How to get the transcript of a YouTube video
Download the full transcript of a YouTube video as plain text, even when the video has no captions.
A transcript turns an hour of video into something you can skim in five minutes, search with Ctrl+F, and quote correctly. You can get one for almost any public YouTube video, including videos that have no captions at all.
Get the transcript
- Copy the link to the YouTube video.
- Open the YouTube transcript generator. It's already set to Transcript.
- Pick TXT for plain readable text. Pick SRT or VTT if you want timings for subtitles.
- Press Download. You'll get a small text file.
Where the transcript comes from
There are two routes, and we choose for you:
- The video has captions. We use them. If the creator wrote captions by hand, they're usually very accurate. YouTube's own automatic captions are hit and miss.
- The video has no captions. Our speech-to-text (Whisper) listens to the audio and writes the transcript from scratch.
How accurate is it?
On a clear recording of one person talking, speech-to-text gets most words right. It slips on names, brand names, jargon and numbers. It also struggles when music plays under the voice, when people talk over each other, or when the audio is quiet or echoey. Treat an automatic transcript as a very good first draft. Read it through before you publish or quote anything from it.
Things to do with a transcript
- Make study notes from a lecture, then search them later.
- Quote an interview without rewinding twenty times.
- Turn your own video into a blog post or newsletter.
- Paste it into a translator, or into an AI tool to summarise.
TXT, SRT or VTT?
For reading, TXT is best: just the words, no clutter. For subtitles, use SRT or VTT, which keep a timestamp for each line. The full comparison is in SRT vs VTT vs TXT, and if subtitles are what you're after, see downloading YouTube subtitles as SRT.
Other sites work too
The same Transcript option works for TikTok, Instagram, Vimeo and the other sites we support. Paste the link and choose Transcript.
Quick answers
Can I get a transcript of a long video?
Yes. Long videos take longer, especially when speech-to-text has to write the transcript, so leave the tab open.
Does it include timestamps?
TXT doesn't. SRT and VTT include a timestamp for every line.
Can I copy the transcript without downloading?
The download is a small text file. Open it in any text editor and copy what you need.