How YouTube timestamp links work
Adding ?t=83 (or &t=83 after an existing parameter) to a video link makes it start playing at that many seconds in. That's the entire mechanism — the timestamp lives in the URL, so no editing of the video is involved and it works on any video, yours or anyone else's. The value is plain seconds (t=505 for 8:25); YouTube also still accepts the older human-readable form (t=8m25s), but seconds is the canonical format the Share button itself produces, so it's what this tool generates.
Getting a timestamped link on mobile
The mobile app's Share sheet — unlike the desktop site — has no "Start at" checkbox, which is why this tool exists for a lot of people. The reliable route: pause the video at the moment you want, note the time from the player, tap Share → Copy link, then paste the link and the time here. The tool converts the time to seconds and appends it correctly, including on youtu.be short links where the first parameter needs ? rather than &. If a link you copied already contains a t= value (some share paths on mobile do include it), the tool reads it and pre-fills the time fields so you can adjust rather than retype.
Chapter lists — the creator workflow
If you're writing chapters for a description or pinned comment, you don't need links at all: a plain time like 2:14 in a video's own description or comments becomes a clickable seek automatically, and times starting at 0:00 in the description generate chapter markers on the progress bar. Where you do need real links is everywhere else — show notes, blog posts, newsletters, forum answers, messages. That's what batch mode above produces: paste your chapter list once and get every timestamped link, in plain text or Markdown, in one copy.
URL formats this tool understands
| Pasted format | Example |
|---|---|
| Standard watch URL | youtube.com/watch?v=VIDEOID |
| Short share link | youtu.be/VIDEOID |
| Shorts | youtube.com/shorts/VIDEOID |
| Mobile site | m.youtube.com/watch?v=VIDEOID |
| Embed / live | youtube.com/embed/VIDEOID · youtube.com/live/VIDEOID |
| Already timestamped | …?v=VIDEOID&t=505s — existing t= is read and pre-filled |
Frequently asked questions
What's the difference between t= and start=?
t= is for normal links people click — watch pages and youtu.be links. start= is the equivalent parameter for the embed player (the iframe you put in a web page), which ignores t=. Same idea, different context; this tool produces t= links because that's what sharing calls for. If you're embedding, swap the parameter name and use the seconds value shown above.
Do timestamp links work on Shorts?
Paste a Shorts URL here and the tool converts it to a standard watch link with the timestamp attached — that opens reliably at the right moment in the normal player. Links into the vertical Shorts player itself don't support seeking dependably, so the watch-page conversion is the honest, working answer.
Will a timestamped link work in comments and descriptions?
Yes — a full timestamped URL is clickable anywhere links work. Inside a video's own description or comments you can also just type the bare time (2:14) and YouTube links it to that video automatically; the full URL is for pointing at a moment from anywhere else.
Is anything fetched from the video?
No — the tool never contacts any server. It parses the text of the URL you pasted, converts your time to seconds, and assembles a new URL, all locally. That's also why it can't show a thumbnail or title: doing so would require a network request, and this page makes none.