YouTube transcript

YouTube transcript: turn any video into text

A YouTube transcript is the full spoken text of a video, written out so you can read it instead of watching. Paste a link below and you have it in seconds — free, no sign-in.

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

What a YouTube transcript is

It’s plain text: the words spoken in the video, in order. Every transcript is built from the video’s caption track — the same captions you can switch on under the player. There are two sources:

• Creator captions — subtitles the uploader wrote. Usually accurate and punctuated.
• Auto-generated captions — YouTube’s speech recognition. On most spoken videos, but with no punctuation and the odd misheard word.

A transcript turns that track into clean, readable text and keeps the timing of each line. Nothing is re-recorded and nothing is uploaded — it’s the captions, reformatted for reading.

How to get a YouTube transcript

Three ways, depending on where you want it.

1. Paste the link into the tool

Copy the video URL, paste it in the box above, and the full text loads with timestamps. No install, no sign-up, no limit on how many videos you run. For the step-by-step, see how to get the transcript of a YouTube video.

2. Use the Chrome extension

Read transcripts often? The extension opens the panel right next to the player — one click on any video, no copying links. A transcript extractor like this is the fastest route for regular research or note-taking.

3. Use YouTube’s own panel

YouTube has a built-in transcript under the “…more” menu. It works, but it’s made for watching: you can’t export it, copying is awkward, and there’s no quick translate or search. For anything you want to keep, a dedicated transcript is far easier.

Why read a video instead of watching it

Reading is faster than watching. A 20-minute talk is a two-minute read, and text is searchable in a way video never is.

A 20-minute talk is a two-minute read — and unlike video, the text is searchable.

People pull a transcript to take notes from a lecture, quote a source with its timestamp, repurpose a video into a post, read with the sound off, or follow along in a language they read better than they hear. Get it once, then read, search or export it as often as you need — the text doesn’t expire and isn’t tied to an account.

Who uses a YouTube transcript

All sorts of people, for the same reason: text is faster to work with than video, and you can search it.

• Students turn a lecture or tutorial into notes they can copy, highlight and revise — instead of pausing every few seconds.
• Researchers and journalists quote a source word-for-word and back it up with the exact timestamp, so the quote is easy to verify.
• Creators repurpose one video into a blog post, show notes, a newsletter or a batch of social captions — all from words they already recorded.
• Language learners read along while they listen, look up the words they miss, and translate any line into a language they read more comfortably.
• Anyone in a hurry skims the transcript first to decide whether a 30-minute video is worth half an hour of their time.

Whatever the job, the transcript is the same clean, time-coded text. You just put it to different use once you have it.

Timestamps, search and translation

Three things make a transcript genuinely useful:

• Clickable timestamps. Each line carries the moment it was spoken. Click it and the video jumps there. More on a YouTube transcript with timestamps.
• Full-text search. Type a word, land on the exact line. No dragging the timeline.
• Translation. Turn the transcript into another language in one click — read a foreign video in your own language, or translate your captions for a wider audience. It runs on the captions, so it stays free.

Export it anywhere

Once you have the text, take it with you. A transcript exports to four formats:

• TXT — plain text for notes or pasting anywhere.
• Markdown — for docs and note apps like Notion or Obsidian.
• SRT and VTT — the standard subtitle formats, if you want to reuse the captions.

Each one can keep the timecodes or leave them out — a clean read, or a working subtitle file.

Transcript vs. subtitles vs. captions

Three words that overlap:

• Captions — on-screen text synced to the audio while the video plays.
• Subtitles — usually captions in another language.
• A transcript — the same words pulled into one readable block you can copy, search and export.

Captions and subtitles are for watching. A transcript is for reading and reusing. They all come from the same caption data, which is why a transcript costs nothing to make — it’s a re-format, not a re-recording.

When a video has no transcript

A video needs captions to produce a transcript. Most spoken videos have at least auto-captions, but a few come up empty: music or silent clips, a brand-new upload whose captions are still processing, a live stream before its recording is ready, or a video where the creator turned captions off.

Which videos work

It works on any YouTube video that has captions, in whatever language those captions are in. In practice that’s most spoken-word content — talks, tutorials, interviews, podcasts, news and lectures — plus Shorts, as long as they carry captions. There’s no sign-in and no cap on how many videos you run, so you can pull one transcript or fifty in a sitting.

The handful of cases it can’t cover all come down to missing captions: videos with no speech, brand-new uploads whose captions are still processing, and live streams before their recording is ready. Private or age-restricted videos you can’t open won’t have a transcript either. The rule is simple — when captions exist, the transcript is there.

Transcripts for podcasts and long videos

Long videos are where a transcript earns its keep. A two-hour podcast or a full conference talk is a slog to scrub through second by second, but the transcript turns it into something you can skim in minutes. Search for the topic you came for, jump straight to that line by its timestamp, and read just the part that matters.

There’s no length limit and no waiting for the whole thing to process — the full transcript loads at once, however long the video runs. For a creator, a long upload becomes a ready-made article, a chapter list or a set of show notes the moment it goes live. For a listener, it’s the fastest way to get the substance of a long episode without giving it two hours.

Turn a transcript into notes or a summary

A transcript is often the first step, not the last. Paste it into an AI assistant for a summary, an outline or the key points — the model has the exact words to work from, because it’s clean text rather than audio. Turn a lecture into study notes or flashcards. Export to Markdown and drop it straight into a doc. It’s the raw material every other workflow builds on, and it costs nothing to produce.

Is a YouTube transcript really free?

Yes. Getting it, reading it, copying it, exporting it — free, with no sign-in and no daily limit. That’s deliberate. The text comes from captions YouTube already serves, so a transcript costs almost nothing to make, and there’s no honest reason to lock it behind a paywall or an account.

Plenty of tools advertise “free”, then ask you to sign up and cap you after a video or two. This one doesn’t. Run as many videos as you like, copy and export every one, without an account or an email. Want it on every video automatically? The extension is free too.

Frequently asked questions

How do I get a YouTube transcript?

Paste the video link into the tool above, or install the extension to open the transcript next to the player. Both are free, with no sign-in.

Is the YouTube transcript free?

Yes. Getting, copying and exporting the transcript is free forever — no account, no hidden limits.

Can I get a transcript if the video has no captions?

No. A transcript is built from the captions a video already has. If there are none, there is nothing to turn into text.

Can I translate a YouTube transcript?

Yes. Translate it into any available language in one click, then read or export the result.

What formats can I export to?

Plain text, Markdown, and the SRT and VTT subtitle formats — with or without timecodes.