ChannelText

How to copy a YouTube transcript

For one video, YouTube's own transcript panel is the quick way. For files, or for many videos at once, paste the links in the tool below.

In short: ChannelText downloads the transcripts of YouTube videos, Shorts, playlists and whole channels as TXT, SRT, WebVTT or JSON files, in one ZIP with a CSV report. It costs $0.008 per delivered transcript from a prepaid balance topped up with $10 (1,250 transcripts): a one-time payment in USD, no subscription, no free sample, and videos without a transcript are not charged. Up to 50 links and 500 videos per run; it uses the captions YouTube publishes, so a video without captions has no transcript. Also available as a REST API and an MCP server.

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1. In the YouTube player on a computer

  1. Open the video on youtube.com and expand the description (“…more”).
  2. Select “Show transcript”. The transcript opens next to the video.
  3. Select the text in the panel and copy it (Ctrl+C, or ⌘C on a Mac).

The copied text includes the timestamps unless the panel's menu lets you hide them. Only videos with captions have a transcript.

2. On your phone

In the YouTube app, open the description and tap “Show transcript” to read it. To copy all of it at once, paste the link into the tool on this page in your phone's browser and download the Text file; any notes or files app can open it and copy everything.

3. As files, for one video or many

Paste one link, a list, a playlist or a channel above. Text files have no timestamps; SRT and WebVTT keep them. all-transcripts.txt puts every transcript in one file to copy at once.

Pricing

$0.008 per delivered transcript ($8 per 1,000). No subscription.

  • Prepaid balance: add $10 (1,250 transcripts) when your balance is short. You only pay at that point, after you have seen how many videos your link has and the most it can cost.
  • Videos without captions, private or removed videos and videos YouTube blocked are free. You pay only for transcripts you get. “Update this channel” skips the videos of that channel you already received.
  • No free sample. Transcripts come from the captions YouTube publishes (the creator's or YouTube's automatic ones); there is no speech-to-text, so a video with no captions has no transcript.

Questions

How can I copy an entire YouTube transcript?

Open “Show transcript” on YouTube, select from the first line to the last and copy. Or download the Text file here: it always holds the whole transcript.

How do I copy a YouTube transcript into Word?

Copy it from YouTube's panel and paste it into Word, or download the Text file here and open it in Word (File → Open), without timestamps.

How can I save a YouTube transcript as a PDF?

Download the Text file, open it in Word, Google Docs or any text editor and export or print it as PDF. ChannelText does not create PDF files itself.

How to copy YouTube transcript without timestamps?

Download the Text file: it has no timestamps. In YouTube's own panel, hide the timestamps first if its menu offers that option, then copy.