How it works
- Paste the link. Videos with captions work. Most talks, lectures and tutorials have them.
- Read or search. The text appears below. Use your browser find to jump to a word.
- Copy or download. Copy it, or save a plain text file for your notes.
What you get
The transcript is the caption text YouTube holds for the video, laid out line by line. Timestamps show where each line starts. Turn them off when you want clean text to paste into a document.
When there is no transcript
- The creator turned captions off.
- The video is very new and automatic captions are not ready yet.
- The audio is music with no speech.
- It is a live stream that has not finished.
Automatic captions make mistakes
Names, product terms, accents and fast speech trip up automatic captions. Read quotes against the video before you publish them. Captions written by the creator are far more reliable than automatic ones.
Ways people use transcripts
- Turning a lecture into study notes without pausing every ten seconds.
- Finding the exact minute where a topic comes up.
- Repurposing your own videos into a blog post or newsletter.
- Reading a video when you cannot play sound.
Frequently asked questions
Is a transcript the same as subtitles?
Close. Both come from the video's captions. A transcript shows them as readable text instead of timed overlays.
Can I get a different language?
If the video offers more than one caption language, a language menu appears above the text.
Can I use the transcript of someone else's video?
For personal study, yes. For publishing, the words still belong to the speaker, so quote briefly and credit them.
Why is my transcript empty?
Usually the video has no captions. Try another video, or ask the creator to enable them.