How to get a transcript from any YouTube video

YouTube has a built-in transcript: on desktop, open a video, click the three-dot menu below the title, and choose Show transcript to read the captions with timestamps. It only works when the video has captions. To get those captions as clean, copyable text, paste the link into our YouTube to text tool. If your own video has no captions, upload the file and AI transcribes the audio.

Below are three ways to get a transcript, depending on what the video is and how accurate you need it.

Method 1: YouTube's built-in transcript (fastest)

YouTube auto-generates captions for many videos, and you can read them as a transcript without leaving the site.

How to open it:

1. Open the YouTube video on a desktop browser (this feature is hidden in the mobile app).
2. Click the three-dot menu (More) directly below the video title and view count. On some videos there is a Show transcript button in the description instead.
3. Select Show transcript.
4. A panel opens on the right with the full transcript and clickable timestamps.

To get the text:

1. Click Toggle timestamps at the top of the panel to hide them (optional).
2. Highlight the text in the panel and copy it.
3. Paste it into your document or editor.

Limitations to know:

• It only appears if the video has captions. If the creator disabled them, there is no transcript to show.
• The text always includes timestamps in the panel, and there is no clean one-click export, you copy and paste.
• Auto-captions can be inaccurate with accents, jargon, names, music, or fast speech.
• There are no speaker labels, so multi-person interviews run together.

This is great for a quick read or to jump to a moment in the video. It is less ideal when you need an accurate, exportable file.

Method 2: Paste the link to get the captions as clean text

When you want the transcript as one tidy block of text instead of a timestamped panel, paste the link into a link-to-text tool. TranscribTxt fetches the video's existing captions, the same ones YouTube shows, including auto-generated ones, and returns them as plain text.

1. Copy the video URL from the address bar or the Share button.
2. Open TranscribTxt's YouTube tab and paste the URL.
3. Copy the text, or download it as a .txt file.

Know what this does and doesn't do:

• It works only when the video has captions. If there are none, you'll be asked to upload the file instead (Method 3).
• The text is YouTube's caption text, so it is exactly as accurate as those captions. Auto-captions can miss names, jargon and punctuation; see our AI transcription accuracy guide for what drives accuracy.
• It's text only: no speaker labels, and no SRT file from a link. For time-coded subtitles, use Method 3.
• You don't need an account to start.

For a wider walkthrough of free options, see our companion guide on converting a YouTube video to text.

Method 3: No captions, or your own video? Transcribe the file

If the video has no captions, or it's your own private, unlisted or raw footage, transcribe the audio itself.

1. Get the original file. For your own uploads, YouTube Studio lets you download the video; otherwise use the source file you uploaded. Only transcribe videos you have the rights to.
2. Upload it to TranscribTxt. It runs OpenAI's Whisper large-v3 turbo and detects the language automatically across 99 languages. In October 2026, a 145-minute recording took 2 min 45 s once uploaded.
3. Download the transcript as TXT or SRT subtitles (both on every plan), or JSON with word-level timestamps on paid plans. The SRT is ready if you later want to convert MP4 to SRT subtitles or build a captions file for your own video.

Your first file works without an account; a free account covers 3 files a day, up to 30 minutes each, and a longer video gets its first 30 minutes free. The full length needs Pro ($10/month) or a one-time $5 Week Pass for 7 days of Pro. The file is deleted after processing (a free-preview upload is kept up to 24 hours so you can finish it) and we don't keep transcripts on our servers, so download the text before you leave.

Which method should you choose?

Rule of thumb: skim or jump to a moment → Show transcript; clean text of the existing captions → paste the link; no captions, or you need subtitles → upload the file.

Quick recap

• YouTube's built-in transcript is the fastest read, but only when captions exist and only on desktop.
• Pasting the link into TranscribTxt gives you the same captions as clean text you can copy or save as .txt.
• No captions, or you need SRT subtitles: upload the file and AI transcribes the audio.

Want the captions without the copy-paste? Paste the link into TranscribTxt's YouTube tab — no account needed to start. No captions? Upload the file instead.