YouTube Transcript Generator
Paste a YouTube link and get the full video transcript you can read, search, and copy in seconds.
A YouTube transcript lets you read a video instead of watching it — search for the exact moment a topic comes up, quote a speaker accurately, translate the content, or feed it into other tools. Creators use transcripts for repurposing videos into posts; students use them for lectures; researchers use them to cite talks and interviews.
Paste any public YouTube link and the tool pulls the video's full transcript so you can read, search, and copy it. No browser extension, no account, and no limit on video length for standard videos with captions available. If you also want an AI summary of the video rather than the raw transcript, CraftNote's YouTube Summarizer does that in one step.
Common uses: pulling a quote for an article without re-watching the video, turning a long tutorial into a skimmable reference doc, translating a foreign-language talk by feeding the transcript into a translator, and building a searchable archive of lecture or podcast content instead of scrubbing through video timestamps.
Works best on videos with existing captions, whether creator-uploaded or YouTube's own auto-generated captions — most public videos with spoken audio qualify. Videos with captions disabled, or with no spoken audio at all, won't produce a usable transcript.
How it works
- Paste the YouTube video URL.
- We fetch and transcribe the audio.
- Read or copy the full transcript.
Frequently asked questions
Does it work on any YouTube video?
It works on most public videos that have spoken audio and captions available (creator-uploaded or auto-generated). Private, age-restricted, or caption-disabled videos may not be accessible.
Is it free?
Yes, free with no signup. For transcribing your own recordings and meetings, use the CraftNote app.
Is there a limit on video length?
No hard limit for standard public videos with captions available — the tool processes the full video regardless of length.
Does the transcript include timestamps?
The output is the full spoken text as continuous, readable copy. For a version broken into timed segments alongside speaker labels and an AI summary, use the CraftNote app instead.
Can I get a transcript in a language other than the video’s?
This tool returns the transcript in the video’s original spoken language. To translate it afterward, paste the result into CraftNote’s free Text Translator tool.
Is it accurate?
Accuracy tracks the quality of the video’s available captions and audio clarity. Clear studio or lecture audio produces a very clean transcript; heavy background noise or overlapping speakers can introduce errors, same as any transcription tool.
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