How To Add Timestamps To YouTube Videos? [in 2023]

If you want to make sure you increase the retention of your long YouTube videos and also maximize the YouTube SEO of your videos, you should add timestamps to your YouTube videos.

In this YouTube video tutorial, we are going to show you how to add timestamps to any YouTube video.

If you prefer to watch a video tutorial on how to add timestamps to YouTube videos, check out this one:

How to add timestamps to a YouTube video?

Here is how to add timestamps to YouTube videos:

1. Log in to YouTube Studio
2. From the left sidebar menu, click on ‘Content’
3. Search for the video, you would like add timestamps to. Then click on it.
4. Head over to the video description.
5. Here you can add the YouTube video timestamps.
6. All you have to do is add the timestamp and the name of the video section. For instance:
   • 00:00 Intro
   • 00:27 What are YouTube video timestamp
   • 00:49 How to add timestamps to a YouTube video
   • 01:58 How to add automatic timestamps to a YouTube video
7. Click on ‘Save’

If you now open the video, the timestamp should be added to the YouTube video.

Of course, you can add the timestamps when you upload the YouTube video and you haven’t published it yet.

How to add timestamps to a YouTube video automatically?

If you don’t have time, you can also add automatic timestamps to your videos in which case, YouTube AI will try to create timestamps for your video.

Here is how to add automatic timestamps to YouTube videos:

1. Log in to YouTube Studio
2. From the left sidebar menu, click on ‘Content’
3. Search for the video, you would like add timestamps to. Then click on it.
4. Click on ‘SHOW MORE’
5. Under ‘Automatic Chapters’ turn on ‘Allow automatic chapters (when available and eligible)’
6. Click on ‘Save’

By default, when you upload a new YouTube video, this automatic video timestamp setting is turned on.

When you add video timestamp manually to a YouTube video, they overwrite the automatic timestamp YouTube has added previously.

YouTube timestamps not working or showing up

Here are the main reasons why YouTube video chapters might not be working on your video.

1. The first timestamp you add to the video should always be 00:00. If it is not or not in this format, YouTube will not recognize that this section in the video description is a YouTube video chapter. So make sure to
2. The YouTube video has to have at least three chapters listed in ascending orders. If you have less than three video chapters, YouTube will not convert it to timestamps.
3. A video timestamp has to have a length of at least 10 seconds. If it is shorter than that, the YouTube video timestamps will not work.

Can’t add timestamps to YouTube video

If you can’t add timestamps to a YouTube video, check out the section in the article ‘YouTube video timestamps not working’ and make sure you comply with these YouTube video timestamp rules.