Do you like YouTube skins?
More reviews - more skins!
Sure! Not now
Don't ask me again
Add to Chrome
Skins
Home YouTube transcript
Free online tool · no sign-up

YouTube Transcript Generator

Paste a YouTube link and get the whole video as text - with clickable timestamps. Copy it into your notes, or download it as a TXT file or as SRT / VTT subtitles. Works with our free Chrome extension, which reads the transcript right from YouTube, no limits.

  • TXT · SRT · VTT
  • Timestamps
  • Free, no sign-up

Works with watch links, youtu.be links, Shorts and a bare video ID.

How to get the transcript of a YouTube video

  1. Install Skins for YouTube player once - a free Chrome extension. YouTube gives the transcript only to a browser on a YouTube page, and the extension reads it right there.
  2. Paste the video link above and press Get transcript - or press the Transcript button the extension adds under every video on YouTube. The text appears with a timestamp on every line.
  3. 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 and nothing passes through our servers: the extension reads the caption text in your browser, on YouTube, and this page displays it - so it works for any public video, including very long ones, in a couple of seconds.

Formats

TXTPlain text, one line per caption with the time, or one paragraph without timestamps. For notes, articles, study.
SRTStandard subtitle file with numbered cues. Opens in VLC, Premiere, DaVinci Resolve, CapCut, YouTube Studio.
VTTThe web subtitle format, for HTML5 players and video platforms.
CopyStraight to the clipboard, with or without timestamps - paste into a document or an AI chat to summarise.

The extension behind this page

Skins for YouTube player is our free Chrome extension with 40 000 users. Besides reading transcripts it adds a Transcript button and a Screenshot button under every video, a Thumbnail button, automatic ad skipping, cinema mode, dark and true-black themes and 120+ player skins.

Transcript, screenshot and thumbnail buttons in the playerFree extension · 40 000 users · works on Chromebook
Add to Chrome - it is free

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?

The transcript comes in the language YouTube shows in its own transcript panel for that video. 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?

Nothing. The text is fetched by your own browser on YouTube and shown here; our servers never see the video or the transcript.