YouTube timestamp generator

Make the chapter list for your video's description: press Add chapter as it plays in YouTube's player, start chapters from a transcript made on your device, or paste the times you have. Each change is checked against YouTube's rules, so the chapters show up.

Load your video, play it, and press Add chapter each time a new topic starts.

Chapters

1 chapter

For your description

Not ready yet

Starts at 0:00: yes
3 or more: not yet
In order: yes
Each 10 s or longer: yes
Every chapter named: yes

Only 1: YouTube needs at least 3.

Without the video loaded, the last chapter isn't checked against its end.

0:00 Intro

Paste them into the video's description in YouTube Studio, one chapter a line, and save. Free, with nothing to sign up for.

Chapters mark the topics. Clips take the best of them further.

Paste a YouTube link into Clyper and it finds a long video's moments worth posting and makes each one a vertical clip, framed on whoever's talking and captioned word by word, for TikTok, Reels and Shorts that send viewers back to the full video.

Try it with a YouTube link

How to make YouTube timestamps

Load your video: paste its YouTube link, choose the file, or paste timestamps you've already written.
Mark each chapter. Play the video and press Add chapter each time a new topic starts, then type its name. With a file, transcribe it and click the line where each topic starts, or let it suggest a first draft to rename.
Check the rules on the right. When one isn't met, it says which chapter and why, and Fix the times for me sorts them and merges any that are too short.
Copy the chapters (or download them as a TXT file) and paste them into the video's description in YouTube Studio.

YouTube's rules for chapters

What YouTube needs for timestamps to show as chapters
Rule	What it means
The first at 0:00	The list has to start at the very beginning, even if the first chapter is just the intro.
At least 3	Fewer than 3 timestamps and YouTube ignores the list.
In order	Earliest first. A typo like 21:40 where 12:40 belongs breaks the whole list.
Each 10 seconds or longer	A chapter that starts under 10 seconds after the one before it isn't allowed, and neither is a last one that ends sooner after it starts.
One line each, with a name	The time, then the chapter's name, on its own line. Write times with colons: 1:05, not 1.05.

Chapters are one of YouTube's advanced features, so the channel needs those turned on, and they aren't available while it has an active Community Guidelines strike. Your own list takes the place of the automatic chapters YouTube sometimes adds. For the steps in YouTube Studio and the app, and what to check when chapters don't show, read how to add timestamps to YouTube videos.

Chapter names people click

A chapter's name shows on the progress bar as people scrub, and it's how Google can label a video's key moments in search. Name each one for what it gives the viewer, in the words they'd search for: “Setting up the mic” beats “Part 2”, and “Why we stopped running ads” beats “Ads”. Keep them short enough to read at a glance.

The first chapter can say what the whole video is about rather than “Intro”. And since a list of chapters is a list of topics, it's also a list of moments that could stand alone as a clip: to find the times faster next time, the video to text converter gives you the transcript with a time on every paragraph.

From chapters to clips

The best chapter of a long video is often the start of a Short. A clip of it on TikTok, Reels and Shorts reaches people who'd never open a 40-minute video, and the full video is there for the ones who want more: it's how channels turn one upload into a week of posts. Read how to get your first 1,000 subscribers for how Shorts and long videos feed each other.

Clyper does that part: paste the same YouTube link and it finds the moments worth posting, cuts each on whole sentences, frames it vertically on whoever's talking and captions every word.

Questions

How do I add timestamps to a YouTube video?

Put a list in the video's description: each chapter on its own line, its start time first and then its name, starting at 0:00. Make the list here, copy it, then in YouTube Studio open the video's Details, paste it into the description and save.

Why aren't my chapters showing on YouTube?

Usually the list breaks a rule: the first time isn't 0:00, there are fewer than 3, they're out of order, or one chapter is under 10 seconds. The checks here show which. If the list is right, the channel may not have advanced features yet, or may have an active Community Guidelines strike: chapters need the first and aren't available with the second.

Can it make chapters from the video's transcript?

Yes, from a video or audio file of up to 30 minutes. It's transcribed on your device, and you click any line to start a chapter there, named from its first words. Or have it suggest a first draft at the natural pauses, then rename each chapter to say what it's about.

Should I write 0:00 or 00:00?

Either works: YouTube reads both, and over an hour, times like 1:02:03. Pick the style you like above the list and it writes every time that way.

Is my video uploaded anywhere?

No. A YouTube link plays in YouTube's own player on this page, and a file plays and is transcribed in your browser. Nothing is sent to us, and there's nothing to sign up for.

How many chapters should a video have?

At least 3, and after that one for each real change of topic. A chapter every few minutes suits most talking videos; a tutorial might want one per step. Too many short ones make the bar hard to use.

The same video, as clips

Paste a YouTube link and Clyper finds the moments worth posting, cuts each one on whole sentences, frames it vertically and captions every word: up to 30 clips per video.