How to Cite a Video in MLA
Updated September 2026
Citing a video in MLA comes down to one template and a handful of rules. Below: the exact 9th edition format, a real example produced by our citation engine, and the in-text form — or paste your source into the generator on this page and copy the finished citation.
The MLA format
Author Last, First. “Title of the Page.” Site Name, Day Mon. Year, URL. Accessed Day Mon. Year.
MLA (9th edition) formats a video reference as shown above. A real example, generated by our citation engine:
Kurzgesagt – In a Nutshell. "Why You Should Put Yourself First." YouTube, 12 Sept. 2023, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eVTXPUF4Oz4. Accessed 1 June 2026.
In-text(Kurzgesagt – In a Nutshell)
Cite a video in MLA — free
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Citation style
MLA Handbook, 9th edition (2021). Title case for titles, and containers rather than fixed source types.
Finding the pieces
Or skip the hunt: Paste the video's URL into the generator. It works out what the source is, fills every field from the source's own record, and is already set to MLA.
- Author — the channel or creator who uploaded it
- Date — the upload date shown on the video page
- Title — the video's title as published
- Platform — YouTube, Vimeo, TikTok — serves as the site/container name
MLA's formatting rules at work
- Only the first author's name is inverted; co-authors appear in natural order with full first names
- Titles use Title Case — capitalize all principal words
- Source titles take quotation marks inside a container; standalone works are italicized
- The date sits near the end of the entry, in day-month-year form with abbreviated months
Video-specific pitfalls
- Quote a video with a timestamp in place of a page number: (Channel, 2023, 2:30)
- If the creator's real name is known, APA puts it first with the channel in brackets
- Films and TV episodes have their own richer formats — these patterns are for online video
In-text citations in MLA
MLA cites in the text with author and page: (Alvarez 12) — no comma, no year. Sources without page numbers (most web sources) cite the author alone: (Alvarez). Three or more authors use et al.: (Harris et al. 360).
No author? A shortened title stands in — quoted for articles and pages, italicized for whole works: ("First Words of Title").
Building the Works Cited
Every in-text citation pairs with a full entry on the Works Cited page, alphabetized by author. Add each citation to your bibliography as you generate it, and the Bibliography Builder assembles and exports the finished page to Word with the title, ordering, and indentation MLA requires.
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Go Premium — $5/monthFrequently asked questions
- What's the basic MLA format for a video?
- Author Last, First. “Title of the Page.” Site Name, Day Mon. Year, URL. Accessed Day Mon. Year. — see the worked example above, generated by the same engine that powers the free citation tool.
- How do I cite a specific moment?
- With a timestamp where a page number would go: (Author, Year, 2:30) in APA, (Author 02:30) in MLA. Pause the video at the quote to read it off.
- How do I cite a video in MLA in-text?
- Author and page with no comma: (Alvarez 12); author alone when no pages exist: (Alvarez).
- Can I get this citation in other styles too?
- Yes — every result in the generator renders APA, MLA, Chicago, Harvard, and IEEE simultaneously. Generate once, switch styles with one click.