestamps for you.
If your notes are in Marker CSV, use the CSV and timestamp converter and review the resulting list. For frame counts or frame timecode arithmetic, use the timecode calculator. A frame timecode such as 00:00:35:12 includes a frame field; it is not a YouTube timestamp. Confirm the elapsed time against your final video before writing the chapter list.