Start a project →

Free YouTube Timestamps Generator: automatic chapters from your video

Choose your video and get a list of YouTube chapters (timestamps) ready to paste into the description: the video is transcribed in your browser, each chapter starts at a natural pause, and the list is checked against YouTube's rules as you edit the titles. Your file never leaves your device.

Updated · Built by Kevin Tabares, long-form YouTube editor at Umbrella Creators. Chapter rules from YouTube Help, read October 20, 2026.

Generate YouTube chapters from a video

Your file stays on your device. Nothing is uploaded: your browser decodes the audio and the speech model works right here, in this tab. Only the model is downloaded, once, from Hugging Face.

How to use it

  1. Choose your finished video or its audio, between 1 and 60 minutes. Leave the chapters on Automatic or choose how many you want.
  2. Pick the model: Fast (about 64 MB to download) or Better (about 136 MB, slower). If you used my video transcription tool, the model is already saved.
  3. Press Generate chapters. When it finishes, rewrite the titles in the box, check the green ticks and copy the list into your video description.

FAQ

How do I add timestamps (chapters) to a YouTube video?
Paste the list into the video description. YouTube Help lists three rules: the first timestamp must be 00:00, there must be at least three timestamps in ascending order, and each chapter must be at least 10 seconds long. This tool writes the list in that format and checks the three rules as you edit the titles (rules from YouTube Help, read October 20, 2026).
Doesn't YouTube add chapters automatically?
It can. YouTube Help says "Allow automatic chapters" is checked by default for new uploads, but also that not all videos are eligible and not all eligible videos get them. Chapters you write yourself are used instead, and you choose where they start and what they say.
How does the tool choose where each chapter starts?
It transcribes the video with Whisper in your browser, splits the length into as many equal parts as chapters you asked for, and near the start of each part picks the line that follows the longest pause, preferring the start of a new sentence. So chapters fall on natural breaks and stay roughly even. Topic changes are not always at a pause, so read the list and move a time if a chapter starts in the wrong place.
Are the chapter titles good enough to publish?
They are a draft: each title is the first words said in that part. Rewrite them in your own words (short, clear, with the keyword viewers look for). The list is a normal text box, so you can edit times and titles and the rules are checked again as you type.
Does it upload my video?
No. Your browser decodes the audio and the speech model runs on your own device; the file never leaves this tab. Only the model (Whisper) is downloaded, once, from Hugging Face, the same one my transcription tool uses.

Who made this

I'm Kevin Tabares. I've edited long-form YouTube videos since 2015 (1,277 videos and 152.2M+ views tracked on YT Jobs) for channels like Rex & Alexa, Puff and Mud. Writing chapters by scrubbing through a 40-minute video is slow, so I built this to give you a first draft in minutes, without uploading anything. If you want an editor for your channel, get in touch.

More free tools

A video transcription tool with SRT subtitles, chapters from your timeline markers, a talking speed checker and a hook checker, all free and without signup.

See all tools →