MLA YouTube Citation Generator

Video Title

Channel / Creator

Upload Date

YouTube URL

📄 Live Preview MLA 9 — YouTube Video

Your MLA YouTube citation will appear here as you fill in the fields…

Educational YouTube Video — Works Cited Entry

"The Paradox of Choice." YouTube, uploaded by TED, 16 Jan. 2014, www.youtube.com/watch?v=VO6XEQIsCoM.

In-Text Citation:

(TED 04:15)

YouTube Video by Individual Creator — Works Cited Entry

Hasan, Sabrina. "How I Scored a 36 on the ACT." YouTube, uploaded by Sabrina Hasan, 3 Aug. 2023, www.youtube.com/watch?v=act36tips.

In-Text Citation:

(Hasan 02:30)

Copy the exact video title from YouTube — it appears directly below the video player. The tool places it in quotation marks.
Enter the name of the YouTube channel or uploader. This is the author or creator element in MLA.
Type 'YouTube' as the platform name — this serves as the container in the MLA citation.
Add the upload date shown below the video (e.g., 12 Feb. 2025).
Paste the full YouTube video URL from your browser's address bar.
Click Generate Citation to produce the formatted entry.

💡 Pro Tips

If the video creator is a person, enter their name in Last name, First name format. If the channel is an organization (e.g., TED, Vox), enter it as-is.
For timestamp citations, include the timestamp in your in-text citation: (Khan Academy 03:42).

YouTube videos in MLA 9 are treated as works within the YouTube container. The video title is the source title (in quotation marks), YouTube is the container (in italics), the channel is the author, and the URL is the location element.

📐 Citation Structure

"Video Title.” — In quotation marks, period inside
YouTube, — Container title, italicized, comma
uploaded by Channel Name, — Author element, comma
Upload Date, — Day Mon. Year format, comma
URL. — Full video URL, period

Important formatting details:

If the uploader is a person and your paper focuses on their commentary, list their name first in Last, First format.
When the channel name and the uploader are the same entity, list the channel name once after 'uploaded by.'
YouTube URLs should be the full watch link: www.youtube.com/watch?v=XXXXX.
For in-text citations, use the channel name or a shortened video title plus the timestamp: (TED 05:22).

Put the video title in quotation marks, italicize YouTube as the container, list the channel after 'uploaded by,' add the upload date, and end with the URL. Example: "How Batteries Work." YouTube, uploaded by TED-Ed, 18 Apr. 2019, www.youtube.com/watch?v=example.

If the uploader is a known individual, use their name in Last, First format. If the channel is an organization or brand (TED, Vox, Khan Academy), use the channel name as-is.

Include the timestamp in the in-text citation only, not in the Works Cited entry. Format it as hours:minutes:seconds — for example, (Khan Academy 00:03:42) or just (03:42) if the author is named in the sentence.

MLA does not have a specific format for playlists. Cite the individual video you referenced, not the playlist. If the playlist itself is your subject of analysis, treat it as a curated digital collection.

If the channel name is the only identifier, use it as the author. If even the channel is unclear, start the citation with the video title in quotation marks.