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YouTube Transcript Downloader

Paste a video link to get its transcript as clean text, notes with timestamp links, or SRT and VTT subtitles, in any caption language the video has.

Paste the transcript

  1. Open the video on YouTube in a computer browser.
  2. Click …more under the video, then Show transcript.
  3. Drag to select from the first line of the transcript to the last, copy it and paste it below.

How to use the Transcript Downloader

  1. 01

    Paste the video link

    Copy the link to a video or Short and press Get transcript. The transcript loads with the video's chapters as headings.

  2. 02

    Pick a language

    If the video has captions in more than one language, choose one. Creator captions and YouTube's auto-generated ones are both listed.

  3. 03

    Pick a format and download

    Choose paragraphs, one line per caption, Markdown notes, SRT or VTT. Copy the result or download it as a file.

Where the transcript comes from

The transcript is the same one YouTube shows under Show transcript: the creator's captions, or YouTube's auto-generated ones. YouTube's official API only lets a video's owner download captions, so the tool reads them the way YouTube's own app does. Now and then YouTube doesn't send them; when that happens, copy the transcript from the video page and paste it in, and you get the same formats.

The tool joins the caption lines into readable paragraphs, starts a new one when the speaker changes, keeps chapter titles as headings, and can drop tags like [Music] and [Applause]. Nothing you look up or paste is stored.

Frequently asked questions

How do I get the transcript of a YouTube video?

Paste the video link above and press Get transcript. If it doesn't load, open the video in a computer browser, click …more and then Show transcript, copy the whole transcript and paste it into the box.

Why doesn't a video have a transcript?

The video has no captions, or its creator turned them off. Captions also aren't available for live streams until they end, and new uploads can take a while to get auto-generated ones.

How accurate are the SRT and VTT timings?

Transcripts loaded from a link keep YouTube's exact caption timings. A transcript pasted from the Show transcript panel only has start times to the second, so those subtitles can start up to a second early and each line ends when the next begins, up to 10 seconds.

Can I use it for study notes?

Yes. The Notes format gives a Markdown file with chapter headings and paragraphs that start with a timestamp link back to that moment in the video. It opens in Notion, Obsidian and most note apps.

Does it work with transcripts in other languages?

Yes. Pick any caption language the video has from the Language list. If you paste a transcript copied while YouTube is set to a language other than English, the panel may add spoken times like "5 Sekunden" that the tool can't remove, and it will say so.

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