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YouTube transcript

Paste a public YouTube video or Short link. Get its captions as text.

Public videos only · Five free transcripts a week · Copy and download

Sample preview

How it works

01How it works

How to get a YouTube transcript

A YouTube transcript turns the spoken words in a public video into text you can read, search and save. Paste the video link into the YouTube transcript generator above. It reads the captions the creator uploaded, or the automatic captions YouTube makes from the speech.

  1. 01

    Paste the YouTube link

    Copy the link to a public YouTube video or Short, including a youtu.be share link, and paste it above.

  2. 02

    Get the transcript

    The tool reads the video's caption track and turns it into plain text with timestamps.

  3. 03

    Copy or download

    Copy the text, download a TXT file, or save an SRT subtitle file with cue timing.

Updated 21 October 2026

02What you get

Plain text, timestamps and SRT subtitles

The result opens as a readable transcript with the word count and video duration. Plain text groups nearby caption cues into short paragraphs. The timestamp view keeps every cue beside its starting time, so you can jump to the same moment in the video.

Copy the transcript

Copy plain text for notes, research, a summary or a draft. Switch to the timestamp view first if you want the minute and second beside every line.

Download TXT or SRT

TXT gives you the spoken words as one clean document. SRT keeps the start and end time for every cue, ready for a video editor or subtitle workflow. The tool does not change the video or post anything to YouTube.

Long videos, Shorts and share links

Watch links, youtu.be share links and Shorts all work when the video is public and has captions. A long talk or podcast comes back in one piece, with no length limit.

03FAQ

YouTube transcript FAQ

Do I need a YouTube or Google account?

No. Paste a public video link and get its transcript without signing in. Your Google account is never connected to this tool.

How does the YouTube transcript generator work?

It reads the video's caption track: the captions the creator uploaded, or the automatic captions YouTube makes from the speech. It does not listen to the audio itself.

How accurate is a YouTube transcript?

Captions written by the creator are usually exact. Automatic captions depend on the audio, so music, overlapping speakers and strong accents can bring wrong words. Read the text before publishing it.

Which language is the transcript in?

The language of the video's main caption track, which is usually the language people speak in the video. A Portuguese video gives a Portuguese transcript.

What happens if the video has no captions?

The tool says that the video has no captions to read. It does not invent a transcript. Some creators turn captions off, and very new videos may not have automatic captions yet.

Can it transcribe a private or members-only video?

No. The video must be public. Private, deleted and members-only videos are not available to this transcript tool.

Does it work on long videos and podcasts?

Yes. There is no length limit, because the text comes from the caption track. Most videos take a few seconds. A podcast of several hours can take up to about 20 seconds.

Does it work on YouTube Shorts?

Yes. Paste a Shorts link the same way as a normal video link. A Short without speech or captions has no transcript to return.

Does the transcript include timestamps and SRT?

Yes. Every caption cue keeps its timestamp. You can read the transcript with minutes and seconds beside each line, or download an SRT file with full subtitle timing.

Is the YouTube transcript tool free?

Yes. Each visitor gets five free transcripts a week. A free Adlicio account gets 30 a day. The tool also has a shared daily limit that resets at midnight UTC.

Can I transcribe many YouTube videos at once?

Not on this page. The free tool handles one video at a time. The paid Adlicio product handles batches when you need many transcripts.

Who built this YouTube transcript generator?

Adlicio built it for creators, researchers and marketers who need the spoken words from a public YouTube video in a form they can search, quote and save.
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