How to Link to a Specific Time in a YouTube Video

Sending someone a ten-minute video and saying “skip to the middle” rarely works. A timestamp link opens the video at the exact moment you mean.

Method 1: Our generator (any device)

Paste the video link into the timestamp link generator, type a time like 4:05, and copy the short or full link. It works for regular videos, Shorts and saved live streams, and it reads any time already in the link.

Method 2: Desktop “Start at”

1. Pause the video at the moment you want.
2. Click Share under the video.
3. Tick Start at — the current time fills in automatically.
4. Copy the link.

Method 3: Add the time yourself

Add a t parameter to the link. The time is in seconds, or written as minutes and seconds:

Note the difference: short links start the parameters with ?, full links already have ?v=, so the time is added with &.

Method 4: Clickable times in comments and descriptions

Just type the time — 4:05 or 1:02:30 — in a YouTube comment or your description. YouTube turns it into a link that jumps to that point in the same video. No URL needed.

On a phone

The YouTube app’s share menu doesn’t always offer a start time. The quickest option is to note the time on the progress bar, copy the link with Share → Copy link, and add ?t= plus the seconds — or paste it into our generator.

Good uses for timestamp links

• Answering questions in comments, forums or support chats.
• Study notes — one link per key idea in a lecture.
• Editing feedback — “the audio drops here”.
• Social posts that highlight the best moment of a long video.

If you want your own video to have permanent clickable sections, add chapters instead.

Minutes to seconds

The t value is easiest in seconds: minutes × 60 + seconds (and hours × 3600).

Start and stop times in an embedded video

On your own website the player uses start instead of t, and it also accepts end, so you can show just one part of a video:

<iframe src="https://www.youtube-nocookie.com/embed/VIDEO_ID?start=245&end=300"
        width="560" height="315" allowfullscreen></iframe>

Both values are in seconds. Our embed code generator adds the start time for you.

Timestamp in a playlist link

Add t to a playlist link with & and the video opens at that moment, then the playlist continues normally:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VIDEO_ID&list=PLAYLIST_ID&t=245s

When the timestamp doesn’t work

• t=4:05 with a colon — YouTube ignores it. Write t=245 or t=4m5s.
• Two question marks — links copied from the share menu already have ?si=…, so add the time with &: youtu.be/VIDEO_ID?si=abc&t=245.
• Shorts — the Shorts player loops from the start. Open it as youtube.com/watch?v=VIDEO_ID&t=10s to jump inside a Short.
• A live stream that is still live — the time only works on the saved recording after the stream ends.
• “Continue watching” — if the viewer already watched part of the video, the app may offer to resume; the link still sets the start for new viewers.