Download a YouTube Transcript
Paste a YouTube link in the box above to get the video's transcript. DownSub reads the caption tracks the video already has, including YouTube's auto-generated captions, and turns them into text you can save, copy or search.
It works as a YouTube to transcript converter for regular videos, Shorts, live recordings and whole playlists, and you don't need an account or an extension.
How to get the transcript of a YouTube video
- Copy the video link from the address bar or the Share button (youtube.com/watch?v=…, youtu.be/…, /shorts/… or /live/…).
- Paste it in the box at the top of this page and press Download.
- Find the language you want in the list. Tracks marked auto-generated come from YouTube's speech recognition.
- Press TXT to save the transcript as plain text, or RAW to open it in your browser and copy it. Choose SRT or VTT if you want to keep the timestamps.
Transcript formats
TXT – The spoken text only, one caption per line, with no timestamps. The usual choice for a YouTube transcript download.
RAW – The same plain text, opened in a browser tab instead of downloaded, so you can select it all and paste it anywhere.
SRT – Every line with its start and end time. Opens in video players, editors and translation tools.
VTT – Timestamped text in the format web video players use.
What people use a YouTube transcript for
- Notes and study: read a lecture or tutorial instead of rewatching it, and search it for the part you need.
- Quotes: copy exactly what was said in an interview or talk.
- AI tools: paste the text into ChatGPT, Claude or another assistant to summarise the video or ask questions about it.
- Language learning: download the transcript in two languages, or use Bilingual to get both in one file.
- Writing and repurposing: turn a video script into a blog post, show notes or captions for another platform.
Why not just use YouTube's Show transcript?
YouTube's own transcript panel is fine for reading along, but it has no download or export button. To keep the text you have to select the whole panel by hand, usually with a timestamp in front of every line.
DownSub gives you the whole transcript as a file in one click, in any caption language the video has, plus auto-translations into other languages. The cleaner options can also drop [Music] and sound-effect lines and repeated lines from auto-generated captions.
No captions on the video?
A transcript can only be downloaded when the video has a caption track. For videos without one, DownSub Pro transcribes the audio with AI and can also summarise the video for you. See DownSub Pro
YouTube transcript questions
Is the YouTube transcript downloader free?
Yes. Getting transcripts on downsub.com is free and needs no account. DownSub Pro is an optional paid plan for AI transcription, summaries and whole-playlist downloads.
Can I download a transcript without timestamps?
Yes. TXT and RAW contain only the spoken text. SRT and VTT keep the timestamps.
Does it work with auto-generated captions?
Yes. Auto-generated tracks are listed next to the captions the creator uploaded. They come from speech recognition, so names and technical words may be spelled wrong.
Can I get the transcript in another language?
You can download any language the video has captions in, or use Auto-translate to get the transcript in a language the video doesn't offer.
Why can't DownSub find a transcript for my video?
The video has no caption track, or it is private, age-restricted, members-only or blocked in some regions. Text burned into the picture is part of the image and can't be extracted as a transcript.
Does it work with YouTube Shorts, live streams and playlists?
Yes. Shorts and finished live streams work like normal videos. A link with list=… also shows the other videos in the playlist, so you can get each transcript in turn.