How to use it
- Paste your timestamps, one per line, such as
0:00 Intro. Times before or after the title, in brackets or with a dash all work. - Optionally enter the video's length, so the last chapter can be checked too.
- Fix anything in the Checks list, then press Copy chapters and paste them into your video's description.
- Cut something from the start of the video? Use Shift times with a negative number of seconds to move every chapter at once.
YouTube's chapter rules
Chapters only appear when the description lists at least three timestamps, the first one is 0:00, the timestamps go up, and every chapter lasts at least 10 seconds. Break any one of these and YouTube shows no chapters at all, without telling you why. The checks below the box point to the exact line.
Clean output
The tool writes every line in the same format: m:ss Title, or h:mm:ss Title for all lines once the video passes an hour. Extra dashes, brackets and pipes are removed from the titles.
Questions
- Do I need to type chapters if YouTube makes them automatically?
- Automatic chapters are optional and you can turn them off. Your own timestamps in the description take priority and let you choose the titles.
- Why did shifting drop a chapter?
- If a chapter would land at or before 0:00 after the shift, it's removed, because the first chapter is always 0:00. The tool lists what was dropped.
- Can I paste a whole description?
- Yes. Lines without a timestamp are ignored, so you can paste everything and keep only the chapters.