Free YouTube Transcript Generator
Paste a YouTube link and get the full transcript a second or two later, laid out with clickable timestamps so any line jumps the video to that moment. Search it, copy it with or without timestamps, or download it as TXT, Markdown, SRT, or VTT. There is no account to make and nothing to install.
This page explains what you get, how each part of the result page works, and where the limits are, so you know what to expect before you paste.
What comes back when you paste a link
The result page shows the video with an embedded player, the title and channel, a word count, an estimated reading time, and the transcript itself as a list of timestamped lines. Reading time is figured at 200 words a minute, which is roughly a third of the time it takes to watch. The language of the caption track is shown beside the word count. The tool reads the video's caption track as YouTube serves it and does not translate.
Which links work
Standard watch links, youtu.be share links, Shorts links, live-stream replay links, and links with a timestamp or tracking parameters on the end all work; the tool reads the video ID and ignores the rest. What does not work: private or unlisted-with-login videos, deleted videos, age-restricted videos (captions require sign-in there), and videos with no caption track at all. In each of those cases the page says what happened rather than showing an empty transcript.
Three ways to copy
Copy transcript copies the whole thing and follows the Timestamps toggle: on, and every line starts with its time in brackets; off, and you get clean prose in one block. Copy selected text copies exactly the passage you have highlighted, which is the fastest way to lift one quote. The Prompts menu copies the transcript with a ready-made instruction on top (summary, study guide, blog post, and so on) for pasting into an AI assistant. All three go to the clipboard as plain text, so they paste cleanly into a document, an email, a note app, or a chat box.
Four download formats
TXT is plain text with a short header (title, channel, source link, language, date, word count) and the transcript below it, with or without timestamps depending on the toggle. Markdown adds a title heading, a clickable source link, and code-formatted timestamps, and opens cleanly in Obsidian, Notion, or any editor. SRT and VTT are subtitle files with proper cue timings, for video editors and players. Every file is named after the video title. Nothing is watermarked and there is no download limit.
How accurate the transcript is
The tool shows the caption track YouTube already has for the video. Creator-uploaded captions are usually close to perfect. Auto-generated captions are good for clear speech and get worse with accents, crosstalk, and technical terms, and they drop most punctuation, which is why an auto-generated transcript reads as one long sentence. When both exist the uploaded track is used. Nothing is corrected or rewritten on the way through; what you see is what the captions say, so if a line matters, click its timestamp and listen.
Search inside the transcript
The search box filters as you type and shows a match count. It is the quickest way through a long talk: search the name, the term, or the phrase you half-remember, click the timestamp next to the match, and the player jumps there. Search works on the visible transcript only; it does not search across videos.
Limits, privacy, and what this is not
Transcripts are generated when you ask and are not tied to you; popular videos are cached briefly so the same captions are not fetched over and over. There is a fair-use limit per hour, well above normal use, so the service can stay free. This is not a YouTube downloader: it has no way to save video or audio, only the caption text. Captions belong to the people who made the video, so quote, cite, and link back as you would with any published source.
Frequently asked questions
Is the YouTube transcript generator free?+
Yes. Getting, copying, and exporting transcripts is free and needs no account.
Can I copy without timestamps?+
Yes. Switch the Timestamps toggle off and Copy transcript gives you clean prose. Exports follow the same toggle.
Can I copy just one quote?+
Highlight the lines you want and click Copy selected text. Only the highlighted passage is copied.
What file formats can I download?+
TXT, Markdown, SRT, and VTT, each named after the video and including the source link.
Can I download the video itself?+
No. LinkTranscript reads caption text only. It is not a video or audio downloader.
Does it work on auto-generated captions?+
Yes. If a video only has auto-generated captions, those are used; uploaded captions are preferred when both exist.
What if a video has no captions?+
Then there is no transcript to extract. The page says so instead of guessing.
Is copying transcripts allowed?+
Copying for personal use, study, and quotation is normal practice. Republishing someone's transcript in full is not; get permission first.
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Try it on your video
Paste a YouTube link and get a clean transcript in seconds.