Guide
How to add chapters to a YouTube video
Chapters come from a list of timestamps in your video’s description. Get three rules right and they appear on the progress bar.
In short
Add a list of timestamps and titles to the video’s description, one per line, starting with 0:00. YouTube needs at least three timestamps, in ascending order, with each chapter at least 10 seconds long. Save, and the chapters appear on the progress bar. ScreenRecordii can write the list for you from your recording, and also embeds chapters in the MP4 it exports.
An example
0:00 Intro
0:24 Create a project
1:10 Invite your team
2:05 Export and shareWhy chapters don’t show up
- The first timestamp isn’t
0:00. - Fewer than three timestamps.
- A chapter shorter than 10 seconds.
- Timestamps out of order.
- Automatic chapters are turned off and the list breaks one of the rules above.
Writing chapters from a screen recording
ScreenRecordii can suggest chapters from your recording. With an AI key it names each chapter from what you said and clicked, and writes a title and summary too; without one it splits at the natural pauses. It copies the description with the chapter list ready to paste, and the YouTube preset writes the same chapters into the MP4.
Questions
How many chapters can a YouTube video have?
At least three. Each needs to be at least 10 seconds long.
Do chapters help a video get found?
They can appear in Google results as “key moments”, and they help viewers jump to what they need.
Keep reading
- AI screen recorderAI that places zooms and writes chapters, a title and a summary, only when you ask.
- Make a tutorial videoPlan, record and polish a software tutorial video people can follow.
- Screencast softwareScreencasts for courses, docs and YouTube, recorded and polished on a Mac.
- Launch videosA product launch video from a screen recording, cut for every channel at once.
- Descript alternativeEditing video like a document, or recordings polished as you record.
Hit record.
ScreenRecordii is in early access for macOS 14 and later.