YouTube Transcript Generator

The YouTube Transcript Generator gets the text of a YouTube video from its link: everything that is said, line by line with timestamps, in every caption language the video has. Reading is faster than watching — you can skim a 40-minute lecture for the part you need, copy an exact quote, follow a recipe or a coding tutorial at your own pace, or study a language with the subtitles in front of you.

How to get a YouTube transcript

1. Copy the video's link: from the address bar, or Share → Copy link in the YouTube app.
2. Paste it in the box above and press Get transcript.
3. Choose the caption language, turn timestamps or paragraphs on or off, and search inside the text.
4. Copy it, or download TXT, SRT or VTT.

What you can do with it next

• Summarize it: the key points of a long video in a minute's read.
• Translate it: when the video has no captions in your language.
• Add punctuation & paragraphs: automatic captions are often one long run of words.
• Make a quiz: questions and answers from a lecture to study with.

Each of these opens the matching AI tool with the transcript already filled in.

Where the text comes from

The transcript is the video's own captions: the subtitles the uploader added, or the automatic captions YouTube creates by speech recognition. Nothing is re-transcribed and no audio is downloaded, which is why it takes a second and costs nothing. A video without captions has no transcript to get; if you have the recording itself, the Audio to Text converter transcribes it.

Frequently asked questions

How do I get the transcript of a YouTube video?

Copy the video's link (from the address bar, or Share → Copy link in the YouTube app), paste it above and press Get transcript. The transcript appears with timestamps; pick another caption language if the video has several, then copy it or download it as TXT, SRT or VTT.

Is the YouTube Transcript Generator free?

Yes. It reads the captions the video already has on YouTube, so nothing is transcribed and nothing is charged; there is no sign-up. Only the optional AI steps afterwards — summarizing, translating, adding punctuation or making a quiz — use AI credits, and every account gets free credits each day.

Why does it say the video has no captions?

The transcript comes from the video's captions. Some uploaders turn them off, and music, videos without speech and very new uploads often have none yet; a live stream gets its captions only after it ends. If you have the recording itself, for example your own video, a lecture or a meeting, upload it to the Audio to Text converter instead.

What is the difference between auto-generated captions and the uploader's captions?

Auto-generated captions are YouTube's speech recognition: available on most videos in the spoken language, but they can mishear names and often have little punctuation. The uploader's captions were written or checked by the channel and are usually more accurate. The menu lists the uploader's languages first; use Add punctuation & paragraphs to clean up an automatic transcript.

Can I get the transcript in another language?

The caption menu lists every language the video's captions exist in. If yours isn't there, press Translate it: the transcript opens in the AI Translator, which translates it into 20 languages and keeps the paragraphs.

How do I find where something is said in a video?

Type a word into the search box above the transcript: only the lines that contain it stay, highlighted. Each timestamp is a link that opens the video on YouTube at that moment, so you can check the quote in context.

Can I download YouTube subtitles as SRT?

Yes. SRT and VTT keep each caption's start and end time, for a video editor, a subtitle player or a language-learning app; TXT is plain text with or without timestamps. The files are named after the video and the caption language.

Can it summarize a YouTube video?

Press Summarize it under the transcript. The text is carried over to the AI Text Summarizer, which turns a long lecture, podcast or tutorial into its key points; the title of the video goes along so the summary stays on topic.

Does it work with YouTube Shorts, live replays and unlisted videos?

Yes, as long as the video has captions: paste a Shorts link, a youtu.be link, a live replay or an unlisted video's link. Private, members-only and age-restricted videos can't be read, because YouTube shows them only to signed-in viewers.

Can I use a YouTube transcript in my own work?

The words belong to the video's creator. Quoting a few lines with credit, taking study notes or reading a tutorial instead of watching it is normal; republishing the whole transcript, or a translation of it, needs the creator's permission.