YouTube Transcript Generator
Paste a YouTube link and get the whole video as text - with clickable timestamps, in any language the video has captions for. Copy it into your notes, or download it as a TXT file or as SRT / VTT subtitles.
- TXT · SRT · VTT
- Timestamps
- Free, no sign-up
How to get the transcript of a YouTube video
- Copy the video link from the address bar or the Share button on YouTube.
- Paste it above and press Get transcript. The text appears with a timestamp on every line; pick another language if the video has more than one caption track.
- Press Copy text, or download TXT for plain text, SRT or VTT for subtitle files you can load into a video editor or player. Untick Timestamps to copy the text as one paragraph.
Where the text comes from
The transcript is the video's own caption track: either subtitles the creator uploaded or the automatic captions YouTube generates by speech recognition. Uploaded captions are accurate; automatic ones are marked auto-generated and can misspell names and technical words, especially with background music.
Nothing is downloaded from the video itself - only the caption text - so it works for any public video, including very long ones, and it takes a couple of seconds.
Formats
Transcript button right under the video
With Skins for YouTube player, our free Chrome extension, a Transcript button sits next to the Share button under every video and opens this page with the video already filled in. It also adds a Screenshot button that saves the current frame as PNG, a Thumbnail button, automatic ad skipping, cinema mode, dark and true-black themes and 120+ player skins.
Frequently asked questions
Is the transcript free?
Yes, completely. No account, no limits on the number of videos or their length.
Why is the text sometimes wrong?
If the video has no uploaded subtitles, you get YouTube's automatic captions, made by speech recognition. They are good for clear speech and weaker on accents, names, numbers and noisy audio. Pick a track without the auto-generated mark when the video has one.
Can I get the transcript in another language?
You can pick any language the video has captions for. Machine translation into other languages is not offered here; paste the text into a translator or an AI chat.
Does it work for Shorts and live streams?
Shorts yes, once YouTube has generated captions for them. Live streams get a transcript after the stream ends and the recording is processed.
Can I download the subtitles as an SRT file?
Yes. SRT and VTT keep the timing, so the file drops straight into a video editor or a media player as a subtitle track.
Is anything stored?
The caption text is cached for a day so repeated requests are fast, nothing else is kept, and no video is downloaded.