Quick answer

How do I get a transcript of a YouTube video?

On a computer, open the video, expand the description and choose Show transcript: the text appears beside the video with timestamps. It exists only when the video has captions, and YouTube says automatic captions are not available in every language, may not be made for very long videos or poor audio, and can contain errors. If there is none and the video is yours, upload the video file to a transcription tool; TryScriptorium takes files, not YouTube links.

Updated 2026-10-25

Three routes compared

Route	Works when	Needs	Limits
YouTube's own transcript panel	The video has captions or an automatic transcript	Nothing; a computer is easiest	Automatic captions do not support every language, can fail on very long videos or poor audio, and may contain errors (YouTube Help)
A tool that takes a link (Maestra, Kapwing)	You hold the right to process that video	A sign-up to export (Maestra) or sign-in (Kapwing)	Maestra's page shows a 1-minute file trial; Kapwing lists auto-subtitling up to 10 minutes on Free and describes automatic generation as English, with other languages by translation
Upload the file (TryScriptorium)	The video is yours, or you have the file and the right to use it	The file itself; no link input	No-account preview: one file up to 15 minutes and 25 MB, 3 tries a day, no account

Read on 2026-10-25 from YouTube Help and the tools' own pages (sources below).

Steps

Open the video on a computer. Expand the description under the video.
Choose Show transcript. A transcript panel opens beside the video, with timestamps; select the text to copy it. If the button is missing, the video has no captions or transcript.
No transcript, and the video is yours. Upload the video file (not a link) to video to text; one file up to 15 minutes and 25 MB, 3 tries a day, no account.
Check and export. Read it against the video and download TXT, timestamped TXT, SRT, VTT, Markdown, JSON and CSV.

Why the button can be missing

The creator did not enable captions and none were generated automatically.
YouTube says automatic captions do not support every language, and do not appear right after upload.
On the phone app the panel is harder to use; a computer is the easy route.

What not to do

Do not download other people's videos to transcribe them if that breaks YouTube's terms or the creator's rights. For someone else's video, the transcript panel is the route YouTube itself provides. See the full YouTube transcript guide and the YouTube transcript page.

Sources

Every row about another product was read on that product's own page on 2026-10-25. Prices and limits change; confirm on their site before you rely on them. We make TryScriptorium, so read our claims with that in mind.

Questions

Where is the transcript button on YouTube?

Under the video, in the expanded description: Show transcript. If it is not there, the video has no captions or transcript.

Can TryScriptorium transcribe a YouTube link?

No. It takes uploaded files only. Use the transcript panel for published videos, or upload the video file if it is yours.

Are YouTube's automatic transcripts accurate?

YouTube's help page says automatic captions are machine-generated and may contain errors, so creators should review them.

Can I get an SRT from a YouTube video I made?

Upload the original file to a transcription tool that exports SRT. TryScriptorium exports SRT and VTT from an uploaded file.

Is the transcript always right?

No. It is an automatic draft, and no accuracy percentage is promised. Noise, overlapping voices, accents and technical terms cause mistakes, so read it against the audio before you rely on names, numbers or quotes.

Try it with your own file

Upload a recording and read the transcript.

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