How to Cite a YouTube Video in APA, MLA and Chicago, With Time Stamps for Quotes
A video citation needs four things from the watch page and one from the player. Here is where each goes in APA, MLA and Chicago, taken from the style guides themselves.
in short
To cite a YouTube video, record the uploader's account name, the creator if different, the exact title, the upload date and the URL. APA lists the account as author with [Video] after the italic title. MLA quotes the title and names YouTube as the container. Chicago adds the run time. Quote with a time stamp.
Knowing how to cite a YouTube video comes down to copying a few facts from the watch page into the order your style guide wants. APA 7, MLA 9 and Chicago 18 all publish their own YouTube examples, and they disagree on small but visible things: who counts as the author, whether the title is italic, and where the date goes. Below: each template as the guide's own page shows it, one invented video cited three ways, and the time stamp that points a reader to the moment you quoted.
How to cite a YouTube video: what to collect first
Copy the facts once, from the watch page, before you open a style guide.
Every style needs the same handful of facts. Collect them from the video's own page, not an embed, which may not show the upload date or the channel. As with citing a website so a reader can check it, copy rather than retype and note the date you watched.
| Fact | Where to find it | Used by |
|---|---|---|
| Account (channel) name | Under the video, beside the channel icon | APA as author; MLA as uploader; Chicago after posted by |
| Creator or speaker | In the video itself, the title or the description | MLA and Chicago as author when it is clear; APA in your sentence |
| Exact title | Above the video, copied character for character | All three |
| Upload date | In the description panel, under the view count | All three |
| URL | The address bar or the Share button, without tracking extras | All three |
| Run time | The player's time display at the end of the video | Chicago |
| Time stamp of your quotation | The player's time display when the words begin | In-text citations and notes |
Cite a YouTube video in APA 7
The APA Style page on YouTube references gives the pattern in its examples: the name of the account that uploaded the video as author, the specific upload date, the title in italics, the description [Video] in square brackets, then YouTube and the URL. The same format works for Vimeo and similar sites.
APA's own example reads: Harvard University. (2019, August 28). Soft robotic gripper for jellyfish [Video]. YouTube. In the text: (Harvard University, 2019) or Harvard University (2019). To quote someone featured in a video, APA says to name or describe that person in your sentence and cite the video in parentheses.
For a direct quotation, APA's page on quoting material without page numbers says to give a time stamp for the beginning of the quotation in place of a page number, with the example (Cuddy, 2012, 2:12). An unarchived live stream is cited as a personal communication.
Cite a YouTube video in MLA 9
The MLA Style Center answer on YouTube videos offers two starting points. When the primary creator is clear, put the creator in the Author element. When it is not clear, begin with the video's title and give the uploading account in the Contributor element, after YouTube, as uploaded by. You may name the uploader even when the creator is clear. Copy the title exactly as it appears.
MLA's example without a named creator reads: “Capybara Eat Huge Pumpkin.” YouTube, uploaded by Alex Smith, 12 Jan. 2021, www.youtube.com/watch?v=8YNwxZnABzA. Note the abbreviated month and the URL without https://.
The MLA's YouTube post shows the works-cited entry but no in-text example. A common form is the name that begins the entry plus the time you quote, (Ruiz 4:12); check which form your course expects.
Cite a YouTube video in Chicago 18
The Chicago Manual of Style citation quick guide puts YouTube under Video or podcast and points to CMOS 14.167 to 169. Its YouTube example, a lecture: Eric Oliver, “Why So Many Americans Believe in So Many ‘Crazy’ Things,” moderated by Andrew McCall, virtual lecture, February 23, 2022, posted March 21, 2022, by University of Chicago, YouTube, 1:01:45, https://youtu.be/hfq7AnCF5bg.
That template is the Oliver pattern without the lecture details, for a video made for YouTube. If your video records a talk, keep the event and its date before posted. Shortened notes point to a moment with at, as in the guide's TED example: Cowan, “Green Hydrogen,” at 6:09.
One video cited three ways
An invented example video, so the formats can be compared on identical facts. Creator: Maya Ruiz. Account: Tidepool Lab. Title: Why Sea Stars Lose Their Arms. Uploaded March 14, 2025. Run time 12:48. URL: https://www.example.com/watch?v=sea123.
