Updated 2026-10-29
1. Read the transcript on YouTube itself (free)
Most videos with captions have a built-in transcript. YouTube's layout changes from time to time, but it usually works like this:
- On a computer: open the video, click ...more under the title to expand the description, scroll down and click Show transcript. The transcript opens next to the video, with timestamps.
- On the YouTube app: tap the video's description, scroll down and tap Show transcript.
This is fine for reading one video. But you can only copy the text by selecting it by hand, timestamps get copied along with it, and there's no way to get a file or do more than one video at a time.
2. Download a transcript as a file
To get a clean file instead, use a transcript downloader such as Free YT Bulk Transcripts:
- Copy the video's link from the address bar or the Share button.
- Paste it into the box and pick a format next to the tabs (TXT, SRT, JSON, CSV, Excel or ZIP).
- Click Get transcript. You can read and search the text, copy it with one click, or download it. VTT subtitles and Markdown are in the buttons above the transcript.
Turn on Timestamps if you want the time of every line; leave it off for one clean paragraph, which is easier to read or paste into ChatGPT.
No account yet? You can try 10 videos a day for free without signing up; a free account adds downloads, many links at once and 25 free credits. If a video has captions in several languages, choose one in the Captions menu next to the link box.
3. Download transcripts of many videos, a playlist or a channel
Copying videos one by one gets slow fast. In Bulk videos mode you can paste a list of links, one per line (10 at a time on the free plan, up to 250 on the Pro pack), and download them all together as one file or a ZIP.
On paid packs you can also paste a whole playlist link or channel link: the videos are added for you, and you choose where to start and how many to get. For research and spreadsheets, export everything to Excel or CSV with one row per video.
4. Which format should you choose?
| Format | Best for |
|---|---|
| TXT | Reading, notes, pasting into ChatGPT or Claude |
| SRT / VTT | Subtitles in Premiere Pro, DaVinci Resolve, Final Cut, VLC or web players (more on SRT) |
| Markdown | Notion, Obsidian and other notes apps; AI tools |
| CSV / Excel | Spreadsheets, research, sorting and counting words |
| JSON | Developers and AI projects (every line with its start time) |
| ZIP | Everything at once, for every video |
5. Why some videos have no transcript
- No captions: transcripts come from captions. If the creator didn't add any and YouTube didn't generate them, there's nothing to download yet. Very new videos and live streams sometimes get captions later.
- Private or members-only videos can't be read. Unlisted videos work if you have the link.
- Wrong words: auto-generated captions can misspell names and technical terms, and struggle with music or several people talking.
- Other languages: videos in Hindi, Telugu, Tamil and many other languages work when they have captions in that language (see Indian languages).
With Free YT Bulk Transcripts, videos without a transcript are clearly marked and never use a credit.
6. Using transcripts fairly
A video's words belong to its creator. Using transcripts for your own study, notes, accessibility or research is common; if you plan to publish, republish or train AI models on someone else's content, check copyright rules and ask the creator for permission. Quoting with a link back to the video is always a good habit.