How to Create a YouTube Timestamp Link

Convert a time into a URL

Multiply hours by 3,600 and minutes by 60, then add the seconds.

Replace VIDEO_ID with the ID of the video. Use ? for the first query parameter and & when the URL already has parameters. If the URL already has a t parameter, replace its value rather than adding a second one.

Use YouTube’s Share controls

Move to the moment, open Share and enable the displayed start-time option before copying the link. The Android app’s current help describes a minute-and-second toggle in the Share menu; it is not necessarily desktop-only. Check YouTube’s sharing instructions if your interface differs.

Try the timestamp generator

In this example video, enter 0 hours, 0 minutes and 5 seconds, then press Set. Choose Short URL or Full URL and press Copy. You can also play the video and press Mark current time.

Example video: “Me at the zoo”. The player must load before you can select or copy a time, including manual entry.

For your own video, open the timestamp link generator. It accepts watch, youtu.be and embed URLs.

Check the result before sharing

Open the copied URL and check the requested moment. YouTube may begin slightly before the time, and another app can open the link differently. Include a short note such as “At 1:23, watch how the transition starts” so the recipient has context if the start parameter is not retained.

For a section embedded in a webpage, the format changes to:

The end is measured from the beginning of the video. Use the Clip Maker to generate this code, and paste it only into an editor that accepts iframe HTML. These are embedded-player parameters; adding end to an ordinary watch link is not an equivalent result.

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