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YouTube Timestamp Generator

Get chapter timestamps for your YouTube video from its transcript, to check and paste into the description.

YouTube Timestamp Generator

Exemplary AI's YouTube timestamp generator transcribes your video, splits the transcript into sections of roughly equal length (about 1,000 tokens of transcript) and gives each one its start time and a short title, up to 10 chapters.

YouTube turns a list into chapters when it starts at 00:00, has at least 3 timestamps in ascending order, and every chapter lasts at least 10 seconds, so check the list against those rules before you paste it into your description.

How it works

How to generate YouTube timestamps

  1. Upload the audio or video file, or paste a YouTube, TikTok, Vimeo or X link, and pick the language it is spoken in.
  2. In the AI content presets, open "YouTube Video" and select "Chapters".
  3. When the list is ready, check that the first line starts at 00:00 (change it if the first section starts a few seconds in), that there are at least 3 lines, and that no chapter is shorter than 10 seconds. Then copy it. A short video has few sections, so add lines by hand if there are fewer than 3.
  4. Paste the list into your video's description in YouTube Studio and save.

What you get

Facts checked .

Output
Up to 10 lines, each a start time, a dash and a title of up to 7 words ("hh:mm:ss - Title")
How it splits
Into sections of roughly equal length (about 1,000 tokens of transcript), not by time or topic; each chapter starts where its section starts
Based on
The transcript, so chapters follow what is said in the video, not what is shown on screen.
Languages
99 languages for the transcript; translate the result into 116 languages
Other YouTube presets
Summary, Titles, Chapters, Tweets, Blog, Keywords, Description, Q&A and LinkedIn Post
Free plan
The Free plan includes 500 one-time credits; files up to 500 MB and 30 min long; 720p video exports with a watermark. Credits are used by the tasks you run, rather than a fixed number of generations.

YouTube's rules for chapters

  • The first timestamp must be 00:00.
  • List at least 3 timestamps, in ascending order.
  • Each chapter must be at least 10 seconds long.
  • Chapters you add in the description override the automatic chapters YouTube generates.

Source: Video Chapters - YouTube Help, checked September 26, 2026.

What YouTube timestamps look like

Example format: illustrative, not output from a real video
00:00:00 - Intro
00:00:48 - What video chapters are
00:02:15 - Writing chapter titles
00:04:30 - Adding timestamps in YouTube Studio
00:06:05 - Recap
What it does

Chapters your viewers can jump between

Timestamps in the description let viewers skip to the part they came for. The generator writes them from your transcript; check them against YouTube's rules, adjust any chapter start, and paste.

Accurate to start with

Speech is transcribed before anything else happens, so every export downstream inherits the same source of truth.

Editable as text

Correct a name or a term once in the transcript and it is right everywhere. Cutting a sentence cuts the matching video with it.

Export in any format

Subtitle files, burned-in captions, clips, chapters or written copy — all from the one transcript.

Watch

See it in action

Keep going

Tools that work on the same file

You have already uploaded it. These run on the same transcript, so there is nothing to redo.

Browse all 155 tools
The rest of it

YouTube Timestamp is one part of one workspace

YouTube Timestamp is one door into the same workspace. Whatever you came here to make, the rest is already available from the file you just uploaded.

  • Upload once

    The same recording feeds every tool on the site. Nothing needs uploading twice to get a second format out of it.

  • Caption and translate

    Burned-in captions or subtitle files, in the spoken language or translated with the timings kept intact.

  • Repurpose without re-editing

    Clips, chapters, show notes, blog drafts and social posts all come off the one transcript.

Questions

Common questions

How do I add timestamps to a YouTube video?
Paste the list into the video description, one timestamp per line with the chapter title after it, and save. YouTube reads the list and splits the video into chapters.
Why are my YouTube chapters not showing?
Check YouTube's three rules for the list: the first timestamp is 00:00, there are at least 3 timestamps in ascending order, and each chapter is at least 10 seconds long. A list that breaks any of them does not become chapters. Chapters are also unavailable if the channel has any active strikes, or if the content may be inappropriate to some viewers, and a channel without access to chapters has to apply for access to Advanced features (YouTube Help, "Video Chapters").
How does the generator decide where each chapter starts?
It splits the timestamped transcript into sections of roughly equal length (about 1,000 tokens of transcript), measured in speech rather than time, so one section can span more minutes than the next; the last one is shorter. It takes each section's first timestamp as a chapter start and writes a short title for it, then condenses the list to at most 10 chapters. A chapter starts where a section starts, which is not always where the topic changes, so move any start time that falls mid-topic.
Can I change the timestamps before I post them?
Yes. Copy the list and edit it in YouTube Studio or any text editor before you publish. You can also regenerate it, or translate it into another language.
What is the difference between timestamps and chapters?
A timestamp is a time in the description, like 02:15, that viewers can click to jump to that moment. Chapters are the named sections YouTube builds from a list of timestamps that follows its chapter rules. Each chapter runs from its timestamp to the next one (the last to the end of the video), so the list gives every section a start and end time on the video's timeline.
Which languages does the timestamp generator work in?
The transcript can be in any of 99 languages, and the result is written in that language. You can then translate it into 116 languages.
Is the YouTube timestamp generator free?
The Free plan includes 500 one-time credits; files up to 500 MB and 30 min long; 720p video exports with a watermark. Credits are used by the tasks you run, rather than a fixed number of generations.

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