| Style | Reference or note | In-text, quoting the words at 4:12 |
|---|---|---|
| APA 7 | Tidepool Lab. (2025, March 14). Why sea stars lose their arms [Video]. YouTube. https://www.example.com/watch?v=sea123 | (Tidepool Lab, 2025, 4:12) |
| MLA 9 | Ruiz, Maya. “Why Sea Stars Lose Their Arms.” YouTube, uploaded by Tidepool Lab, 14 Mar. 2025, www.example.com/watch?v=sea123. | (Ruiz 4:12) |
| Chicago 18 note | 1. Maya Ruiz, “Why Sea Stars Lose Their Arms,” posted March 14, 2025, by Tidepool Lab, YouTube, 12:48, https://www.example.com/watch?v=sea123. | 2. Ruiz, “Sea Stars,” at 4:12. |
| Chicago 18 bibliography | Ruiz, Maya. “Why Sea Stars Lose Their Arms.” Posted March 14, 2025, by Tidepool Lab. YouTube, 12:48. https://www.example.com/watch?v=sea123. | Notes carry the time stamp |
Time stamps for quotations
A video has no page numbers, so the time is the page number. APA's example time stamp is 2:12 and Chicago's is 6:09: minutes and seconds as the player displays them, with hours added for long videos, as in Chicago's run time of 1:01:45. Take the time where the quoted words begin; each quotation gets its own.
Check quoted words against the audio, not the automatic captions. The rules for trimming and bracketing a quotation are the same as for print, and the guide to quoting and citing a passage covers them style by style.
Link a reader to the exact moment
A time stamp tells a reader where to look; a time-stamped link takes them there. YouTube's Share button can start a link at the current moment. Keep that link in your notes, and keep the reference entry on the plain video URL, as all three guides' examples do.
Play to the start of the quotation
Scrub back a second so the link opens just before the first word.
Open Share and set the start time
On a computer, tick the start-at box; in the app, turn on the time toggle in the Share menu.
Copy the link into your notes
Paste it beside the quoted words, the time stamp and the date you watched.
Test it in a private window
It should open on the moment without signing in.
A worked example: one quoted sentence, three styles
Suppose your draft quotes the invented example video at 4:12, where the presenter says: “Regrowth costs the animal months of stored energy.”
- APA 7. Ruiz notes that “regrowth costs the animal months of stored energy” (Tidepool Lab, 2025, 4:12).
- MLA 9. Ruiz notes that “regrowth costs the animal months of stored energy” (4:12). Ruiz already begins the entry, so only the time is needed.
- Chicago 18. Ruiz notes that “regrowth costs the animal months of stored energy.”2 Note 2 reads: Ruiz, “Sea Stars,” at 4:12.
In your notes, keep one line: quoted words, time stamp, link, date watched. The same habit works for chatbot answers, which have their own format in how to cite an AI chatbot answer.
Pitfalls when citing a YouTube video
- Citing the re-upload. APA suggests looking for the same video on the creator's own channel or website.
- Retyping the title. MLA says to copy it exactly; change only the case your style requires.
- Leaving tracking extras in the URL. Share links may carry playlist or tracking settings. Trim back to the watch address before it goes in the reference.
- Quoting the captions. Automatic captions can mishear names and numbers. Quote what the speaker says.
Tips that save time later
- Collect facts in a fixed order. Account, creator, title, date, URL, run time.
- Check the guide your class names. Your instructor's rule wins over any general page.
- Use the hub for the rest. The other guides to keeping a citable record of your reading cover books, PDFs and web pages.
Citing a YouTube video is a matter of copying the account, creator, title, upload date and URL once, then arranging them the way your style guide shows. Add a time stamp to every quotation and keep a link that opens on that moment. A reader can then find the exact words in under a minute.
Common questions
How do I cite a YouTube video in APA 7?
Use the uploading account as author, then the upload date, the italic title in sentence case, [Video], YouTube and the URL: Harvard University. (2019, August 28). Soft robotic gripper for jellyfish [Video]. YouTube. That is APA's own example. In the text, write (Harvard University, 2019), and add a time stamp such as 2:12 when you quote.
How do I cite a YouTube video in MLA 9?
Start with the creator if the creator is clear, then the title in quotation marks, YouTube in italics, uploaded by and the account name, the date in day, month, year order, and the URL without https. If the creator is unclear, start with the title. In the text, cite the first word of the entry and the time stamp.
How do I cite a YouTube video in Chicago style?
In Chicago 18, a note gives the creator, the title in quotation marks, posted with the date and the account, YouTube, the run time and the URL, following the quick guide's YouTube lecture example. The bibliography entry uses the same facts separated by periods, with the name inverted. Shortened notes point to a moment with at and the time.
How do I cite a specific part of a YouTube video?
Add a time stamp where the quoted words begin. APA's example is (Cuddy, 2012, 2:12). MLA treats the time stamp as the location marker in place of a page number. Chicago's shortened note uses at followed by the time. The reference entry stays on the whole video; only the in-text citation or note changes.
Do I need a retrieval or access date for a YouTube video?
Not for a single video in APA's examples, which give the upload date and the URL only. APA does give a retrieval date for a YouTube channel page, because channel pages change and are not archived. Keep your own viewing date in your notes either way, since videos can be edited or removed.
Sources
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Nora Feld
Editor · reviewed 2 Nov 2026
