Chapter & Timestamp Generator

Knowledge Base

How to Use the Chapter Generator

Add each chapter with its start time and a short title, drag rows to fix the order if you added them out of sequence, then export in the format your platform expects. YouTube wants a plain timestamp list pasted into the video description. Podcast apps that support Podcasting 2.0 chapters want a structured JSON file.

YouTube Chapter Rules

• The first chapter must start at 0:00. YouTube won't recognise the list otherwise.
• You need at least 3 chapters for YouTube to display the chapter bar.
• Each chapter must be at least 10 seconds long, shorter gaps get ignored.

This tool checks all three rules and flags anything that would stop YouTube from recognising your chapters.

Podcast Chapters (Podcasting 2.0)

Apple Podcasts, Overcast, and other modern podcast apps support an open JSON chapters format hosted alongside your episode. Export the JSON here and upload it wherever your podcast host lets you attach a chapters file, or reference it via a <podcast:chapters> tag in your RSS feed.

FAQ

Q: Can I use the same chapter list for both YouTube and my podcast?
A: Yes, build it once here and export both formats from the same chapter list.

Q: Why isn't my chapter bar showing up on YouTube?
A: Almost always one of the three rules above. Check the validation message this tool shows after you add your chapters.