Free · No sign-up
YouTube Transcript
Paste a YouTube link and get its transcript in seconds: text with timestamps, paragraphs, SRT or VTT. Free, with no account and no extension.
Ready
Get a YouTube transcript
Watch, Shorts, live and youtu.be links all work.
Scribopal is not affiliated with YouTube, Google, TikTok or Instagram. We show captions that are already public, for personal, study and accessibility use. Respect creators' copyright.
Three steps
How to get a YouTube transcript
- 01
Copy the link
In the YouTube app or site, tap Share and copy the link. Watch, Shorts, live and youtu.be links all work.
- 02
Paste it above
Paste the link and press Get transcript. The captions load in a few seconds.
- 03
Copy or download
Pick a tab: timestamps, text, paragraphs, SRT or VTT. Copy it, or download it as a file.
Every format, from one paste
Switch between the tabs above the transcript. Each one copies or downloads on its own.
- Timestamps: one line per caption with its start time. Click a time to open the video at that moment, or search for a word.
- Text: the words only, one caption per line.
- Paragraphs: the captions joined into paragraphs, for reading and quoting.
- SRT and VTT: subtitle files with exact start and end times, for video editors, players and course platforms.
When a video has no captions
We read the captions YouTube already has: the creator's own, or the ones YouTube makes automatically. Some videos have neither. Captions can be turned off, still processing after an upload, or missing for music and very short clips.
We don't download videos, so for these the way through is a file you have. If it's your own video, upload the original file to the audio to text converter and it's transcribed with AI, using your free minutes.
Transcripts for TikTok, Reels and your own files
TikTok and Instagram don't publish captions the way YouTube does, so those work from a saved file: see the TikTok transcript generator and the Instagram Reel transcript tool. Recordings, meetings and podcasts go through the audio to text converter. Files get 10 free minutes a day without an account, 30 with a free Google sign-in.
Questions
Frequently asked questions
How do I get the transcript of a YouTube video?
Copy the video link, paste it into the box at the top of this page and press Get transcript. You can also open the transcript on YouTube itself under the description (Show transcript), but it only lets you copy text by hand, with no SRT or download.
Is it free?
Yes. YouTube transcripts are free with no daily limit and no account. We only slow you down if you send many requests in a few minutes.
Why doesn't a video have a transcript?
Because it has no captions on YouTube. The creator may have turned them off, YouTube may still be making them, or the video is mostly music. If it's your own video, upload the file to the audio to text converter instead.
Can I download it as SRT?
Yes. Open the SRT tab and press Download. VTT and plain text are there too. The YouTube transcript download page explains which format to use where.
Does it work with YouTube Shorts?
Yes, if the Short has captions. Paste the Shorts link as it is.
Are auto-generated captions accurate?
Usually good for clear speech in a common language, weaker for names, jargon and noisy audio. The tool tells you when a transcript comes from auto-generated captions, so you know to check it.
Tools