How to get a YouTube transcript

AudexumCheckedOct 13, 20265 minGuide

Four ways, from a free built-in panel to speech-to-text on your own recording, and when each one is the right pick.

Four methods, one table

Method	Cost	Captions	Best for
YouTube's built-in transcript	Free	Needs captions	One quick look at a single video, when you only need to read or copy a few lines.
Audexum YouTube transcript tool	Free: 1 without an account, then 25/day with one	Needs captions	A clean TXT, SRT or VTT file with timestamps, or a transcript to hand to an AI assistant.
Speech-to-text on your own recording	200 credits/min, 2,000 free on signup	No captions needed	Your own video or audio file, when you have the recording and the YouTube version has no captions.
Ask an AI assistant with the Audexum connector	Uses your plan's allowance	Needs captions	Summaries, quotes and Q&A about a video without leaving the chat.

Third-party converters and browser extensions are a fifth route; their free limits differ per tool, so check them before you rely on one. Audexum's figures were checked 2026-10-13 against the live tool.

The steps

Step 1
Open the video
Open the YouTube video on a computer. The transcript option is in the description area, so the mobile app and some embeds hide it.
Step 2
Open YouTube's transcript panel, or paste the link into a tool
On YouTube, click "...more" under the description and choose "Show transcript". To get a file instead, paste the video link into the Audexum YouTube transcript tool at audexum.com/tools/youtube-transcript.
Step 3
Pick the language and format
Choose the caption language the uploader provided, then plain text, SubRip (.srt) or WebVTT (.vtt) if you want timestamps in a subtitle file.
Step 4
Copy or download it
Copy the text, or download the file. If the video has no captions at all and you own the recording, upload that file for speech-to-text instead.

Got any questions left?

How do I get the transcript of a YouTube video?

Open the video on a computer, click "...more" under the description and choose "Show transcript". That panel cannot be downloaded, so to get a TXT, SRT or VTT file paste the link into a transcript tool such as Audexum's free YouTube transcript tool. The first one needs no account.

Can I download a YouTube transcript as a file?

YouTube's own panel only lets you select and copy the text. A transcript tool turns the same captions into a downloadable plain-text, SRT or VTT file with the video's timestamps.

Why does a video say there is no transcript?

The uploader switched captions off, or YouTube has not generated automatic ones yet, which is common right after upload and for music and very short videos. Private, age-restricted and region-locked videos cannot be read either. If you have the recording yourself, upload it to Audexum's file transcription, which needs no captions and uses 200 credits a minute.

Are YouTube's automatic captions accurate?

They are good on clear speech and weaker on names, niche terms, heavy accents and overlapping voices. A manual caption track uploaded by the creator is more reliable, and tools that let you pick a track will prefer it.

Can I get a transcript in another language?

Pick any caption language the uploader enabled. YouTube lists 160+ caption languages in total, but a given video usually has only a few of them.

Is it free?

Yes. YouTube's panel is free. Audexum gives your first transcript without an account and 25 a day with a free account, no card. Only transcribing a file you upload uses credits.

Can ChatGPT or Claude read a YouTube video's transcript?

Assistants often cannot open YouTube themselves. Paste the transcript into the chat, or use a link of the form audexum.com/tools/youtube-transcript?url=<video link>, which opens the tool with the video already filled in and gives you a ready-made prompt.

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