YouTube chapter formatter
Paste your rough timestamps and titles — in any order or format — and get a clean 0:00 Title list that meets YouTube's chapter rules, ready to drop into the description.
The three rules YouTube enforces
Chapters only appear if your description follows all three: the first timestamp is 0:00, there are at least three chapters, and each one lasts at least 10 seconds. Miss any and YouTube silently ignores the lot. This tool sorts your list, formats every time consistently, forces the first to 0:00, and warns you about gaps under 10 seconds or too few chapters — so it just works when you paste it in.
Don't have chapters yet? The AI chapter generator creates timestamped chapters from your recording automatically, and Speecho for YouTubers turns one upload into a transcript, description and captions. Then paste the chapters here to finish them.
Chapter formatter — FAQ
How do YouTube chapters work?
Paste a list of timestamps and titles into your video description and YouTube turns them into clickable chapters automatically — as long as the first one starts at 0:00, there are at least three, and each is at least 10 seconds long. This tool formats your list to meet all three rules.
What format do the timestamps need?
Each line needs a time (like 1:23 or 1:02:45) and a title. The order and separators don't matter — "1:23 Intro", "Intro - 1:23", "1:23 – Intro" all work. The tool extracts the time, cleans the title, sorts by time and outputs the exact "0:00 Title" format YouTube expects.
Why does the first chapter have to be 0:00?
It's a YouTube requirement — chapters only activate if the first timestamp is 0:00. Leave "Start first chapter at 0:00" checked and the tool sets it for you, whatever your first line says.
Where do I get chapters in the first place?
Speecho can generate timestamped chapters from your recording automatically — see the AI chapter generator — then paste them here to tidy them up for the description.