---
title: "YouTube Transcript — Free YouTube to Text | tube2text"
description: "Paste a YouTube URL and get the transcript. Copy the words, or save TXT, SRT, VTT, or JSON. Free, five an hour, no account."
url: https://tube2text.com/
markdown: https://tube2text.com/index.md
---

# YouTube transcript

> Paste a YouTube link and get the transcript. Copy it, search it, or save a file.

YouTube already stores captions next to a lot of videos. This page pulls that file and gives you the words.

No account. Five videos an hour. We read captions — we don't listen to the audio.

## How to get a YouTube transcript

1. Paste the YouTube URL.
2. Press Get transcript.
3. Copy the words, or download TXT, SRT, VTT, or JSON.

## You also get

- **Copy.** One click. Running text you can paste into notes, a doc, or another tool.
- **Files.** TXT for reading. SRT and VTT for editors. JSON if you want the cues as data. All free.
- **Search.** Find a line in a two-hour talk without scrubbing the timeline.

## Why you'd want the words

Sometimes the video isn't the useful part. You need a quote, notes, or something you can paste somewhere else. YouTube's own transcript sits under the description on desktop. You can read it there. You can't take it with you as a file, and on a phone it's basically useless.

## If you take notes

Watching and typing at the same time is miserable. Get the transcript, copy the bits you need, done.

Want a summary or a quiz? Paste the text into ChatGPT or whatever you already use. We don't do that here. We give you the words.

## If you make things from videos

Show notes, a post from a line that landed, a write-up of a talk. Start from the transcript instead of rewatching.

- **Quote it.** Copy the exact wording.
- **Reuse it.** Blog, newsletter, description — you already have the sentences.
- **Hand it off.** Someone who prefers reading gets the words, not a 40-minute tab.

## When it won't work

No captions on the video means nothing to fetch. Age-restricted, private, live, and deleted videos fail too. Turning CC off in the player is fine — that only hides the overlay.

## Frequently Asked Questions

### Is this free?

Yes. Five videos an hour, no account. Copy and all four file types sit on that limit.

### How do I get the transcript after I paste a link?

Press Get transcript. Then copy the text, or download TXT, SRT, VTT, or JSON.

### Can I download the transcript?

Yes. TXT, SRT, VTT, or JSON.

### Do you transcribe the audio?

No. We read captions YouTube already has. If the video has none, we return nothing.

### Can I translate the transcript?

No. You get the caption language as stored.

### Is there a limit?

Five fetches an hour, no account.

### Does this work with YouTube Shorts?

Yes. Same 11-character video ID as a normal watch link.

## Languages

- en: [https://tube2text.com/](https://tube2text.com/) ([md](https://tube2text.com/index.md))
- fr: [https://tube2text.com/fr/transcription-youtube](https://tube2text.com/fr/transcription-youtube) ([md](https://tube2text.com/fr/transcription-youtube.md))
- ja: [https://tube2text.com/ja/mojiokoshi](https://tube2text.com/ja/mojiokoshi) ([md](https://tube2text.com/ja/mojiokoshi.md))
- de: [https://tube2text.com/de/youtube-transkript](https://tube2text.com/de/youtube-transkript) ([md](https://tube2text.com/de/youtube-transkript.md))
- es: [https://tube2text.com/es/transcribir-video-de-youtube](https://tube2text.com/es/transcribir-video-de-youtube) ([md](https://tube2text.com/es/transcribir-video-de-youtube.md))
- ko: [https://tube2text.com/ko/youtube-jamak-chuchul](https://tube2text.com/ko/youtube-jamak-chuchul) ([md](https://tube2text.com/ko/youtube-jamak-chuchul.md))
- pt: [https://tube2text.com/pt/transcrever-video-do-youtube](https://tube2text.com/pt/transcrever-video-do-youtube) ([md](https://tube2text.com/pt/transcrever-video-do-youtube.md))

## See also

- [YouTube transcript generator](https://tube2text.com/youtube-transcript-generator) ([md](https://tube2text.com/youtube-transcript-generator.md))
- [YouTube to text](https://tube2text.com/youtube-to-text) ([md](https://tube2text.com/youtube-to-text.md))
- [Download YouTube transcript](https://tube2text.com/download-youtube-transcript) ([md](https://tube2text.com/download-youtube-transcript.md))
- [How to get a YouTube transcript](https://tube2text.com/how-to-get-youtube-transcript) ([md](https://tube2text.com/how-to-get-youtube-transcript.md))
- [YouTube transcript with timestamps](https://tube2text.com/youtube-transcript-with-timestamps) ([md](https://tube2text.com/youtube-transcript-with-timestamps.md))

---

Website: https://tube2text.com/