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YouTube Citation Generator: APA, MLA & Chicago

Keep your sources attached to your ideas. Enter the details you can verify, then create a citation draft with clear formatting cues and no guessed metadata.

Input Video title and URL · Uploader and optional creator · Publication details and optional timestampOutput APA 7, MLA 9, or Chicago 18 reference · Parenthetical citation or full footnote · Clipboard copy and TXT export

Use the details you can verify

Use sentence case for APA, preserving proper nouns. For MLA, copy the title as it appears on YouTube. Chicago normally uses headline-style capitalization. Capitalization is not changed automatically.

The URL identifies the video. No title, name, or date is fetched. Tracking and time parameters are removed.

Required for APA: the uploader is its author, even when someone else speaks. Keep the account’s spelling and capitalization.

For MLA and Chicago, use the identifiable creator. Leave blank when unknown. One person, group, or screen name is supported.

Check only when the named creator owns the uploading account. APA then uses their name and, if different, the account name in brackets.

If no upload date is supplied, APA uses n.d.; MLA omits it. Chicago requires your actual access date. Dates are never guessed or filled with today automatically.

Your citation draft

Add the source details to create a reference and an in-text citation or footnote.

The preview displays italics. Formatted copy keeps them in compatible editors; TXT and plain-text paste contain no markup. Apply required italics yourself when using plain text. Review names, title capitalization, original credits, date, punctuation, and your instructor’s requirements. This is a template for a typical YouTube upload, not a substitute for checking the style manual.

How to use it

  1. Choose APA 7, MLA 9, or Chicago 18 notes and bibliography. Paste a YouTube video URL and enter its title manually.
  2. Enter the uploading account name. For MLA or Chicago, add the identifiable creator; choose whether that name is a person or a group. APA treats the uploader as author.
  3. Add the upload date when known. You may also add your actual access date, a quotation timestamp, and the video’s duration. The tool never substitutes today for a missing date.
  4. Review the reference and its in-text citation or footnote. Copy with formatting into a compatible editor, or download plain text. Check italics, hanging indents, and your assignment requirements.

A small example

The example uses the APA publisher’s sample video by Above The Noise, dated 18 October 2017. APA places the uploading account first and italicizes the video title. Switching to MLA changes the container and date format; Chicago returns a bibliography entry and a full footnote.

What to know

  • This is a manual formatter for a typical uploaded web video. It does not fetch or verify metadata, identify the creator, or confirm that a video still exists.
  • A title and valid video URL are required. APA also requires the uploader. Missing upload dates produce n.d. in APA and an omitted date in MLA; undated Chicago output requires an access date you supply.
  • Supports one named person, group, or account. For a person use Family name, Given names; names with suffixes, multiple creators, or other naming conventions may need manual adjustment.
  • Title capitalization is preserved. APA needs sentence case with proper nouns intact. The preview shows italics; formatted copy preserves them in compatible editors. Plain text omits styles, so apply italics and required spacing yourself. Your document still needs a hanging indent.
  • Films, interviews, TV episodes, performances, reuploads, and works with important original publication details may need additional credits or a different template. Chicago author-date is not provided.
  • Source guidance was checked on 5 October 2026. APA’s publisher-authored 7th-edition handout is also linked through a university-hosted copy. Always review the result against the edition and rules your instructor requests.

References & format documentation

Study plannerTurn video durations into a realistic study schedule. Separate watch and practice time, check your deadline, and export a checklist or all-day calendar.Review calendarCreate a review schedule from your topics and chosen day intervals. Preview every date, then download an all-day ICS calendar or a spreadsheet-ready CSV.Timestamp links & chaptersBuild YouTube timestamp links in batches and check chapter formatting. Create clickable links, copy a chapter list, and download TXT or CSV without an API.
For assistants and developers

This is a browser tool with visible, labeled controls and local processing. Read the usage guide or machine-readable catalog for supported inputs, outputs, examples, and limits. No API key or server endpoint is available. A catalog listing is documentation, not automatic integration with every AI assistant.