YouTube Chapters Not Working? Why & How to Fix

What Are YouTube Chapters

YouTube chapters, also known as video progress bars, are a feature that breaks up your YouTube videos into sections. It’s automatically generated based on the timestamp you add to your YouTube video description. Then, it will show up in the video progress bar below the video.

So, what’s the difference between YouTube chapters and timestamps? Timestamps are visible in the video description, on the other hand, chapters are visible in the video progress bar. Video creators can add their video chapters to each uploaded video or they can rely on automatic video chapters.

To add chapters to your YouTube video, read this post: What Are YouTube Video Chapters and How to Add Them?

However, you may find that even if you have added timestamps to your YouTube video description, the YouTube chapters are still not showing. Why YouTube chapters are not working? And how to fix this issue? Please check the next part.

Possible Reasons & Solutions

Now that you have known what YouTube chapters are and how to add them, let’s discuss the common reasons why chapters not working on YouTube and how you can fix it.

Your YouTube account must have more than 1k followers

The first possible reason why YouTube chapters not working is your YouTube channel doesn’t have enough followers. To enable the YouTube chapters feature, make sure that you have reached more than 1000 subscribers.

Don’t forget to add a 00:00 timestamp

Another reason why YouTube video chapters not working could be that you forgot to add the 00:00 timestamp. It serves as the title introduction that activates the chapter feature. Without it, YouTube would not be able to recognize the video as having chapters. To solve it, you need to add the 00:00 timestamp at the beginning of your videos.

Add more than 3 chapters

Another requirement for adding chapters on YouTube is that you need to add at least 3 chapters. Otherwise, it doesn’t make sense to add chapters to such a short video. So, if you want to add chapters, try to make sure your videos cut into more than 3 chapters.

Chapters are longer than 10 seconds

Chapters are created to help viewers of the video find relevant information easily. If your chapters are less than 10 seconds, they may not contain comprehensive information on a particular topic. Hence, it’s advised to create YouTube chapters longer than 10 seconds.

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Timestamps are listed in ascending order

If not followed in the correct order, YouTube will not be able to display the information for the chapters of the video you are adding. Therefore, your video should contain at least three timestamps in ascending order.

Also read: Why Is YouTube TV Audio out of Sync? Here Are 8 Fixes!

Mind the punctuation and spacing

Another solution to fix YouTube chapters not showing is to mind the punctuation and spacing. It is curial and one of the most common mistakes people make when timestamping YouTube videos. So, check the punctuation and spacing of timestamps frequently.

Do not include clickable links to chapters

If there’s a clickable link before the chapter, it may lead to your YouTube video chapters not working, which makes it difficult for YouTube to correctly recognize chapter markers. Don’t include any clickable links between the chapters in your videos.

Account has no copyright strikes

If your channel has a valid copyright strike, YouTube may restrict your channel’s access to the YouTube chapters feature. To fix the YouTube chapter not working issue, you must first resolve the copyright strike.

Make sure video content doesn’t violate YouTube rules

If your video content doesn’t follow YouTube rules and regulations, this could also be the reason why your YouTube chapter isn’t working. To resolve it, make sure your video doesn’t violate any of YouTube’s rules and content guidelines.

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Conclusion

YouTube chapters are an amazing feature to boost your view count and channel growth. However, many users encounter YouTube chapters not working. Follow the solutions above to resolve this issue.