Key Takeaways
- APA italicizes the video title and adds [Video]. MLA and Chicago put the title in quotation marks.
- Use the person or organization that posted the video as the author, unless the creator is clearly someone else.
- To quote a video, add a timestamp to your in-text citation, the way you would add a page number for a book.
Knowing how to cite a YouTube video matters more every semester, because lectures, interviews, and tutorials now sit next to books and journals in student papers. The good news is that every style uses the same few details. The tricky part is the order, the italics, and who counts as the author.
This guide shows the template and a real example for APA, MLA, and Chicago. It also covers channels, Shorts, livestreams, and quotes with timestamps.
Short on time? Paste the link into the JustDone citation generator and pick your style.
Style | Reference format | In-text citation |
| APA 7 | Author. (Year, Month Day). Title of video [Video]. YouTube. URL | (Author, Year) |
| MLA 9 | Author. "Title of Video." YouTube, uploaded by Name, Day Mon. Year, URL. | (Author) or ("Short Title") |
| Chicago 18 | Author, "Title of Video," YouTube video, Month Day, Year, URL. | Footnote |
What to Grab Before You Close the Tab
Citing a YouTube video is easy once you have five details. All of them sit right under the player or in the description box.
- Creator or uploader. The channel name, or the real person or organization behind it.
- Upload date. Click "more" under the title to see the full date.
- Title. Copy it exactly, including capitalization and punctuation.
- URL. Use the share link or the address bar, without playlist or tracking strings.
- Timestamp. Note the minute and second of any line you plan to quote.
How to Cite a YouTube Video APA Style: Uploaders, Channels, and Dates
APA is the standard in psychology, education, nursing, and most social sciences. An APA YouTube citation lists the uploader as the author, italicizes the title, and labels it [Video]. Here is the template:
Author. (Year, Month Day). Title of video [Video]. YouTube. URL
And here is an example from the APA Style YouTube guide:
Harvard University. (2019, August 28). Soft robotic gripper for jellyfish [Video]. YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=guRoWTYfxMs
Four Rules That Trip Students Up
Every APA YouTube citation also needs a matching in-text citation, in this case (Harvard University, 2019). Keep these rules in mind:
- Real name and username. If they differ, write the real name first and the channel in square brackets, such as Smith, J. [CrashCourse].
- No retrieval date for a video. A posted video does not change, so the date it went up is enough.
- Channels are different. To cite a whole channel, write (n.d.), the channel tab as the title, [YouTube channel], and a retrieval date, because a channel's content keeps changing.
- Livestreams. An unarchived livestream that no one else can watch counts as a personal communication and stays out of the reference list.
Vimeo, TED, and Other Platforms
The same pattern works for Vimeo, TED, or a university website. That is all you need for how to cite a video in APA when it is not on YouTube: swap the platform name for the site name.
How to Cite a YouTube Video MLA Style: Titles, Uploaders, and Optional Authors
MLA is the go-to style for English and humanities classes. Here, YouTube is the "container" that holds the video, so its name goes in italics while the video title goes in quotation marks. The template looks like this:
Creator's Last Name, First Name. "Title of Video." YouTube, uploaded by Uploader Name, Day Mon. Year, URL.
When to Skip the Author
The author slot is optional. According to the MLA Style Center, you fill it only when the creator is clear. If you only know who posted the video, start with the title and name the uploader after YouTube. Here is the MLA Style Center's own example:
"Capybara Eat Huge Pumpkin." YouTube, uploaded by Alex Smith, 12 Jan. 2021, www.youtube.com/watch?v=8YNwxZnABzA.
A few more rules:
- Copy the title exactly as it appears, but apply title case. The MLA explains this in its note on titles of uploaded videos.
- Leave out "https://" from the URL.
- An access date is optional. Add one only if the video might be taken down.
Beyond YouTube
These rules apply to any streaming platform. If you need how to cite a video in MLA from Vimeo or a news site, replace YouTube with that site's name. For long Works Cited lists, the JustDone MLA citations tool builds each entry from a link.
Chicago: One Note, One Bibliography Entry
Chicago is common in history and art history. Learning how to cite a YouTube video Chicago style takes two entries: a footnote the first time you mention the video and a bibliography entry at the end.
The First Footnote
The note reads like a sentence, with commas:
- Harvard University, "Soft Robotic Gripper for Jellyfish," YouTube video, August 28, 2019, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=guRoWTYfxMs.
The Bibliography Entry
The bibliography entry swaps commas for periods:
Harvard University. "Soft Robotic Gripper for Jellyfish." YouTube video, August 28, 2019. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=guRoWTYfxMs.
Some instructors also want the running time, such as "2:01," after "YouTube video." Check your syllabus before you add it.
In-Text Citations and Timestamps
Videos have no page numbers, so a timestamp does the same job when you quote. Point to the exact moment so your reader can find it.
Situation | APA 7 | MLA 9 | Chicago |
| Paraphrase | (Harvard University, 2019) | (Harvard University) | Footnote |
| Direct quote | (Harvard University, 2019, 1:12) | (Harvard University 00:01:12) | Footnote with time |
| No clear creator | (Short title, 2021) | ("Capybara Eat") | Footnote with title |
| Narrative | Harvard University (2019) showed... | Harvard University shows... | Name in the sentence plus a note |
Italics or Quotation Marks?
It depends on the style. APA italicizes video titles because a video is a standalone work. MLA and Chicago treat it as part of a larger site, so the title goes in quotation marks. This is the most common mix-up in older guides, including earlier versions of this one.
Shorts, Livestreams, Lectures, and Clips
Most unusual cases follow the same template with one small change.
- YouTube Shorts. Cite them like any other video. In APA, keep the [Video] label.
- Archived livestreams. Use the date of the stream and cite it as a regular video. Unarchived streams are covered in the APA section above.
- Recorded lectures and webinars. If you watched a class recording on YouTube, cite the video. If you were in the room, see our guide on how to cite a lecture.
- A screenshot from a video. Cite the video and give the timestamp in the figure note. Our guide on how to cite an image shows how to label it.
- Movies, TV episodes, and video podcasts. A full film or show that a studio posted follows its own rules, covered in how to cite a movie. A video podcast uses the episode format from how to cite a podcast.
Paste a Link Instead of Typing It Out
Once you know how to cite YouTube videos by hand, formatting ten of them for one paper is mostly copy-paste work. A tool can cite YouTube video links in seconds and catch slips like a missing [Video] label:
- Copy the video's share link.
- Paste it into the JustDone generator and choose APA, MLA, or Chicago.
- Check the uploader, date, and title against the video page, then copy the result.
The Short Version
Find the uploader, the date, the exact title, and the link. Put the title in italics for APA and in quotation marks for MLA and Chicago, and add a timestamp whenever you quote. Keep this guide open the next time you need to know how to cite a YouTube video.
