How to transcribe a YouTube video to text: 3 methods (2026)

To transcribe a YouTube video to text, there are three methods: copy the transcript YouTube shows under the video, download the subtitles from YouTube Studio if the video is yours, or have the file transcribed by a tool such as Videas Scribe to get reviewed text, split by speaker and ready to export to Word.

The first two are free and instant, but they give you the raw text of YouTube’s automatic captions. The third takes a few more minutes and gives you a document you can use as it is. Here is what each one gives you, and how to choose.

Method 1: the transcript YouTube shows

On a computer, open the video, expand the description and click “Show transcript”: the text appears next to the video, split into timestamped segments. You can hide the timestamps from the panel’s menu, then select the text and copy it.

It is the fastest way to read what is said in someone else’s video. It has three limits:

• It only exists if the video has captions, added by the channel or generated automatically by YouTube. On some videos the button does not appear.
• The text is that of the automatic captions: little or no punctuation, mangled proper names, and no separation between speakers.
• There is no export: you copy, paste, then reformat by hand.

Method 2: download the subtitles from YouTube Studio

If the video is on your channel, open YouTube Studio, then Subtitles in the left menu, and pick the video. On the language’s row, the options menu lets you download the track, as SRT, VTT or SBV depending on the format you choose.

You get a subtitle file with its timecodes, which you can open in a text editor. The content is still YouTube’s automatic captions if nobody corrected them: handy for the timing, less so for clean text. The article SRT file explains how to read and edit it.

Method 3: transcribe the video file with Scribe

When the text has to be used, as minutes, an article, an interview verbatim or correct subtitles, you need a real transcript:

1. Download the video from YouTube Studio: in the content list, the video’s ⋮ menu offers “Download”. You get the MP4 file.
2. Drop the MP4 into Videas. Scribe detects the spoken language and returns punctuated, timestamped text split by speaker, within minutes.
3. Review while listening: every line jumps to its passage, and global replace fixes a misheard proper name in one go.
4. Export to Word (DOCX) for a document, TXT for plain text, or SRT for subtitles.

Transcription costs €0.10 per minute of video, and the €5 in credits offered every month covers nearly 50 minutes. Every step is detailed in the guide convert an MP4 video to text.

The reviewed SRT can then replace the automatic captions on your video: the article add SRT subtitles to YouTube shows how to upload it in YouTube Studio.

Which method to choose

Need	Method
Read what someone else’s video says	1. The transcript YouTube shows
Get the timecodes of one of your videos	2. The download from YouTube Studio
Clean text, with speakers, in Word	3. Transcribing the file with Scribe
Correct captions on your YouTube video	3, then uploading the SRT in YouTube Studio

What about someone else’s video?

The transcript YouTube shows is enough to read or quote a passage. To go further, whether publishing the text, translating it or turning it into subtitles, you need the file and the rights to the video: ask the channel. Sites that “extract” a YouTube transcript from a link generally fetch the same automatic captions as method 1.

FAQ

How do I get the transcript of a YouTube video for free?

With the “Show transcript” button, under the video’s description, on a computer. It shows the text of the captions, timestamped, which you can copy. It only appears if the video has captions, added by the channel or generated by YouTube.

Why doesn’t the “Show transcript” button appear?

Because the video has no captions: the channel did not add any and YouTube did not generate them, which happens on very short or very recent videos, or in a language YouTube does not caption automatically. If the video is yours, transcribing the file solves it.

How do I transcribe a YouTube video with the speakers identified?

By transcribing the video file rather than YouTube’s captions, which do not tell voices apart. Download the video from YouTube Studio and drop it into Scribe: every turn is attributed, and the Word export has one paragraph per speaker.

Can I transcribe a YouTube video in another language?

Yes. Scribe recognizes over 100 languages and detects the one being spoken on its own. The text can then be translated from the same interface, and each language is billed at €0.10 per minute.

Can I replace YouTube’s automatic captions with a corrected version?

Yes. Export the reviewed transcript as SRT, then upload it in YouTube Studio, Subtitles tab, choosing “With timing”. The corrected track shows instead of the automatic captions.

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YouTube gives you the raw text of its captions in one click; clean, reviewed text split by speaker takes a real transcript. With Videas Scribe it takes a few minutes, and the reviewed text also fixes the captions on the video.

Transcribe a video to text for free