💾 How to Download or Copy a YouTube Transcript (TXT or SRT)

Copying works for a few paragraphs. For a whole talk, an interview you want to quote, or subtitles you want to reuse, you want a file. This guide covers both, on a computer and on a phone, and explains which format to pick. If you only want to read the transcript on YouTube, our guide on how to get the transcript of a YouTube video walks through the Show transcript panel step by step.

TXT or SRT: which file do you need?

Method 1: Copy the transcript from YouTube (computer)

1. 1

   Open the transcript panel

   On youtube.com, click the video description to expand it, scroll to the end and click Show transcript.

2. 2

   Remove the timestamps (optional)

   Open the three-dot menu at the top of the panel and choose Toggle timestamps, so you copy only the words.

3. 3

   Select and copy

   Click at the start of the first line, drag to the last one (the panel scrolls), then press Ctrl+C (Cmd+C on a Mac).

4. 4

   Paste and save

   Paste into Notepad, TextEdit, Google Docs or Word and save the file. In TextEdit, use Format > Make Plain Text before saving as .txt.

This is free and needs nothing else, but it has limits: dragging through a 2,000-line panel on a long video is slow, auto-generated captions come without punctuation, and you never get an .srt file this way.

Method 2: Download a .txt or .srt file with a transcript tool

A transcript tool reads the same caption track and writes it to a file for you. The tool at the top of this page is ours: free with a daily limit, no account. It works on a computer and in a phone browser.

1. 1

   Copy the video link

   From the address bar, or in the YouTube app with Share > Copy link.

2. 2

   Paste it and click Get transcript

   The full transcript appears in a few seconds. If the video has captions in several languages, pick one from the caption language menu.

3. 3

   Pick a view

   Paragraphs for reading, or With timestamps for one caption per line. The .txt download follows the view you picked.

4. 4

   Download

   Click .txt or .srt. Or click Copy to paste the text straight into a document or an AI chat.

Here is the start of a real .srt file the tool produced on October 8, 2026, from Steve Jobs' 2005 Stanford Commencement Address, whose English captions were uploaded by Stanford. The file is named after the video (Steve-Jobs-2005-Stanford-Commencement-Address-UF8uR6Z6KLc-transcript.srt) and holds 244 cues.

How to copy a YouTube transcript on a phone

The YouTube app shows the transcript (description > Show transcript) but offers no copy or download button. The workaround takes ten seconds: tap Share > Copy link under the video, open your browser, paste the link into the transcript tool, then tap Copy or download the .txt file. On iPhone the file lands in the Files app; on Android, in Downloads.

Method 3: Download your own captions from YouTube Studio

Creators get the official caption file. Per YouTube Help: sign in to YouTube Studio, select Subtitles in the left menu, click the video, click Edit next to the language, then Options > Download subtitles. Use it to fix the timing in a text editor and re-upload, or to reuse your captions elsewhere. It only works on channels you own or manage.

Method 4: yt-dlp, for developers and batches

If you are comfortable with a terminal, the open-source yt-dlp downloads caption tracks without the video. The command yt-dlp --skip-download --write-subs --write-auto-subs --sub-langs en --convert-subs srt <video URL> saves the English captions as .srt (the conversion needs ffmpeg installed). It is the right choice for a whole playlist, and the wrong one if you just need one transcript now.

Using the transcript in ChatGPT, Claude or a video editor

• AI chat. Paste the .txt (paragraph view) rather than the timestamped version: timestamps waste tokens unless you want the AI to cite moments. Or skip the step: the YouTube video summarizer reads the transcript for you and returns the key points, quotes and timestamped moments.
• Video editor. Import the .srt as a caption or subtitle track; most editors, including Premiere Pro and DaVinci Resolve, accept SRT.
• An article. A raw transcript is not a blog post. Our guide on turning a YouTube video into a blog post covers the rewrite, and the YouTube to blog post converter drafts it from the same link.

Is it OK to download someone else's transcript?

Saving a transcript to read, study, research or make a video accessible is a common, low-risk use. The words still belong to the person who said them: quote briefly, credit and link the video, and do not republish someone else's transcript as your own content. For your own videos, do whatever you like with it.