How to add chapters to a YouTube video (and create them while you record)

YouTube’s rules for chapters

YouTube creates chapters from timestamps in the video description. These are YouTube’s requirements:

• The first timestamp must be 0:00.
• You need at least three timestamps.
• Each chapter must be at least 10 seconds long.
• List the timestamps in ascending order, one per line.
• Write the timestamp first, then the chapter title.

A description with chapters looks like this:

0:00 Introduction
0:45 Create a new project
3:10 Add a title card
7:32 Export and upload

The first chapter always starts at the beginning of the video, so your intro counts as one. Videos longer than an hour use hours too, like 1:02:15.

You can paste the list when you upload the video, or add it later by editing the description in YouTube Studio.

Where to put chapters

Put a chapter where the topic changes, not where the cursor moves. A new chapter for each step, section or question is usually enough. If a short section sits inside a bigger one, it can stay part of that chapter.

Chapters live in the description, not in the video file. You can rename one or fix a timestamp later without uploading the video again.

Once the list is written, play the video and jump to two or three of the timestamps. If each one lands at the start of the right topic, the rest is probably right too.

Method 1: write them after recording

Watch the finished video from start to end. Each time the topic changes, write down the time. Write each time as you find it, not at the end, and keep them in order so the list is ready to paste. Then type the list into the description, starting with 0:00.

This works well for a short video. For a long tutorial, you have to watch the whole take again just to find the times, and rewind to check each one. It is slow, and it is easy to be off by a few seconds.

Method 2: drop markers while you record

With Director, you mark the topics as you go, so the timestamps are ready when you stop. This is the better choice for any video with more than a few topics, because you already know where each topic begins while you are recording. You do not have to watch the whole take again.

1. Press CtrlAltP to start recording.
2. Press CtrlAltN at the moment each new topic begins.
3. Press CtrlAltP to stop.
4. Director lists your markers with their timestamps, like “00:00 Intro” and “02:15 Chapter 2”, ready to copy.
5. Rename each chapter, check that the first one starts at 0:00 as YouTube requires, then paste the list into the description of your video.

You can pause with CtrlAltJ between topics. The pause leaves no gap: the video continues exactly where you stopped, so the timestamps still match what the viewer sees.

The markers are a starting point. You still choose the names, and if two topics are less than 10 seconds apart, merge them into one chapter.

How to name chapters

A good chapter name is:

• Short. Two to six words.
• Clear about what the viewer gets. “Export the final file” tells the viewer more than “Export”.
• Built from the words people search for. “Add a title card” beats “Title stuff”.
• Starts with a verb or the topic. “Add a title card” or “Title cards”.

Skip names like “Part 1” and “Part 2”. They tell the viewer nothing about what is in that part.

Keep the style the same across the list. If one chapter starts with a verb, make the others start with a verb too, so the list reads as one set of steps.

Why chapters are worth it

Viewers can jump straight to the part they need instead of scrubbing through the whole video. Google can also show chapters as key moments in search results, so one part of your video can show up in search on its own.

Long tutorials and lessons become much easier to navigate, because every part has a name and a starting point. A viewer who only needs the install step can find it in seconds.

The list also tells people what the video covers before they press play, because it sits in the description where they can read it first.

Chapters not showing? Check this

If your chapters do not appear, go through this list:

• The first timestamp is 0:00.
• There are at least three timestamps.
• Each chapter is at least 10 seconds long.
• The timestamps are in ascending order.
• Each timestamp starts its own line.
• You saved the description after editing it.
• You gave YouTube a little time to process the change after saving.

To check the first four at once, paste your description into the free YouTube chapters checker. It points at the line that breaks a rule and gives you a clean list to paste back.

Where to go next

Chapters work best for lessons and tutorials. See how to record online courses and software tutorials, and check your timestamps with the YouTube chapters checker.