YouTube to Transcript
Convert any YouTube video into a readable, timestamped transcript. Paste a link and read it in seconds.
Free · No sign-up · Works on any public YouTube video
From video link to readable text
Reading is several times faster than watching. Converting a video to a transcript lets you skim a 45-minute talk in a few minutes, find the part that actually matters, and jump straight to it.
It works on any public YouTube video that has captions — either the creator's own or YouTube's auto-generated ones. A small number of videos publish neither, and those have no transcript to extract.
Seconds, not minutes
The conversion reads existing caption data rather than re-processing the audio, so it returns almost immediately.
Readable formatting
Output is laid out for reading rather than dumped as one unbroken block of text.
Jump back to the video
Timestamps stay clickable, so the transcript works as an index into the video.
How to convert YouTube to a transcript
- 1
Copy the video link
Take the URL of any public YouTube video.
- 2
Paste it above
Drop it into the field at the top of this page.
- 3
Read the transcript
The converted, timestamped text appears in seconds, ready to search or copy.
Who converts videos to text
Professionals
Catch up on webinars, earnings calls, and industry talks by reading the transcript in a few minutes instead of blocking out an hour.
Students
Turn a two-hour lecture into text you can search, quote, and revise from — far faster than scrubbing the video for one definition.
Researchers
Pull the actual argument out of a conference talk or interview, with timestamps you can cite, without watching the whole recording.
Creators
Mine podcasts and interviews for quotes, scripts, and references, or repurpose your own videos into blog posts and show notes.
YouTube to transcript FAQ
How do I convert a YouTube video to a transcript?
Paste the video's URL into the field above. The transcript is generated from the video's caption track and displayed with timestamps in seconds.
How long does the conversion take?
Usually a few seconds, because the tool reads existing captions rather than re-transcribing the audio from scratch.
Does video length matter?
No. Captioned videos of any length can be converted, including long podcasts and full lectures.
Do I need an account or an extension?
No. Transcripts here are free with no sign-up. The free JumpWatch Chrome extension adds AI summaries and chat directly on the YouTube page if you want them.
Get AI summaries and chat on every video
The transcript is free here. Add the free JumpWatch extension to summarize and chat with any video without leaving YouTube.
Add to Chrome — FreeOr browse recent transcripts.