Free YouTube transcript tool
YouTube Transcript Generator
Get the transcript
Start from a video link, or bring captions you already have.
Watch links, youtu.be links, and Shorts all work.
Output
Your transcript appears here
Choose a format below — plain paragraphs for reading, timestamped lines for reference, SRT or VTT for a video editor.
Paste a YouTube link on the left, or bring your own caption file, and the cleaned-up transcript lands here ready to copy or download.
Turn a YouTube video’s captions into a clean, readable transcript. Paste a link or bring your own caption file, then export it as plain text, timestamped lines, SRT, or WebVTT.
Captions are broken text. Transcripts are readable
Raw YouTube captions break every three or four words, carry no punctuation you can rely on, and are painful to read as a document. This tool joins those fragments back into paragraphs, keeps the timings where you want them, and hands you the result in the format you actually need.
That matters for repurposing: a transcript is the fastest route from a video to a blog post, show notes, a summary, subtitles for another platform, or the quotes you need for social. It is also how you make video content readable by search engines and by people who cannot use audio.
Four output formats
Plain text
Included
Caption fragments merged into readable paragraphs — ready for an article.
Timestamped
Included
One line per cue with a clickable-style timecode for referencing moments.
SRT
Included
Standard subtitle file for video editors and every major platform.
WebVTT
Included
The web standard for HTML5 <track> subtitles.
How it works
From video to usable text
Two routes in, one formatter — whichever way the captions arrive, the output is the same.
01
Paste the video link
Watch links, youtu.be links, and Shorts all resolve. The tool finds every caption language the video carries.
02
Or bring your own captions
Upload an .srt or .vtt, or paste the text straight out of YouTube’s transcript panel.
03
Choose a format and export
Paragraphs, timestamps, SRT, or VTT — copy it or download the file.
A transcript tool that handles the messy parts
Caption text is rarely clean. These are the parts that usually cost you an hour.
Paragraph rebuilding
Merges three-word caption fragments into paragraphs that break on sentence ends.
Every caption language
Lists all tracks the video carries, manual and auto-generated, and switches between them.
Timestamps kept
Keep the timecodes for reference, or drop them entirely for prose.
SRT and VTT export
Correct cue numbering and stamp formats, so the file loads in an editor without fixing.
Copy or download
Straight to the clipboard, or saved as a file named after the video.
Word count and read time
Know how long the piece runs before you start editing it.
Transcript Questions
How the captions are sourced, and what to do when YouTube will not release them.
YouTube tools
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