Subtitle download

Download YouTube subtitles as a file

To download YouTube subtitles, paste a video link below, pick a language, and save the caption file as SRT or VTT — with or without timecodes. Free, no sign-in.

Works on any video with captions · or add the Chrome extension for one-click transcripts on every video.

What “downloading subtitles” means

Every YouTube video that carries captions stores them as timed lines — each one with the words and the moment they’re spoken. Saving them just writes that data to a file on your computer. Nothing is re-recorded and nothing is uploaded: it’s the caption track YouTube already serves, written out so you can keep it.

There are two sources for that track:

• Creator captions — lines the uploader wrote. Punctuated, spelled correctly, ready to use.
• Auto-generated captions — YouTube’s speech recognition. Present on most spoken videos, but with no punctuation and the odd misheard word.

Either way, the file you get is the same kind of thing: timed lines you can drop into a video editor, a player, or your own project.

SRT or VTT — which to pick

Two formats cover almost every use. Both hold the lines and their timecodes; they differ only in detail.

• SRT — the most common caption format. Plain, widely supported, and the safe default for video editors, players and upload tools that ask for a caption file.
• VTT — the web standard (WebVTT). Use it for HTML5 video, web players, and anywhere captions are served on a page.

If you’re not sure, take SRT — it works almost everywhere. Need it for a website? Take VTT. You can save either from the same link, so grab both if you want options.

How to download subtitles from YouTube

The whole thing is three steps and needs no install:

1. Paste the YouTube link into the box above.
2. Pick SRT or VTT — and a language, if you want it translated.
3. Save the file to your computer.

That’s it. There’s no account to create and no limit on how many videos you run, so you can save one caption file or a folder of them. For the click-by-click version with screenshots of each choice, see how to download YouTube subtitles.

Prefer to stay on the watch page? The Chrome extension opens the panel right next to the player, so you can save the file from any video in one click without copying links.

Subtitles vs. a transcript

People mix up these words, so it’s worth being clear. They come from the same caption data, but you use them differently:

• A subtitle file (SRT or VTT) is for watching — it feeds an editor or a player so the lines appear on screen at the right time.
• A transcript is for reading and reusing — the same words pulled into one readable block you can copy, search and quote.

If you’re editing a video, re-uploading captions, or burning text onto a clip, you want the file. If you want to read the video, take notes or pull a quote, you want the text — start from the YouTube transcript overview instead. Same source, two jobs.

Same caption data — a file to watch with, or text to read and reuse.

Which videos have subtitles to save

Almost any spoken-word video carries something to work with. Talks, tutorials, interviews, podcasts, news, lectures — most have at least auto-generated captions, and many have a creator track on top. Shorts count too, as long as they carry captions.

The handful that come up empty all share one cause: no caption track. Music and silent clips have nothing to write. A brand-new upload may still be processing its auto-captions — wait a few minutes and try again. Live streams get captions once the recording is ready, not before. And a creator can switch captions off entirely. The rule is simple: when captions exist, you can save the file; when they don’t, there’s nothing to save.

Translate the subtitles first

Need the captions in a different language than the video? Translate them before you save. Pick a language, and the whole track is translated in one click — then export the SRT or VTT in that language. It runs on the captions YouTube already serves, so translation stays free.

That’s the quick way to caption a foreign-language clip for your own audience, or to read along with a video in a language you handle better in writing than by ear. The timecodes stay aligned, so the translated file drops straight into an editor like the original would.

What to do with the saved file

Once the file is on your computer, it slots into the usual tools:

• Add captions to a video — load the SRT or VTT into Premiere, DaVinci Resolve, CapCut or any editor that imports a caption file.
• Re-upload to a platform — hand the file to YouTube, Vimeo or a course host that asks for captions, instead of typing them out.
• Serve captions on the web — point an HTML5 player at the VTT and the lines appear in sync.
• Edit the lines — open the file in any text editor to fix a name or tidy a rough auto-caption before you use it.

Because it’s a plain timed-text file, it goes wherever captions are expected — no conversion step, no special app.

Long videos and saving in batches

A caption file doesn’t care how long the video runs. A two-hour podcast saves as fast as a two-minute clip — the whole timed track is written at once, with no length limit and no queue to wait in. That makes it easy to pull captions from a full lecture, a conference talk or a long interview without sitting through any of it first.

Doing several in a row? There’s no daily cap, so you can work through a playlist one link at a time and build a folder of caption files. If you’d rather skip the copying and grab them straight from each watch page, the extension turns it into a single click per video. And if you only want the readable words from those videos rather than timed files, turning the captions to text covers that side.

Pick the right language

By default you get the video’s own language — whatever the speaker is actually saying. A French talk gives you a French file; an English lecture gives you English. When a video offers both a creator track and auto-captions, the original-language creator track is the cleaner choice, since it’s punctuated and spelled by a person.

Want a different language? Translate before you save, as above. And if the lines look rough, it’s almost always because the video only has auto-captions and the audio was unclear — try a clip with proper creator subtitles, or open the file and tidy the few lines that slipped.

Free, with no sign-in

Saving the file — any format, any language — is free, with no account and no daily cap. The lines come from captions YouTube already provides, so the file costs almost nothing to produce, and there’s no honest reason to lock it behind a paywall or an email.

Plenty of tools advertise “free”, then ask you to sign up and stop you after a clip or two. This one doesn’t. There’s no watermark on the file, no trial, and no “upgrade to save”. Run one video or fifty in a sitting — the price is the same: nothing. Want it on every watch page automatically? The extension route is free too.

Frequently asked questions

How do I download YouTube subtitles?

Paste the video link into the tool above, choose SRT or VTT, and save the file. It is free, with no sign-in and no cap on how many videos you run.

What format are the subtitles in?

SRT or VTT — the two standard caption formats. Both carry the lines and their timecodes, and open in any video editor or player.

Can I download subtitles in another language?

Yes. Translate the captions into any available language first, then save the SRT or VTT in that language.

What if the video has no subtitles?

Then there is nothing to save. A download is built from captions the video already carries — if there are none, the file cannot be made.

Is it really free?

Yes. Saving the file is free forever, with no account, no watermark and no daily limit.