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How to Get the Transcript of a YouTube Video, Step by Step

Open the video description and click Show transcript. Here is how to do it on desktop and phone, copy it with timestamps, save it as TXT or SRT, and what to do when the button is missing.

Swiss Observer

To get the transcript of a YouTube video, open the video, expand the description under the player and click Show transcript. The full text opens beside the video, one line at a time, and each line jumps to that moment when you click it. This works on a computer and in the YouTube app, and it is free.

There is one condition. YouTube shows a transcript only for videos that have captions. If the button is missing, the video has no captions, and you need a tool that transcribes the audio instead. Both cases are covered below.

The short version

You want to Do this
Read the transcript Open the description and click Show transcript
Copy it with timestamps Select the lines in the transcript panel and copy them
Save it as TXT Paste the copied text into a text editor and save
Save it as SRT Use a transcript tool, because YouTube has no download button for viewers
Get a transcript when the button is missing Transcribe the audio with a tool such as Scribiz

How to get the transcript on a computer

  1. Open the video on youtube.com.
  2. Look at the description under the video. Click it to expand it.
  3. Click Show transcript.

The transcript opens next to the player. As the video plays, it scrolls to the line that is being spoken. Click a line to jump to that part of the video.

These steps follow YouTube's own help page, View video transcripts. The same page notes that the transcript can also show the chapters of the video when it has them.

How to get the transcript on a phone

The steps are the same in the YouTube app on Android and iPhone. YouTube's help page gives one set of instructions for all three platforms.

  1. Open the video in the YouTube app.
  2. Tap the description under the video to open it.
  3. Tap Show transcript.

Tap a line to jump to that moment. Reading works well on a phone. Copying a long transcript does not, so do that part on a computer.

What to do when "Show transcript" is missing

If the description has no Show transcript button, the video has no captions. YouTube builds the transcript from the caption track, so with no captions there is nothing to show. A new upload can also lack captions for a while, because automatic captions are not always ready at once.

You have two options:

  • Wait and check again, if the video was posted a short time ago.
  • Transcribe the audio yourself. A transcription tool listens to the video and writes the text from the speech.

For the second option, Scribiz takes a YouTube link and returns a transcript with timestamps. It uses the captions when the video has them. When it has none, it listens to the audio and writes a new transcript, and the result page says which of the two you got.

Scribiz is free to try and you do not need an account. The free tier has limits on video length and daily use. The paid plan, Pro, costs $10 a month. It works on public videos. Private and members-only videos need a sign-in.

How to copy a YouTube transcript with timestamps

On a computer, the transcript panel shows a time next to each line. To copy both:

  1. Open the transcript with Show transcript.
  2. Click just before the first line you want.
  3. Scroll to the last line you want, hold Shift and click after it.
  4. Press Ctrl+C on Windows or Cmd+C on Mac.
  5. Paste into a document.

The times and the text arrive on separate lines. That is fine for notes and quotes. For a clean file with one timestamp per line, a transcript tool is quicker than fixing the paste by hand.

How to download a YouTube transcript as TXT or SRT

YouTube's transcript panel has no download button for viewers. There are two ways around that.

TXT, by hand. Copy the transcript as described above, paste it into a text editor such as Notepad or TextEdit, and save the file as .txt. This costs nothing and needs no tool.

SRT, with a tool. An SRT file is a subtitle file. Each entry has a number, a start time, an end time and the text. Video editors and media players read it. You cannot make one by copying from the transcript panel, because the panel gives you start times only. The Scribiz YouTube transcript tool exports SRT, VTT, TXT, Markdown and JSON from its result page.

Pick TXT when you want to read, quote or search the text. Pick SRT when you want subtitles that play in time with the video.

FAQ

How do I get the transcript of a YouTube video?

Open the video, expand the description and click Show transcript. The transcript opens beside the player with a time on each line.

Why is there no "Show transcript" button?

The video has no captions. YouTube shows a transcript only for videos with captions. To get the text anyway, transcribe the audio with a tool.

Can I get a YouTube transcript on my phone?

Yes. In the YouTube app, tap the description under the video and then tap Show transcript.

Is it free to get a YouTube transcript?

Yes. The Show transcript button is free and needs no account. Scribiz is free to try with no account, and Pro costs $10 a month.

How do I transcribe a YouTube video that has no captions?

Paste the link into a transcription tool. It listens to the audio and writes the transcript from the speech.

Can I download a YouTube transcript?

Not from YouTube as a viewer. Copy the text and save it as a TXT file, or use a transcript tool to export TXT or SRT.

How accurate is a YouTube transcript?

It depends on the captions. Captions that the creator uploaded are usually accurate. Automatic captions can get names, numbers and technical terms wrong, so check a quote against the video before you use it.