How to add chapters to a YouTube video

Step by step in YouTube Studio

1. Sign in to YouTube Studio and open Content in the left menu.
2. Click the video you want to add chapters to.
3. In the description, add your list of timestamps, one chapter per line.
4. Click Save. Chapters can take a few minutes to appear on the video.

You can add or change chapters at any time, before or after publishing. Editing the description is enough.

The format YouTube needs

Each line starts with a timestamp followed by the title of the chapter:

0:00 Intro
1:24 Why chapters matter
4:10 Setting up the project
9:45 Common mistakes
14:30 Wrap-up

• The first timestamp must be 0:00.
• At least three timestamps, in ascending order.
• Each chapter must be at least 10 seconds long.
• For videos longer than an hour, use hours too: 1:02:15.
• The list can go anywhere in the description, but one timestamp per line.

Why your chapters are not showing

If you saved the description and there are no chapters, check these in order:

• The first timestamp is not 0:00, or there is a typo such as 0.00 or a missing colon.
• There are fewer than three timestamps, or one chapter is shorter than 10 seconds.
• The timestamps are not in ascending order.
• The channel has an active strike: YouTube turns chapters off while it lasts.
• YouTube considers the content not suitable for all viewers.
• The change is recent. Give it a few minutes and reload the video.

Automatic chapters vs your own

YouTube can create chapters by itself. The option is called "Allow automatic chapters", it is on by default for new uploads, and you can turn it off per video under Show more, or for every upload in Settings, Upload defaults.

Not every video gets automatic chapters, and the titles are often generic. Chapters you add to the description replace the automatic ones, so you decide where each section starts and what it is called.

How to write chapter titles that help

• Say what happens in the section: "Setting up the microphone" beats "Part 2".
• Use the words people search for. Chapter titles are text YouTube and Google can read.
• Keep them short, around 40 characters, so they fit on the progress bar.
• Aim for one chapter per real topic change, usually every few minutes.

Generate the list from your video file

Writing chapters by hand means watching the whole video and noting every topic change. ChapterGen does it from the file: it transcribes the audio, finds where the topic changes and writes the list in the exact format above, ready to paste. It works before publishing and on private videos, and each video also gets the transcript and subtitles.