Turn any YouTube video with captions into a clean, copyable text transcript — with or without timestamps.
To get a YouTube transcript, paste the video URL into the YouTube Transcript Generator. It fetches the video's existing captions — creator-uploaded or auto-generated — and shows them as readable paragraphs, with optional [m:ss] timestamps. Switch caption languages with one click, then copy the text or download it as .txt. Videos with no captions at all can't be transcribed.
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Quick answer
To get a YouTube transcript, paste the video URL into the YouTube Transcript Generator. It fetches the video's existing captions — creator-uploaded or auto-generated — and shows them as readable paragraphs, with optional [m:ss] timestamps. Switch caption languages with one click, then copy the text or download it as .txt. Videos with no captions at all can't be transcribed.
What is YouTube Transcript Generator?
The YouTube Transcript Generator turns a video's captions into clean, readable text. Paste a video URL and the tool fetches the captions that already exist for that video — either uploaded by the creator or auto-generated by YouTube — and joins the short caption lines into proper paragraphs you can actually read. English is used by default when it's available; after the first result, buttons let you switch to any other caption language the video offers. You can add [m:ss] timestamps, copy the text, or download it as a .txt file, and a word count shows how long the transcript is. It's a fast way to convert a YouTube video to text for notes, quotes, articles or translation.
How to use YouTube Transcript Generator
1
Copy the video URL
Open the video on YouTube and copy its link. The video needs captions — either ones the creator uploaded or YouTube's automatic captions — because the tool reads those rather than listening to the audio.
2
Paste it and generate
Paste the link into the tool and run it. It fetches the captions, preferring English when available, and groups the lines into paragraphs so the text reads like a document instead of a subtitle stream.
3
Choose a language and timestamps
If the video has captions in other languages, buttons appear after the first result so you can switch. Turn on timestamps if you want each paragraph marked with its [m:ss] position in the video.
4
Copy or download
Check the word count, then copy the transcript to your clipboard or save it as a .txt file for your notes, editor or translation tool.
Try it when you need to…
Try it when you need to quote a talk or interview accurately without replaying it again and again
Try it when you want to skim a long video's content in a few minutes before deciding to watch it
Try it when you're turning your own video into a blog post, newsletter or show notes
Try it when you need a YouTube transcript with timestamps to point readers to the exact moment something is said
Try it when you want the captions in another language the creator has published
Use cases
Study notes — turn lectures and tutorials into searchable text you can highlight and summarize
Content repurposing — use the transcript of your own video as the first draft of an article or social post
Research and journalism — pull exact quotes from interviews, speeches and panel discussions
Translation prep — start from the published captions instead of typing out the audio yourself
Accessibility — offer a plain-text version of a video for readers who prefer or need text
Key features
✓Fetches creator-uploaded or YouTube auto-generated captions
✓Readable output grouped into paragraphs, not one-line subtitle fragments
✓English preferred by default, with buttons to switch to other available languages
✓Optional [m:ss] timestamps at the start of each paragraph
✓Copy to clipboard or YouTube transcript download as a .txt file
✓Word count shown with every transcript
Tips & best practices
Auto-generated captions are produced by YouTube's speech recognition, so names, technical terms and punctuation may be off. Give the text a quick proofread before you publish or quote it.
Creator-uploaded captions are usually cleaner than auto-generated ones, so videos whose creators publish their own captions give the most accurate transcripts.
Turn timestamps on when you're writing show notes or citing a source, and off when you want clean prose for an article draft.
Need timed caption files rather than prose? Use our sister tool, the YouTube Subtitle Extractor (/tool/youtube-subtitles), which is built for subtitle files.
The word count is handy for planning: it tells you at a glance whether a transcript will become a short post or a long-form article.
Frequently asked questions
Copy the video link, paste it into the YouTube Transcript Generator and run it. The tool fetches the video's captions and shows them as paragraphs. From there you can switch language, add timestamps, copy the text or download a .txt file. No YouTube account is needed.
No. The tool reads captions that already exist — uploaded by the creator or auto-generated by YouTube. It doesn't run its own speech recognition, so if a video has no caption track at all, there's no transcript to fetch. Many videos do have automatic captions, so it's worth trying.
Yes. Turn on the timestamp option and each paragraph starts with its position in the video in [m:ss] format, for example [4:32]. That makes it easy to jump back to the right moment or link readers to a specific part. Turn it off for clean text.
Yes, if the video has captions in those languages. English is chosen by default when it's available. After the first result, the tool shows a button for each other caption language the video offers, and one click loads the transcript in that language.
Use the download button to save the transcript as a plain .txt file, which opens in any text editor, word processor or notes app. If you only need part of it, the copy button puts the full text on your clipboard so you can paste and trim it.
It's exactly as accurate as the captions it comes from. Creator-uploaded captions are usually written or checked by a person. Auto-generated captions come from YouTube's speech recognition and can miss names, jargon and punctuation, so proofread them before quoting.
This tool is built for reading: it turns YouTube to text as paragraphs with a word count and optional timestamps. The YouTube Subtitle Extractor (/tool/youtube-subtitles) is the sister tool for timed subtitle files, where each line keeps its own timing for use in players and editors.
Yes. You can paste a link, read the transcript, copy it and download it as .txt without paying. The tool converts captions that YouTube already publishes into readable text, so there's nothing to install and no account to create.