How to add chapters to a YouTube video

Chapters split a video into named sections, each with its own preview on the progress bar. Viewers can jump straight to the part they need or rewatch one section. Chapters may also appear in the video's transcript.

You can write your own, or let YouTube create automatic chapters. Your own chapters always override the automatic ones.

For a business, chapters turn one long video into several answers. A 12-minute product walkthrough becomes a set of named steps that a customer can jump between, and the chapter names tell people at a glance whether the video covers their question.

Source: YouTube Help: Video Chapters, checked 14 October 2026

Chapters aren't available if the channel has an active strike, or if the content may be inappropriate for some viewers.

Write each chapter as a timestamp followed by its title, on its own line, and keep the list together in one block. If you later trim the video in the Editor, update the list, because every time after the cut moves.

Sources: YouTube Help: Video Chapters, checked 14 October 2026; YouTube Help: Learn about feature access for YouTube Creators, checked 14 October 2026

A list for a six-minute how-to video might read: 00:00 What you'll need, 01:15 Preparing the surface, 03:40 Applying the first coat, 05:10 Common mistakes. Put each timestamp on its own line in the description, usually after the opening lines that describe the video, so the first thing viewers read is still what the video is about.

1. Sign in to YouTube Studio. (You can also add chapters while uploading, since they go in the description.)
2. Select Content in the left menu.
3. Click the video you want to edit.
4. In the Description, add a list of timestamps, each followed by a chapter title, one per line. Start with 00:00.
5. Click Save.

Source: YouTube Help: Video Chapters, checked 14 October 2026

YouTube can create chapters for you. The option is on by default for new uploads, but not every video is eligible, and not every eligible video gets them. Automatic chapters are a reasonable fallback, but your own titles can use your customers' words and your product names, which automatic ones may not.

1. To turn them on or off for one video: open it in YouTube Studio, click Show more, and tick or untick Allow automatic chapters under Automatic Chapters. Click Save.
2. To change the default for future uploads: click Settings, then Upload defaults, then Advanced settings, and untick Allow automatic chapters (when available and eligible). Click Save.
3. To change many videos at once, use bulk editing in the Content page.
4. After publishing, look at any automatic chapters. If the titles are vague, replace them with your own list.

Source: YouTube Help: Video Chapters, checked 14 October 2026

Chapters are on YouTube's list of advanced features, alongside things like pinned comments and clickable links in descriptions. There are two routes: build enough channel history, which YouTube says you'll likely qualify for automatically, or verify your identity with a valid ID or a video to unlock them straight away. YouTube's chapters page links to the application for advanced features if you don't have access yet.

Sources: YouTube Help: Learn about feature access for YouTube Creators, checked 14 October 2026; YouTube Help: Video Chapters, checked 14 October 2026

Chapter titles show on the progress bar and in the description, so they do two jobs at once:

• Name the outcome or step, not a vague label: Fixing a dripping tap, not Part 2. Viewers scan chapter titles to decide whether to stay.
• Use the words a viewer would search for; chapters sit in the description, which YouTube reads for relevance.
• Keep each title short enough to read on the progress bar.
• Make the first chapter the introduction, and keep it brief.
• Plan chapters before you film. An outline with named sections makes the video tighter and the chapters easy to write afterwards.

Sources: YouTube Help: Tips for video descriptions, checked 14 October 2026; YouTube Help: How YouTube search works, checked 14 October 2026

Most problems are formatting. Check these in order, then save the description again:

1. The first timestamp is exactly 00:00.
2. There are at least three timestamps.
3. They're in ascending order, with no time listed twice.
4. No chapter is shorter than 10 seconds.
5. The channel has advanced features and no active strikes.
6. You clicked Save after editing the description, and the edit was made on the right video.

Source: YouTube Help: Video Chapters, checked 14 October 2026

Chapters live in the description, so they're worth adding to every longer video. Zolyp, which publishes this guide, publishes to YouTube as one of 9 platforms (Instagram, Facebook, LinkedIn, Google Business, X, TikTok, YouTube, Pinterest, and Threads). It creates video uploads and Shorts with titles and descriptions written for search, can set a custom thumbnail on a standard video, and schedules them with the posts on your other networks. You approve the week before anything goes live.