Glossary
A timestamp is a time marker attached to a line, segment, or word in a transcript, indicating when the speech occurred in the source audio. They're optional for plain-text reading but mandatory for subtitles, click-to-jump editors, and any workflow where you need to navigate audio by content.
Common timestamp formats
MM:SS — short audio (under an hour), e.g. 05:32.
HH:MM:SS — long audio, e.g. 01:14:08.
HH:MM:SS,mmm — SRT subtitle format with millisecond precision: 01:14:08,250.
HH:MM:SS.mmm — WebVTT uses a period instead of comma: 01:14:08.250.
Floating-point seconds — JSON output from APIs, e.g. 4448.25.
Segment vs word-level timestamps
Most ASR engines, including Whisper, output segment timestamps — one start/end pair per ~5-15 second utterance. Good enough for paragraph-level navigation and standard subtitles. Word-level timestamps require an additional forced-alignment pass and give per-word start/end times, accurate to ~30 ms. Word-level is needed for karaoke-style burn-in captions and click-to-jump-to-word editor experiences.
When to include timestamps
Always: subtitles, captions, podcasting (so listeners can jump to chapters), interview transcripts (so reviewers can verify quotes against the audio), legal depositions. Optional: blog drafts, written summaries, polished published articles — strip timestamps for clean reading. Our exports let you toggle timestamp inclusion per format. To shift or fix subtitle timestamps, see how to edit an SRT file.
In practice
A 1-hour interview transcript with segment timestamps every 5 seconds gives you ~720 anchor points. Click any timestamp in our editor to jump the audio player to that moment — useful for verifying a quote or finding context around a phrase you're reviewing.
Related terms
Get a timestamped transcript
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Frequently Asked Questions
What does Timestamp mean in transcription?
A time marker on each line of a transcript, typically in MM:SS or HH:MM:SS format. Required for subtitles; optional for plain text.
Why does Timestamp matter when choosing a transcription workflow?
Timestamp affects how you understand transcript quality, timing, compatibility, or the technology behind speech-to-text results.
Where can I apply Timestamp on Transcript.you?
Use the related workflow at /ai-transcription when you want to see how this glossary concept connects to an actual transcription task.
Browse the full transcription glossary or read the complete guide to AI transcription.