YouTube to Text

Paste a YouTube URL and get the transcript in seconds — free, no sign-up, no software to install.

How it works

Paste a YouTube link and this page turns it into text you can read, copy, search, and reuse. There is no sign-up, no software to install, and nothing to configure — the transcript comes from the captions the video already carries, which is why it takes a second or two rather than minutes. If you have ever needed to quote a talk, pull a line out of a lecture, or find the one moment in a long interview where a topic came up, this is the shortcut.

The transcript arrives with timestamps and speaker turns intact, and you can copy it as plain text, as SRT or VTT subtitles, or as a timestamped script. Everything runs in the browser and the result is yours — there is no download limit and no paywall between you and the text. It works on desktop and on phones, and it handles long videos as comfortably as short ones.

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Frequently asked questions

Is it free to convert a YouTube video to text?
Yes. There is no account, no credit card, and no cap on how many videos you convert. The transcript comes from the video's own caption track, so there is no per-minute transcription cost to pass on to you.
Do I need to install anything?
No. Paste the link into the box above and the transcript appears on the page. There is nothing to install, and it works the same on Windows, macOS, Linux, Android, and iOS.
What if the video has no captions?
Then there is no caption track to read, and the page will tell you so instead of returning an empty result. Videos with auto-generated captions work fine — those are the majority of spoken-word uploads.
Can I copy the transcript with timestamps?
Yes. Use "Copy with timestamps" and every line keeps the moment it was spoken, which is what you want when citing a source or jumping back to a specific point. Plain "Copy" gives you clean text with the timestamps stripped.
Does it work for long videos?
Yes. Two-hour lectures and long interviews convert the same way short clips do. Longer videos simply produce a longer transcript, and the page groups the lines so a long result stays readable.