Why is a YouTube transcript instant when podcast transcription takes a minute?

Because the words already exist. YouTube generates captions for most uploads, so we read those directly instead of running the audio through speech recognition, and there is no processing queue to wait in.

Does a YouTube transcript use my monthly minutes?

Yes. Minutes are charged against the video's length, the same as any other source, even though the transcript comes from existing captions rather than from speech recognition.

What if the video has no captions at all?

Then there is nothing to read and this route cannot be used. Download the audio and upload the file directly instead: that path runs full speech recognition.

How do I see the transcript of a YouTube video on YouTube itself?

On a computer, open the video, click "...more" under the title to expand the description, and click Show transcript at the end of it. A panel opens beside the video with every line timed. In the mobile app, tap the description and then Show transcript. The panel only appears on videos that have captions, and it has no download button.

How do I copy a YouTube transcript?

In YouTube’s transcript panel, open the three-dot menu and choose Toggle timestamps so the times are not copied with the words, then select the text and copy it. For a long video it is quicker to paste the link above and copy or download the whole transcript as one file.

Does it use the auto-generated captions or the creator’s own?

Whichever the video has. A creator-uploaded caption track is preferred where one exists, because it carries their exact wording, spelling, and punctuation.

Does it work with YouTube Shorts?

Yes, provided the Short has captions. Shorts URLs are handled exactly like regular video links.

Can I get the transcript in a language other than the one spoken?

No. You get the captions as they exist on the video. This tool exports what is there rather than translating it.

Which YouTube videos will not work?

Private, age-restricted, and region-locked videos cannot be reached, and neither can videos with no captions of any kind.

I need an SRT subtitle file, not a transcript. Can I get one?

Yes, and there is a page built for it. The caption downloader exports the same track as SRT or VTT with the cue timings preserved, which is what a video editor or another platform expects.

Can I transcribe a video I do not own?

Technically yes, for any public video. What you may then do with the text is a copyright question, quoting and note-taking are ordinarily fine, republishing someone else’s script as your own is not.

YouTube transcripts,
from any video link.

Most YouTube videos are already captioned: the words exist, they are just trapped behind a panel with no download button. This reads them out and reflows the cues into something you can actually read, quote, and edit.

Sources in

How it works

Paste, pick, download

No queue, because there is no transcription step: the words already exist.

Copy the video link
From the address bar or the Share button: youtube.com/watch?v=…, youtu.be/… and Shorts URLs all work.
Paste it above
Drop the link into the field above. You see the opening of the transcript straight away; a free account gets you the whole thing.
Copy or download it
Because the captions already exist, there is no queue: the transcript is back almost immediately, ready to copy or export as TXT, MD, SRT, VTT, JSON, DOCX or PDF.

Who it's for

What people do with a YouTube transcript

Creators

Turn a video script back into a blog post, a newsletter, or a thread.

Students

Keep a lecture or tutorial as searchable notes instead of a 90-minute rewatch.

Language learners

Read along with fast or accented speech and see the words you could not catch.

Accessibility

Provide a readable transcript alongside a video that only has burned-in captions.

Exports

Seven formats out

.txt

Plain text

Cues reflowed into prose: the version you actually read.

.md

Markdown

The title and the text as paragraphs, for Obsidian, Notion or any notes app.

.json

Structured JSON

Every segment with its start, end, and text, for tooling.

.srt

SubRip subtitles

Also available. For subtitle work, start at the captions tool.

.vtt

WebVTT

Also available. For subtitle work, start at the captions tool.

.docx

Word document

Speaker headings and timestamps as real formatting, ready to edit or hand off.

.pdf

Print-ready PDF

Paginated and page-numbered, for sharing, archiving, or marking up.

While you are here

Discover PodcastsToText

The transcript is where it starts. Here is what the rest of the studio does with it.

Your video opens in an editor.

Click a line and the video jumps to it, playing in the page with the line you are on highlighted as it goes. Fix a mis-heard word and the export carries the fix. The whole video is one page you can actually read.

Try the live demo

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Transcribed from the episode link · click any line to seek

Marios

Have you ever listened to a podcast and wish you could read what was being said?

Maybe to quote it, study it, or just to find that one line again without re-listening to the whole podcast.

Hey everyone, I'm Marios and I'm really excited to introduce you to my new project,

podcasttotext.com.

It's a web-based app that converts podcast episodes from Spotify and Apple Podcasts into clean, accurate text in just seconds.

Why did I build this up? You may ask.

I built it because I listened to a lot of podcasts.

And at the end of each episode, I was forgetting what was being said.

So I wanted a way to quickly take notes or revisit specific moments without rewinding,

without re-listening the whole podcast.

Uploading files or manually transcribing just wasn't practical.

So I decided to make something that's fast.

Chapters

The problem: hearing something and losing it