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YouTube transcript

For a YouTube transcript, open the video, click More in the description and choose Show transcript. If you need an editable transcript, or the video has none, save the video file you own and upload it to TryScriptorium. It cannot fetch a YouTube link by itself, so you always upload a file.

There are two ways to get text out of a YouTube video, and which one you want depends on whose video it is. Scriptorium cannot fetch a YouTube link for you — that is spelled out below rather than buried — but if the video is yours, uploading the file gives you a far better transcript than YouTube's own.

Free preview: one file up to 15 minutes and 25 MB, 3 tries a day, no account needed.

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Key facts

How to get a transcript of a YouTube video

  1. Try YouTube's own transcript. Open the video, expand the description and choose Show transcript, if it is offered.
  2. Or use your own file. For your own video, take the original file from your editor or from YouTube Studio's download.
  3. Upload it here. Drop the file into the uploader on this page.
  4. Correct and export. Fix names and terms, then export TXT, SRT or VTT.

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Be clear about what this page does

Scriptorium does not accept a YouTube URL. You cannot paste a link into the box above. It transcribes files you upload.

That is a real limitation and it is listed on the homepage too. If you needed a link-paste tool, this is not one, and it is better that you know now.

What this page is for: getting a genuinely good transcript of a video that is yours, and explaining the free route that exists for videos that are not.

If the video is yours

Download your own video, then upload it here. From a computer:

  1. Open YouTube Studio and go to Content.
  2. Find the video, open the three-dot menu next to it and choose Download.
  3. Drop the downloaded MP4 into the box on this page.
  4. Read the transcript, fix any line that is wrong, and export it.

This is worth the extra two minutes when the transcript matters. You get timestamps on every line, speaker labels when several people talk, line-by-line editing, and SRT or WebVTT files you can upload back to YouTube as proper subtitles — which is also the version viewers and search engines read.

If the video is not yours

Use YouTube's own transcript, which is free and already there for most public videos:

  1. Open the video on a desktop browser.
  2. Click …more under the title to expand the description.
  3. Scroll to the bottom of the description and click Show transcript.
  4. The transcript opens beside the video. Use the three-dot menu in that panel to turn timestamps off, then select and copy the text.

Two things to know about it. YouTube's automatic captions are noticeably rougher than a dedicated transcription pass, particularly with names, accents and technical terms, and they have no speaker labels at all. And the panel is missing entirely when the uploader disabled captions or the video is in a language YouTube has not auto-captioned.

Downloading someone else's video to transcribe it is a separate question from whether you can read its transcript, and it is governed by YouTube's terms and by copyright. Quoting from a transcript for commentary, criticism or research is ordinary; republishing someone's video or its full transcript as your own is not.

How it works

  1. Add a recording

    Drop in a video or audio file, choose one from your device, or record from the microphone. Nothing to install.

  2. It transcribes

    Speech becomes timestamped text, with speaker labels when more than one person talks.

  3. Read, fix, export

    Click any line to correct it, then download TXT, subtitles, Markdown, JSON or CSV.

Questions

Can I paste a YouTube link into Scriptorium?
No. Scriptorium transcribes files you upload. For your own videos, download the file from YouTube Studio first. For other people's videos, use YouTube's built-in transcript panel.
Where is the transcript button on YouTube?
On desktop, click “...more” under the video title to expand the description, then scroll to the bottom and click “Show transcript”. It is not available on the mobile apps, and it does not appear if the video has no captions.
Why would I upload the file instead of using YouTube's transcript?
Better accuracy, speaker labels, line-by-line editing, and seven export formats including SRT and WebVTT. YouTube's version is a single unlabelled stream of auto-captions.
Can I get a transcript of a YouTube video I do not own?
Through YouTube's own transcript panel, yes — that is a feature YouTube provides. Downloading the video itself is restricted by YouTube's terms, so that route is for your own content.
Can I turn the transcript into YouTube subtitles?
Yes. Export SRT or WebVTT and upload it in YouTube Studio under Subtitles, which replaces the automatic captions with your corrected version.
Why do some videos have no transcript button?
The uploader can turn captions off, and some videos have none generated.
Can I use the SRT as YouTube captions?
Yes. Export SRT or VTT here and upload it as a subtitle file in YouTube Studio for your own video.
Is it fine to transcribe someone else's video?
Only if you have the right to. This tool does not download videos from platforms.
Will the transcript match YouTube's automatic captions?
Not exactly. It is produced by a different speech model, and you can edit every line.
Can it handle a long video?
Without an account up to 15 minutes per file; accounts allow longer files.

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