---
title: "YouTube Transcript Not Working | Codes, Causes"
description: "YouTube transcript not working: match the on-screen message. No captions, age-restricted, live, or unavailable. Five an hour."
url: https://tube2text.com/youtube-transcript-not-working
markdown: https://tube2text.com/youtube-transcript-not-working.md
---

# YouTube transcript not working

> YouTube transcript not working is almost always one of the messages below. Match what you see.

We read captions YouTube already stored. We don't listen to the audio.

Paste a URL or an 11-character id. Five fetches an hour, no account.

## How to find the cause

1. Paste the YouTube URL or the 11-character id.
2. Press Get transcript.
3. Match the message under the box to the table.

## What the paste box shows

The box shows the message. Code is the error field when a request was sent. Rows with no code never left the browser.

| What you see | Code | Cause | What to do |
| --- | --- | --- | --- |
| That does not look like a YouTube link or video ID. | — | The box did not send a request. That paste is not a YouTube URL or an 11-character id. | Paste a watch, youtu.be, Shorts, or embed URL, or the 11-character id. |
| Could not reach the server. Try again. | — | The browser did not get a response. | Retry. If it keeps failing, the server is unreachable from here. |
| This video is unavailable. | video_unavailable | Deleted, private, or nonexistent. YouTube has no public video there. | Open the same link on YouTube. If YouTube has no video, there is nothing to fetch. |
| This video cannot be played. | video_unplayable | YouTube refuses playback. | If YouTube cannot play it, this tool cannot read a caption track from it either. |
| No captions are available for this video. | transcripts_disabled | No caption track exists. Not the same as turning CC off in the player. | Nothing. We don't invent a track from audio. |
| This is a live stream, so there is no recording to transcribe yet. | live_stream_unavailable | There is no caption file yet. We still do not transcribe audio. | Wait until the stream ends and a recording exists, then paste again. We still will not transcribe audio. |
| No transcript exists for the requested language. | transcript_not_found | A track exists, but not in that language. This paste box does not pick a language. | Use a video that already has a caption track. We don't translate. |
| This video is age-restricted. | age_restricted | Age-gated videos are not fetched. A limit, not a bug. | Use a public video that is not age-restricted. |
| This video cannot be fetched right now. Retry shortly. | po_token_required | YouTube required a PO token for this fetch. | Wait and retry shortly. |
| Upstream is rate limiting us. Retry shortly. | upstream_blocked | YouTube is rate limiting our fetch. Not the five-an-hour cap. | Wait and retry shortly. |
| Too many upstream fetches in flight. Retry shortly. | upstream_busy | Too many fetches in flight on our side. | Wait and retry shortly. |
| Upstream request failed. | upstream_error | The fetch failed for an unspecified upstream reason. | Retry. If the same video keeps failing, try a different public video that has captions. |
| Rate limit exceeded. Retry shortly. | rate_limited | Too many requests in a short window. Not the five-an-hour cap. | Wait and retry shortly. |
| Five successful transcripts this hour | — | The free cap is five fetches an hour. | Wait until the next hour. |

## Limits, not bugs

- **CC off.** Hides the overlay. The track is still there, and we still fetch it.
- **No captions.** The creator never published a track. We don't invent one from audio.
- **Age-restricted, private, live.** We only read public videos that already have a caption file.

## Frequently Asked Questions

### Why is my YouTube transcript not working?

It matches one of the messages in the table. Read what the box shows, find that row, and follow What to do.

### Do you transcribe the audio?

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

### Does turning captions off in the player remove the transcript?

No. CC off only hides the overlay. Only a creator disabling captions removes the track.

### How many transcripts can I get without an account?

Five fetches an hour, no account.

### Does this work on age-restricted, private, or live videos?

No. Those are limits, not bugs. We only read public videos that already have a caption track.

## Languages

- en: [https://tube2text.com/youtube-transcript-not-working](https://tube2text.com/youtube-transcript-not-working) ([md](https://tube2text.com/youtube-transcript-not-working.md))
- fr: [https://tube2text.com/fr/transcription-youtube-ne-marche-pas](https://tube2text.com/fr/transcription-youtube-ne-marche-pas) ([md](https://tube2text.com/fr/transcription-youtube-ne-marche-pas.md))
- ja: [https://tube2text.com/ja/mojiokoshi-dekinai](https://tube2text.com/ja/mojiokoshi-dekinai) ([md](https://tube2text.com/ja/mojiokoshi-dekinai.md))
- de: [https://tube2text.com/de/youtube-transkript-geht-nicht](https://tube2text.com/de/youtube-transkript-geht-nicht) ([md](https://tube2text.com/de/youtube-transkript-geht-nicht.md))
- es: [https://tube2text.com/es/transcripcion-youtube-no-funciona](https://tube2text.com/es/transcripcion-youtube-no-funciona) ([md](https://tube2text.com/es/transcripcion-youtube-no-funciona.md))
- ko: [https://tube2text.com/ko/youtube-jamak-andoem](https://tube2text.com/ko/youtube-jamak-andoem) ([md](https://tube2text.com/ko/youtube-jamak-andoem.md))
- pt: [https://tube2text.com/pt/transcricao-youtube-nao-funciona](https://tube2text.com/pt/transcricao-youtube-nao-funciona) ([md](https://tube2text.com/pt/transcricao-youtube-nao-funciona.md))

## See also

- [YouTube transcript](https://tube2text.com/) ([md](https://tube2text.com/index.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))
- [Download YouTube transcript](https://tube2text.com/download-youtube-transcript) ([md](https://tube2text.com/download-youtube-transcript.md))
- [YouTube transcript generator](https://tube2text.com/youtube-transcript-generator) ([md](https://tube2text.com/youtube-transcript-generator.md))
- [YouTube Shorts transcript](https://tube2text.com/youtube-shorts-transcript) ([md](https://tube2text.com/youtube-shorts-transcript.md))

---

Website: https://tube2text.com/youtube-transcript-not-working