Chapters

0:18 To add chapters to a YouTube video, type a list of timestamps and titles into its description, with the first at 0:00, at least three in ascending order, each chapter at least 10 seconds long, and save. YouTube turns the list into sections: gaps on the progress bar, the chapter's title above it, and a list viewers can jump through. Creators who do nothing may still get automatic chapters, which YouTube makes for eligible videos unless the creator opts out. Chapters are one of the seeking tools on YouTube, alongside Most Replayed, links to an exact time and the keyboard shortcuts.

Quick facts

Rules from Video Chapters, keys from Keyboard shortcuts for YouTube, launch date from TechCrunch.

How do I add chapters to a YouTube video?

1. Sign in to YouTube Studio and choose Content in the left menu.
2. Click the video.
3. In the description, write one chapter per line: the time, a space, then the title, starting with 0:00 Intro.
4. Click Save.

A working list looks like this:

0:00 Intro
1:15 Setting up
4:40 The first test
9:05 Results

If the chapters do not appear, check the three rules first: the list must start at 0:00, hold at least three timestamps that only go forward, and leave every chapter at least 10 seconds long (Video Chapters). Help also says a channel without access to chapters should apply for advanced features. Chapters written by hand override any automatic ones.

Automatic chapters

YouTube can split a video into chapters by itself. The setting is Allow automatic chapters, under Show more on a video's details page in Studio, and it is checked by default on new uploads. To stop it on every future upload, go to Settings > Upload defaults > Advanced settings and uncheck Allow automatic chapters (when available and eligible). Not every video gets them: Help rules them out for channels with active strikes and for content that may be inappropriate for some viewers, and says even eligible videos may not get them (Video Chapters). YouTube began testing automatic chapters on a small group of videos in November 2020 (9to5Google).

Using chapters as a viewer

0:03 Click the video to show the progress bar and move the red scrubber: the chapters are the breaks in the bar, and each title shows as the scrubber crosses into it. The same list sits at the bottom of the description, and clicking the chapter title above the progress bar opens it as a list (Use chapters, mentioned people and places, & seeking features). On a computer, Ctrl + Right arrow jumps to the next chapter and Ctrl + Left arrow to the previous one (Option on a Mac). A timestamp in a description or comment is also a link to that second, which is how chapters started: as a list of time links YouTube learned to read.

Why creators use chapters

George Vanous, who runs the Freedom! network, made a video arguing that chapters raise watch time ("YouTube Chapters increase watch time!"), one on the chapters button YouTube added in 2020, and one on writing a chapter list quickly. His document also notes that only a video's owner can create or edit its chapters, a decision he wrote he "never understood". Viewers cannot add chapters to someone else's video; the nearest they can do is post timestamps in a comment.

What creators say

1:55 In a 2020 video made soon after chapters arrived, George Vanous of Freedom! showed a two-hour music mix whose chapter list sat at the end of its description rather than the top, to make the point that the list does not have to come first. He argued that chapters bring more watch time, because viewers jump to the moments they want and then stay longer; that is his view, and YouTube publishes no figure for it.

0:00 In a November 2020 follow-up, George Vanous showed the chapters button YouTube had just added, which opened every chapter of a video in a list beside the player. He called it much easier than hovering over the seek bar for the right chapter or hunting through the description, and pointed out a bug of the time: some chapters showed a black image instead of their thumbnail.

Frequently asked questions

Why are my YouTube chapters not showing? The most common causes are a first timestamp that is not 0:00, fewer than three timestamps, timestamps out of order or a chapter shorter than 10 seconds. YouTube also withholds chapters from channels with active strikes and from content it judges inappropriate for some viewers.

How do I turn off chapters on YouTube? For automatic chapters, uncheck Allow automatic chapters on the video in YouTube Studio, or under Settings > Upload defaults > Advanced settings for all future uploads. For chapters written in the description, remove the timestamps or change the first one so it no longer reads 0:00.

Can viewers add chapters to someone else's YouTube video? No. Only the video's owner can add or edit chapters on YouTube; anyone else can only post timestamps in a comment.

What is the minimum length of a YouTube chapter? Each chapter on YouTube must be at least 10 seconds long, and a video needs at least three of them.

Is there a keyboard shortcut for YouTube chapters? Yes. On a computer, Ctrl + Right arrow skips to the next chapter and Ctrl + Left arrow to the previous one; on a Mac it is Option with the arrows.

Sources

• Video Chapters, YouTube Help, read Nov 6, 2026
• Use chapters, mentioned people and places, & seeking features, YouTube Help, read Nov 6, 2026
• Keyboard shortcuts for YouTube, YouTube Help, read Nov 6, 2026
• YouTube introduces Video Chapters to make it easier to navigate longer videos, TechCrunch, May 28, 2020
• YouTube begins testing auto video chapters to help save you valuable editing time, 9to5Google, Nov 24, 2020
• How to Add Chapters to Your Videos Using Timestamps, YouTube Creators, Jun 16, 2020 (video)
• YouTube Chapters increase watch time!, Freedom!, May 30, 2020 (video)
• New YouTube Chapters tech - Free!, Freedom!, Sep 30, 2023 (video)
• New YouTube Chapters button! - The little arrow, Freedom!, Nov 13, 2020 (video)