YouTube Chapters Generator (Timestamps From Your Video)
AIThis YouTube chapters generator transcribes your video in the browser, finds where the topic changes and writes a “00:00 Intro” list you can paste straight into the description. It starts at 00:00 and spaces chapters by the minimum length you choose, so YouTube can display them. Your video is never uploaded.
- Runs on your device
- Whisper AI
- Works offline
Updated
Drop your videos or audio files here
How to generate YouTube chapters
Step 1: Drop your video, or its audio, on the box above.
Step 2: Pick the Shortest chapter (30 seconds to 5 minutes) and keep Format on YouTube description.
Step 3: Press Create and confirm the one-time model downloads. The speech is transcribed, then split into topics.
Step 4: Copy the list into your YouTube description and adjust any title before publishing.
Good to know
Settings explained
- Spoken language
- Picking the language skips detection and improves accuracy on short clips.
- Speech model
- Downloaded once after you confirm, then cached for offline use. Bigger models are more accurate but slower.
- Fastest: from 44 MB · good for clear speech
- Balanced: from 80 MB · recommended
- Accurate: from 252 MB · slower
- Best: from 566 MB · needs WebGPU
Formats
Batch-friendly: add many files and they are processed one after another — if one fails, the rest still finish.
How it runs
- Whisper speech model
- Speech recognition uses an open Whisper model. It downloads once after you confirm its size, then runs on your device — on the GPU via WebGPU when available.
What does YouTube require for chapters?
YouTube shows chapters only when the description lists at least three timestamps in order, the first is 00:00, and every chapter lasts at least 10 seconds. The generator follows all three rules and adds a note to the result when a short video cannot meet them.
| YouTube rule | How the generator handles it |
|---|---|
| First timestamp must be 00:00 | The first chapter always starts at 00:00 |
| At least three timestamps | The result warns when fewer than three chapters fit |
| Each chapter at least 10 seconds | The shortest chapter setting starts at 30 seconds |
| Timestamps in ascending order | Chapters are listed in playback order |
What are YouTube chapters?
YouTube chapters split a video into named sections. They appear as segments on the progress bar and as a list viewers can jump through, and Google can show them as key moments in search results. You add them by writing timestamps and titles in the video description.
On long videos, tutorials and podcasts they help viewers skip to the part they came for, which is why most creators add them.
How the YouTube timestamps generator finds chapters
The video is transcribed with Whisper first. For English speech, a small sentence-embedding model (MiniLM, 24 MB, asked before download) measures how far each part of the transcript drifts from the last, and chapters start where the topic changes most. Other languages use word overlap between neighbouring passages, which needs no extra model. Titles come from Chrome’s built-in summariser on desktop Chrome when it is available, and from key phrases in the transcript otherwise.
| Video length | Shortest chapter 30 s | Shortest chapter 1 min | Shortest chapter 2 min |
|---|---|---|---|
| 5 minutes | 10 | 5 | 2 |
| 15 minutes | 30 | 15 | 7 |
| 60 minutes | 30 | 30 | 30 |
Why are my YouTube chapters not showing?
- The list does not start at 00:00. Paste the generated list as it is, with the first line intact.
- Fewer than three chapters, or one shorter than 10 seconds. Lower Shortest chapter and run it again, or merge titles by hand.
- Timestamps are not on their own lines. Each chapter needs its own line, timestamp first.
- The timestamps are out of order. When you edit titles, keep every line where it is, in playback order.
Tips & troubleshooting
Podcast in audio only? It doubles as a podcast chapters generator: drop the MP3 and paste the list into your show notes, or get the full episode text with audio to text.
Want the full text too? Video to text exports the transcript from the same speech model.
Writing the rest of the description? The YouTube description generator drafts a title, description and hashtags from the transcript.
Choose WebVTT chapters for your own website player, or JSON to feed another tool.
Auto Chapters (YouTube Timestamps) FAQ
How do I add chapters to a YouTube video?
Generate the list here, then open the video in YouTube Studio, paste the timestamps into the description and save. The first line must be 00:00, and each line holds a timestamp followed by a title. YouTube picks up the chapters once the description is saved.
Can I add chapters to my YouTube video after posting?
Yes. Chapters live in the description, so you can add or change them at any time by editing the description in YouTube Studio. Generate the list from your copy of the video file here; the published video is not touched.
Should I add chapters to my YouTube video?
For anything longer than a few minutes, yes. Chapters let viewers jump to the part they want, make long tutorials and podcasts easier to navigate, and can appear as key moments in Google search results. Short clips gain little.
Who writes the chapter titles?
Chrome’s on-device summariser writes them on desktop Chrome when it is available; other browsers get titles from the key phrases of each section. Both are drafts. Read them before publishing and rewrite any that a viewer would not understand.