Free tool · No signup
YouTube Transcript Extractor
Paste a transcript from YouTube's own panel and get clean text, SRT or VTT — formatted, copyable and downloadable.
Everything runs in your browser — the transcript is never uploaded.
- 100% free
- No signup
- Paste-based · private
Step by step
How to use the Transcript Extractor
Step 01
On the video, open the description and click “Show transcript”, then select all of it and copy.
Step 02
Paste it here. We parse the timestamps and lines instantly, in your browser.
Step 03
Switch between clean text, SRT and VTT, then copy or download.
Understand your results
What the results mean
Why paste instead of a link? YouTube's rules: caption files can only be downloaded through the API by the video's owner. Sites that take just a URL scrape YouTube's private endpoints against its terms — and break regularly. YouTube's own transcript panel is public and takes five seconds to copy, so we built the honest version around it.
Clean text joins the caption lines into readable prose (for blog posts, notes or feeding to AI tools). SRT and VTT are standard subtitle formats; end times are inferred from each next line's start, which is how YouTube's rolling captions behave.
FAQ
Frequently asked questions
How do I get the transcript from YouTube?
On the watch page: expand the description → 'Show transcript' → the panel opens → select all the lines and copy. Works on desktop; on mobile it's under the ••• menu.
Why can't I just paste a video link?
YouTube's API only lets a video's owner download caption files. URL-based transcript sites scrape unofficial endpoints against YouTube's terms. Pasting keeps it honest and reliable.
Do you store my transcript?
No. This tool is fully client-side — the transcript never leaves your browser.
What's the difference between SRT and VTT?
Both are subtitle formats. SRT is the older, universally supported one; VTT is the web standard (HTML5 video). Most editors accept both.
Are the SRT timings exact?
Start times are exact (they come from the transcript). End times are inferred from the next line's start, since YouTube's panel doesn't include them.
Can I turn a YouTube transcript into notes?
Yes — use the clean text output here for the raw material, or run the same transcript through our Transcript Summarizer for an AI summary with key points.
Last updated November 4, 2026 · Reviewed by the channelpeeker team · How we calculate
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