To cite a YouTube video, name the channel that uploaded it as the author, then give the upload date, the video’s title, YouTube, and the video’s link. APA, MLA, Chicago, and Harvard each order and punctuate these parts differently. Each example below cites the same video, the one APA Style uses.
How to cite a YouTube video in APA
APA 7 uses “the name of the account that uploaded the video as the author” and the exact date it went up, according to APA Style’s YouTube page. The title goes in italics and in sentence case, even when YouTube shows it in title case, followed by [Video], YouTube, and the link.
- Reference: Harvard University. (2019, August 28). Soft robotic gripper for jellyfish [Video]. YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=guRoWTYfxMs
- In-text citation: (Harvard University, 2019), or Harvard University (2019) in a sentence.
- Quoting a moment: APA puts a time stamp in place of a page number, as in (Harvard University, 2019, 0:42).
With no upload date, APA writes (n.d.) in its place.
How to cite a YouTube video in MLA
MLA 9 copies the title exactly as it appears on YouTube, in quotation marks, then gives YouTube in italics, the date listed below the video, and the link without https://, as the MLA Style Center shows. The month is abbreviated, as in 28 Aug. 2019.
- Works Cited entry: Harvard University. “Soft Robotic Gripper for Jellyfish.” YouTube, 28 Aug. 2019, www.youtube.com/watch?v=guRoWTYfxMs.
- In-text citation: (Harvard University 00:00:42). The MLA Handbook writes a time stamp as hours, minutes, and seconds separated by colons.
When a person made the video and someone else uploaded it, MLA puts the uploader after “uploaded by”.
How to cite a YouTube video in Chicago style
Chicago’s notes and bibliography system, in its 18th edition, describes a YouTube source as “YouTube video”, followed by its length and link, as the Chicago Manual of Style Q&A shows. A person is the author in that example and the channel follows the title. When the channel itself is the author, the page names it once.
- Bibliography entry: Harvard University. “Soft Robotic Gripper for Jellyfish.” August 28, 2019. YouTube video. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=guRoWTYfxMs.
- Footnote: 1. Harvard University, “Soft Robotic Gripper for Jellyfish,” August 28, 2019, YouTube video, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=guRoWTYfxMs.
- Shortened note: Harvard University, “Soft Robotic Gripper for Jellyfish,” at 0:42. Chicago’s citation guide points to a moment the same way, as in “at 6:09”.
Type the video’s length, such as 1:22:40, into Length to add it after “YouTube video”.
How to reference a YouTube video in Harvard
Harvard has no single rulebook. UCL’s library notes that “there are many variations of the Harvard style”. Many UK universities follow Cite Them Right: the channel, the year, the title in italics, “Available at:”, the link, and the date you watched it, as in the guides from London South Bank University and Wigan and Leigh College.
- Reference: Harvard University (2019) Soft robotic gripper for jellyfish. Available at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=guRoWTYfxMs (Accessed: 22 October 2026).
- In-text citation: (Harvard University, 2019).
Some universities add more. UCL puts [Online video] after the title, and Robert Gordon University adds the upload day and month. Check your own university’s guide before you hand in.
Channel name or a person’s real name
Every style starts from the channel that uploaded the video. When you know a person made it, such as a lecturer on a university’s channel, type their name in the generator and the channel moves to where each style puts it.
| Style | Who goes first | Where the channel goes |
|---|---|---|
| APA | Last name and initials | In square brackets after the name, as APA does for social media accounts |
| MLA | Last name, first name | After “uploaded by” |
| Chicago | Last name, first name | After the title |
| Harvard | The channel | First, as whoever posted the video |
Where to find a YouTube video’s upload date
The description box under the video starts with the views and how long ago the video went up, such as “7 years ago”. In our tests in October 2026, selecting the description on a computer opened it to the full date. On YouTube’s mobile site, tapping that line of views under the title did the same.
In-text citations and time stamps
Paste a link with a time in it, such as one copied with Start at checked in YouTube’s Share box, and the time fills Time you quote. You can also type it, such as 1:02:03. Each style writes it its own way:
| Style | The whole video | A moment at 1:02:03 |
|---|---|---|
| APA | (Harvard University, 2019) | (Harvard University, 2019, 1:02:03) |
| MLA | (Harvard University) | (Harvard University 01:02:03) |
| Chicago shortened note | Harvard University, “Soft Robotic Gripper for Jellyfish.” | Harvard University, “Soft Robotic Gripper for Jellyfish,” at 1:02:03. |
| Harvard | (Harvard University, 2019) | (Harvard University, 2019) |
The Harvard guides above give no time in the in-text citation, so the generator leaves it out. The reference itself never carries the time: the link in every entry ends at the video’s ID.
How to cite a YouTube Short
None of the four style guides has a rule for Shorts, so cite a Short the way you cite any other video: the channel, the date, the title, YouTube, and the link. Paste its youtube.com/shorts/ link here, and the reference keeps that Shorts address with nothing after the video’s ID.
More tools for studying with YouTube
To send a classmate the moment you quote, make a link that opens there with the timestamp link generator. To see how long a lecture series takes at 1.5x, use the playback speed calculator. If you learn from YouTube often, Retube, our free browser extension, groups the channels you study with into one feed inside YouTube, away from recommendations.
To set that up by hand or with Retube, read how to organize YouTube subscriptions.