Download YouTube Transcript

Save the full transcript of any YouTube video as a clean .txt file with one click.

YouTube and Shorts read the captions. TikTok and Reels are transcribed from the audio.

The download button YouTube forgot

YouTube will show you a transcript, but it will not let you save it. There is no export, no file, not even a proper select-all: the text lives in a sidebar that fights you every step. This downloader restores the missing button. Paste a link, check the preview, and save the entire transcript as a text file that opens anywhere: Notepad, Word, Google Docs, Obsidian, your code editor.

The file is deliberately simple. Plain UTF-8 text, one caption per line, each line stamped with the moment it is spoken. Simple files survive everything: they never break formatting when pasted, they diff cleanly in version control, and they feed nicely into scripts and AI tools.

Build your own text library

Once transcripts become files, they become an archive you control. Save every episode of a podcast you study, keep a folder of competitor product videos, or store lecture transcripts alongside your course notes. Files on your disk stay searchable forever and do not depend on any website, including this one, still being around.

Downloading is one video, one click. When one click each is still too many, the batch page takes any text with links in it and processes them in a queue: up to 10 videos on Basic, up to 50 on Pro, with whole channels and playlists on Pro. Our Telegram bot remains an optional extra when a .txt is too bare and you want a polished PDF instead.

How it works

  1. Paste the YouTube link above and press Get transcript.
  2. Preview the full text right on this page to make sure it is the right video.
  3. Press Download .txt. The file is named after the video ID and saves instantly.

Frequently asked questions

How do I download a transcript from YouTube?

YouTube shows transcripts but offers no download button. Paste the video link here instead: the full text loads on this page and the Download .txt button saves it to your device in one click, free.

What format is the downloaded transcript?

A plain .txt file, one line per caption with its timestamp, encoded in UTF-8 so any language displays correctly. Turn timestamps off before downloading if you want continuous prose. For SRT or VTT files, use our converters.

Can I download transcripts of several videos at once?

Yes, on a paid plan. Paste any text containing links into the batch page and it pulls the video IDs out of it: Basic processes up to 10 videos in one run, Pro up to 50, and Pro also takes a whole channel or playlist.

Is there a limit on downloads?

Downloads are part of a paid plan and are priced in credits by the length of the video, so there is no fixed file count to hit. We only ask that automated bulk scraping goes through our API rather than the page.

Does the downloader work on a phone?

Yes. The page is built for mobile, and the .txt file lands in your downloads folder on Android and iOS just like on a computer.

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