A YouTube transcript extractor for clean, readable text
YouTube’s transcript panel and caption files are made for subtitles, not for reading: a timestamp every few seconds, sentences chopped into short lines, “[Music]” and “(laughs)” cues, and “>>” marks for every change of speaker. This YouTube transcript extractor turns that into clean text you can quote, search, translate or study — joined into full sentences and paragraphs, with or without timestamps.
Paste the text you copied from a video’s transcript, or open a caption file you downloaded from YouTube Studio (.srt, .vtt or .sbv). Everything is processed in your browser: nothing is uploaded, and the page never contacts YouTube itself. When you are done, copy the text or export it as plain text, Markdown, a Word document, or back to SRT and VTT subtitles.
How to get a clean transcript from YouTube
- On a computer, open the video on youtube.com, expand the description (“…more”) and press Show transcript. Select the text in the transcript panel and copy it. Creators can instead download their own captions in YouTube Studio → Subtitles → the video → ⋮ → Download.
- Paste the text into the box, or press Open .srt, .vtt, .sbv or .txt. The line above the box shows the format found, the number of captions and the video length.
- Choose a layout — Paragraphs, One sentence per line or the Original lines — and how many sentences go in a paragraph.
- Tick Keep timestamps if you want a time at the start of each paragraph, and choose whether to remove sound cues and speaker labels. The clean transcript updates as you change options.
- Press Copy text, or export TXT, Markdown, Word, SRT or VTT. Add the video address to make Markdown timestamps clickable.
YouTube Transcript Extractor features
Understands the transcript panel
Timestamps on their own lines or at the start of a line, and the hidden “2 minutes, 5 seconds” labels that come along when you copy, are recognised and removed.
All caption formats
WebVTT (including YouTube’s automatic captions, whose repeated “rolling” lines are de-duplicated), SubRip .srt, YouTube Studio .sbv and plain text.
Real sentences and paragraphs
Broken caption lines are joined, hyphenated words rejoined, and sentences grouped into paragraphs; captions without punctuation are grouped by time instead.
Removes the clutter
[Music], [Applause], (laughs), ♪ symbols and speaker marks such as “>>” and “NAME:” can be stripped or kept.
Exports for every use
Plain text, Markdown with links to the exact second, a Word .docx, and cleaned SRT or VTT subtitle files with the original timing.
Why this page does not download transcripts from YouTube for you
Many “transcript downloader” sites fetch captions straight from YouTube with unofficial requests. This tool deliberately doesn’t. YouTube’s Terms of Service do not allow accessing the service by automated means such as scrapers, or downloading content other than as YouTube expressly authorises, and its official API only lets a channel download the caption tracks of its own videos. Unofficial endpoints also change without notice and break.
Copying the transcript that YouTube shows you, or a creator downloading their own captions, keeps you within the rules — and it means this page never needs to see which videos you watch. Remember that a transcript is part of the creator’s work: quote it with credit, and ask permission before republishing it in full.
Tips for the cleanest result
- Videos with captions written by the creator have punctuation, so they split into proper sentences. Automatic captions are lower-case and unpunctuated; they are grouped into paragraphs of about 45 seconds, and the words are left exactly as recognised.
- In the transcript panel you can switch timestamps off (⋮ → Toggle timestamps) before copying — but leaving them on lets this page keep the timing for SRT, VTT and timestamped paragraphs.
- On a phone, the transcript panel usually can’t be selected; use a computer, or ask the creator for the caption file.
- To shorten a long transcript, use the YouTube Transcript Summarizer. To change caption formats or timing, use the Subtitle Converter, and to share a link to a moment of a video, the YouTube Timestamp Link tool.
YouTube Transcript Extractor FAQ
How do I copy a transcript from YouTube?
On a computer, open the video, click “…more” under it, then “Show transcript”. The transcript opens next to the video; select its text with your mouse (or click in it and press Ctrl+A / ⌘A) and copy. Paste it into this YouTube transcript extractor to clean it.
How do I remove the timestamps?
Paste the transcript here: timestamps are removed by default and the lines are joined into paragraphs. Tick “Keep timestamps” if you want one at the start of each paragraph instead.
Can I download the captions of any video?
Not with this tool. It works on text you copied from YouTube’s transcript panel or caption files you already have. Creators can download their own captions in YouTube Studio as .srt, .vtt or .sbv.
Is the transcript uploaded?
No. Parsing and cleaning run in your browser and nothing is sent anywhere. Only the Word export loads a small library from a public CDN.
Why does the text have no punctuation?
It comes from YouTube’s automatic captions, which are generated without punctuation. The extractor groups it into paragraphs by time but never adds words or punctuation of its own.
Can I convert the cleaned transcript back to subtitles?
Yes — SRT and VTT export keep the original timing and apply your choices about sound cues and speaker labels. They are available whenever the input has timestamps.