YouTube upload checker
Paste your title, description, tags and chapters. See what breaks YouTube's limits, where the title gets cut off, and copy a clean version back.
- Free, no sign-up
- Nothing you paste leaves your browser
- Limits checked October 10, 2026
Checks
Against YouTube's published limits and chapter rules, as checked on October 10, 2026.
Where your title gets cut off
Approximations of YouTube's layouts at two lines. The real cut depends on the screen, the window width and the language.
Clean copy
Trimmed, with invalid characters removed, duplicate tags dropped and chapters added to the description. Fixes that need a decision, such as a chapter under 10 seconds, stay in the checks.
Title
Description
Tags
YouTube's upload limits in 2026
A YouTube title can be 100 characters, a description 5,000 and all tags together 500. Chapters need a first timestamp at 0:00, at least three timestamps in order, and 10 seconds or more each. Here is what YouTube's own pages say.
- Title
- 100 charactersNo < or > (YouTube Help; Data API)
- Description
- 5,000 characters5,000 bytes through the API
- Tags
- 500 characters in totalCommas count; a tag with a space counts two quotation marks
- Hashtags
- 60 at mostMore than 60 and YouTube ignores all of them
- Chapters
- First at 0:00, 3 or moreIn ascending order, each at least 10 seconds
- Links
- Clickable on eligible channelsSuch as verified channels or ones with advanced features (Data API)
Sources: YouTube Help: Edit video settings · YouTube Help: Video chapters · YouTube Help: Find playlists & videos using hashtags · YouTube Help: Add tags to your YouTube videos · YouTube Data API: Videos resource, read on October 10, 2026.
Why the keyword goes first
YouTube shows the same title in very different widths: a wide search result on a laptop, a narrow Up next column beside the player, a phone feed. Long titles are cut at two lines in the narrow ones, and the checker's previews show where yours ends. Put the main keyword and the reason to click in the first 60 characters or so, and let the rest be detail people see when there is room. Our guide to ranking in YouTube search and suggested covers the rest of the title.
Tags matter less than they used to
YouTube's own help page says tags play a minimal role in your video's discovery
unless the topic is commonly misspelled; the title, thumbnail and description matter more. Keep a few accurate tags, include the misspellings people type, and don't repeat tags in the description: YouTube's spam policies cover excessive tags there.
Chapters that show up
The usual reasons chapters don't appear: the first timestamp isn't 0:00, there are only two, or one runs under 10 seconds. Add your video's length above and the checker tests the last chapter too. Thumbnail next? The YouTube thumbnail checker tests it against YouTube's 2026 specs.
Questions, answered.
Anything else? Message Mark and you'll get a written reply within one business day.
How long can a YouTube title be?
100 characters. YouTube Help says titles have a character limit of 100 characters and can’t include invalid characters, and the YouTube Data API names them: the angle brackets < and >. Long titles get cut off in search, suggested videos and on phones, so put the words that matter first.
How long can a YouTube description be?
5,000 characters in YouTube Studio. The YouTube Data API, which scheduling and upload tools use, counts 5,000 bytes instead, and emoji and many non-Latin letters take two to four bytes each, so a description full of them can pass in Studio and fail through a tool.
What is the YouTube tag limit?
500 characters for all tags together. Commas between tags count, and a tag with a space counts as if it were wrapped in quotation marks, so “Foo Baz” uses 9 characters. YouTube Help adds that tags play a minimal role in discovery unless your topic is commonly misspelled.
Why aren’t my YouTube chapters showing?
Check the three rules in YouTube Help: the first timestamp must be 0:00, there must be at least three timestamps in ascending order, and each chapter must be at least 10 seconds long. Chapters also aren’t available if the channel has active strikes or the video may be inappropriate for some viewers.
How many hashtags can I put on a YouTube video?
Up to 60. YouTube Help says that if a video has more than 60 hashtags, YouTube ignores every hashtag on it, and over-tagging may remove the video from search. Up to three hashtags from the description, the ones YouTube considers most engaging, appear by the title.
Where does a YouTube title get cut off?
It depends on where it shows and on the screen. The checker draws your title at two lines in layouts close to YouTube’s desktop search, Up next sidebar and phone feed, and tells you how much of it shows in each. Treat those as approximations, and put the main keyword in the first 60 characters or so.
Does this tool save what I paste?
No. The checks run in your browser and nothing you type is sent anywhere, so you can check a title before the video is public.
Rather not do this for every video?
Mark posts them for you: the title, description and tags written, the thumbnail set, and each video uploaded and scheduled, and you work directly with Mark.
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