Free · No sign-up
YouTube Transcript Generator
Turn any public YouTube video with captions into clean text: a searchable transcript with timestamps, readable paragraphs, or subtitle files.
Ready
Get a YouTube transcript
Watch, Shorts, live and youtu.be links all work.
Scribopal is not affiliated with YouTube, Google, TikTok or Instagram. We show captions that are already public, for personal, study and accessibility use. Respect creators' copyright.
Three steps
How the transcript generator works
- 01
Paste a video link
Any public video, Short or live replay with captions.
- 02
Pick the language
If the video has captions in several languages, choose one from the list above the transcript.
- 03
Use the text
Start in the paragraphs tab for notes and quotes, or switch to timestamps, SRT or VTT.
Versus YouTube's own Show transcript
YouTube can show a transcript under a video's description, but it's built for reading along, not for taking the text elsewhere.
| YouTube Show transcript | This generator | |
|---|---|---|
| Copy all the text | Select by hand | One button |
| Paragraphs | No | Yes |
| SRT and VTT files | No | Yes |
| Search and jump to a time | Yes | Yes |
What people use it for
- Study notes: paste a lecture, read it as paragraphs, and keep the timestamps for the parts to rewatch.
- Quotes: search for the words, then link to the exact second.
- Repurposing: turn a video into a blog post, newsletter or thread.
- Subtitles: download SRT for a video editor or a course platform.
Questions
Frequently asked questions
How does a transcript generator work?
It reads the captions YouTube already has for the video, the creator's own or YouTube's automatic ones, and formats them. We don't run speech recognition on it, so it's fast and free.
Which languages are there?
Whichever languages the video has captions in. When there's more than one, a list appears above the transcript.
Can I translate the transcript?
Not on this site yet. Copy the text into a translator of your choice.
Can it summarize the video?
Not yet. Copy the paragraphs tab into the AI assistant you use and ask it for a summary.
Is there a length limit?
No. Hour-long lectures and podcasts work the same as short clips, as long as they have captions.
Tools