YouTube Timestamp Link Generator

What is a YouTube timestamp link?

A YouTube timestamp link is a normal video link with a start time added, so the video opens at that exact second instead of the beginning. YouTube reads the start time from the t parameter: https://youtu.be/VIDEOID?t=754 or https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VIDEOID&t=754s both start at 12:34.

Timestamp links save your audience time. Instead of "skip to around minute twelve", you send them straight to the answer, the drop, the recipe step or the product demo. They work in browsers and open the YouTube app at the right second on phones.

How to make a YouTube link start at a specific time

The tool has two modes, picked with the tabs under the URL field.

Single timestamp

1. Paste the video URL. Watch links, youtu.be links, Shorts, embed and live URLs all work, as does a bare 11-character video ID. The detected ID appears below the field; if none is found you see a red message.
2. Type the start time into the hours, minutes and seconds boxes. Leave hours empty for short videos.
3. Copy the Short link (youtu.be/ID?t=seconds) with Copy link, or use Copy long link for the youtube.com/watch?v=ID&t=XXs version. Open lets you test it in a new tab.

Chapter list

1. Paste the video URL as above.
2. Switch to Chapter list and paste one chapter per line, time first: 00:00 Intro, 1:30 The setup, 1:02:10 Q&A. Parentheses around the time, like (1:30), and a dash or colon after it are fine.
3. Each line becomes Chapter name - https://youtu.be/ID?t=seconds. Copy all copies the whole list, ready for a comment, newsletter, show notes or a community post.

Everything updates as you type; there is no generate button to press.

YouTube time link formats at a glance

To convert by hand: hours x 3600 + minutes x 60 + seconds. So 1:02:10 is 3600 + 120 + 10 = 3730 seconds.

Timestamp links vs YouTube chapters

Chapters are timestamps you type into your own video description. YouTube then splits the progress bar into named sections. At the time of writing, YouTube requires the first timestamp to be 0:00, at least three timestamps in ascending order, and each chapter to be at least 10 seconds long. If one rule is broken, the chapters do not appear.

Chapters only help people who are already watching. Timestamp links work outside YouTube: in a tweet, an email, a WhatsApp group, a course page or a link-in-bio button. The Chapter list mode lets you write your chapters once, paste them into the description, and reuse the same list as clickable links everywhere else.

Generator vs YouTube's built-in "Start at" option

On a computer, YouTube's own Share button has a "Start at" checkbox that adds the current playback time to the link. It is quick if you are already watching and paused at the right second. A generator is more useful when:

• you know the time from your notes or an editing timeline and do not want to scrub the video to find it;
• you are on a phone, where the share sheet often has no start time option;
• you need many links at once, such as every chapter of a long podcast or course lesson;
• you want the long youtube.com/watch format, for example for a platform that rewrites short links.

Ways creators and teams use timestamp links

• Podcasters share the exact moment a guest makes a point, e.g. "Why we left Bengaluru for Goa: youtu.be/ID?t=1845".
• Teachers and coaches send students to the one step they asked about instead of a 40-minute lesson.
• Musicians link to the drop, the guitar solo or the live version of a song in a long concert stream.
• Product teams link support answers to the right second of a tutorial video.
• Cooking channels post "jump to recipe" links in comments and on Instagram stories.
• Streamers clip highlights from a three-hour VOD without editing anything.

Tips and common mistakes

• Start a few seconds early. Two or three seconds of context before the key moment helps people understand what they are seeing.
• Do not use two question marks. watch?v=ID?t=90 is broken. The tool always builds the right separator.
• Check the time after edits. If you trim or re-upload a video, old timestamps point to the wrong place.
• Shorts are short. A start time on a 30-second Short is rarely useful, and the Shorts player may ignore it; link to long videos instead.
• Track the clicks. If you share a timestamp in a campaign, add UTM parameters to the page that links to it with the UTM builder.
• On mobile, the YouTube app's share sheet does not always offer a start time option. Copying the link here and adding the time is the reliable way.

How the generator works

The tool runs entirely in your browser. It reads the video ID from the URL with a few pattern checks and adds the seconds you entered. It does not call YouTube, does not check whether the video exists and sends nothing to Biolinko servers, so it also works for unlisted videos without exposing them.

Timestamp links in your link in bio

A link-in-bio page is a good home for "start here" moments: the best five minutes of your podcast, the tutorial step people ask about most, or the live performance fans want. Add each timestamp link as its own button on your Biolinko page (biolinko.me/yourname), next to the full video. See link in bio for YouTube creators, grab the video's image with the YouTube thumbnail downloader, or create a free page.