YouTube Transcript
Downloader
Paste a YouTube link and get the full transcript as text. Search it, copy it for ChatGPT, or download it in the format you need. Free, no account, every language the video has.
Works with youtube.com, youtu.be, Shorts, live and embed links. Try an example
- Free, no sign-up
- Multilingual support
- Copy for AI
No link handy? Try one of these
Built for reading, not just downloading
Most tools hand you a file and leave. This one gives you a transcript you can actually work with, right on the page.
Clickable timestamps
Every line knows its second. Click one and the video jumps there.
Search inside the video
Type a word, see every place it was said, highlighted in the text.
Paragraph mode
Turn choppy caption lines into readable paragraphs with one switch.
Multilingual support
Manual and auto-generated tracks, in whatever languages the video carries.
Copy for AI
One click copies the transcript with a ready instruction for ChatGPT or Claude.
Download your way
TXT, Markdown, JSON, SRT or VTT, named after the video so you can find it later.
Easy url hack for transcripts
Watching something? Click the address bar, add text after youtube, press Enter. The transcript page will open. No extension, to url to copy/paste.
Works for watch links, Shorts, live replays and embeds. Easy to remember.
Who's using Youtube transcripts, and why
Students
Turn a 90-minute lecture into notes you can search and quote instead of scrubbing the timeline.
AI users
Paste the whole thing into ChatGPT or Claude with a ready-made instruction and start asking.
Researchers & journalists
Find the exact second a claim was made and cite it with a timestamp.
Writers & creators
Repurpose a talk into an article, a thread or show notes without retyping a word.
Language learners
Read along, look words up, jump back to hear them again.
Teams
Skim a 40-minute webinar in three minutes of reading.
Copy the link
Address bar or YouTube's Share button. Either.
Paste it up top
Or add "text" to the address and hit Enter.
Read, copy, download
Clickable timestamps, search, Copy for AI, five file formats.
Need the subtitle file instead?
Same link, but you get SRT or VTT with exact timing for VLC, editors and players.
Questions people ask
Short answers. If yours isn't here, the transcript page has a help link.
Is it really free?
Yes. No account, no watermark. We may add optional extras later, but getting the text stays free.
Which videos work?
Any public YouTube video that has captions, manual or auto-generated. Private videos and videos with captions disabled won't work.
How accurate is the transcript?
Manually written subtitles are usually clean and punctuated. Auto-generated ones are good for clear speech and slip on names, jargon and crosstalk. The result page tells you which kind you're getting.
What about other languages?
You get every language the video has subtitles in, and you can switch between them on the result page.
Do you download the video?
No. We never download or store the video itself. Transcripts are cached for a few days so repeat visits open instantly.
Transcript or subtitles, which do I want?
Transcript if you want to read, search or paste text. Subtitles (SRT/VTT) if you need a timed file for a player or editor.
What is youtubetext.com?
A shortcut. Add "text" after "youtube" in any video URL and the transcript opens straight away.