How to Get the Transcript of a YouTube Video (4 Easy Ways)

Need the words from a YouTube video without replaying it ten times? Most videos already have a transcript hiding behind their captions. This guide shows four reliable ways to get it — from YouTube’s own “Show transcript” button to a one-click YouTube video transcript generator that lets you copy and download the text.

Before you start: where YouTube transcripts come from

A YouTube transcript is simply the video’s captions laid out as text. Captions come from two places:

• Creator-uploaded captions — written or edited by the channel owner. These are usually the most accurate.
• Auto-generated captions — created by YouTube’s speech recognition. They are available for many videos in many languages, but they can miss names, jargon and punctuation.

If a video has neither, there is no transcript to retrieve with any of the methods below. That is the number-one reason people see “transcript not available” (see our troubleshooting guide).

Method 1: Use a free YouTube video transcript generator (fastest)

This is the quickest way if you want text you can actually work with — copy, search, or save as a file.

1. Open the video on YouTube and copy its link (from the address bar or the Share button).
2. Go to our YouTube Video Transcript Generator and paste the link.
3. Press Get Transcript. The full text appears in a few seconds.
4. Toggle timestamps on or off, search for a word, switch languages, then Copy or Download as TXT, SRT or VTT. Press play on the built-in player and the transcript follows along.

It works the same on a laptop, an Android phone or an iPhone, and you don’t need to sign in or install an extension. Timestamps are clickable, so you can jump straight to the moment a quote was said.

Method 2: Use YouTube’s built-in “Show transcript” button (desktop)

YouTube has a transcript panel built into the watch page on desktop browsers:

1. Open the video on youtube.com.
2. Click the description box under the video, then click …more to expand it.
3. Scroll to the bottom of the description and click Show transcript.
4. A transcript panel opens beside the video. Use the three-dot menu in that panel to toggle timestamps.

The built-in panel is fine for reading along, but it is awkward for anything else. Selecting the text by dragging often grabs the timestamps too, there is no download button, and long transcripts are fiddly to copy in one go. That is where a transcript generator saves time.

Method 3: Get a transcript on the YouTube app (Android & iPhone)

1. Open the video in the YouTube app.
2. Tap the video title or description area to expand it.
3. Scroll down and tap Show transcript.

On mobile you can read and tap a line to jump to that moment, but copying the full text is limited. If you need to save or share the transcript from your phone, open our transcript generator in your mobile browser instead, paste the link, and tap Copy or Download.

Method 4: Download captions from YouTube Studio (your own videos)

If the video is on your channel, you can download its captions directly:

1. Go to YouTube Studio and choose Subtitles from the left menu.
2. Click the video, then find the language track you want.
3. Open the three-dot menu next to the track and choose Download, then pick a format such as .srt, .vtt or .sbv.

This only works for videos you own or manage. For anyone else’s video, use Method 1 or 2. Our guide on downloading YouTube subtitles as SRT explains the different file formats.

Which method should you use?

Tips for getting a cleaner transcript

• Pick the right language track. If a video has a creator-uploaded track and an auto-generated one, choose the uploaded one — it is usually more accurate.
• Turn timestamps off for reading. Timestamps are great for citing; turning them off gives you flowing text that is easier to paste into a document.
• Proofread auto-captions. Check names, numbers and technical terms before quoting. Read our comparison of auto-generated vs. manual captions.
• Give new uploads time. Auto-captions can take a while to appear after a video is published, especially for long videos.

Frequently Asked Questions