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Tella lets you copy your video’s chapters in a format that YouTube automatically turns into clickable chapter markers. This is useful when you download a Tella video and upload it to YouTube. For general information on creating and editing chapters, see Chapters.

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How it works

Tella offers two copy formats for chapters. To copy for YouTube, open the three-dot menu in the Chapters panel and select Copy for YouTube. This copies your chapters in YouTube’s required format: 
0:00 Intro
0:45 Getting started
2:30 Advanced settings
5:12 Wrap up
Paste this into your YouTube video’s description field. YouTube will automatically create clickable chapter markers on the video progress bar.
YouTube requires timestamps without dashes. If you use Copy as text instead, the format includes dashes (0:00 - Intro) which works for general use but may not be recognized by YouTube.

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Copy chapters for YouTube

  1. Open your video in the Tella editor.
  2. Click the Chapters tab in the right sidebar.
  3. Click the three-dot menu and select Copy for YouTube.
  4. Go to your YouTube video and paste the text into the description field.
  5. Save the YouTube description. Chapter markers will appear on the progress bar.

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YouTube chapter requirements

For YouTube to recognize chapters, your description must meet these requirements:
  • The first timestamp must be 0:00. Tella handles this automatically — if your first chapter starts after 0:00, Tella adds an “Intro” chapter at the beginning when you save.
  • You need at least three chapters.
  • Each chapter must be at least 10 seconds long.

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Timestamp format

Tella formats timestamps based on your video’s length:
  • Videos under one hour use M:SS format (e.g., 0:00, 2:30, 14:05).
  • Videos one hour or longer use H:MM:SS format (e.g., 1:02:30).
Both formats are recognized by YouTube.

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Tips

  • Keep chapter titles short and descriptive. YouTube displays them in the progress bar, so long titles get cut off.
  • You can generate chapters with AI or add them manually before copying.
  • If you enable Auto-generate chapters in Settings > Preferences, chapters are created automatically after each recording’s transcription completes.