Paste a public YouTube link and turn the spoken audio into a clean, searchable transcript. Review timestamped passages, copy the text, or export caption-ready files without downloading the video first. Built for interviews, lectures, podcasts, tutorials, and other recordings you are allowed to process.
Supports public links from YouTube, Vimeo, TikTok, Instagram, Facebook, Twitch, DailyMotion, Rumble, Kick, Zoom, and Google Drive.
Direct answer
A YouTube transcript generator converts the spoken audio in an accessible public video into searchable text instead of relying only on the video's existing caption track. Whisper AI resolves the media on the server, sends the audio to the configured speech-to-text model, and returns timed segments that can be searched, edited, copied, or exported as TXT, DOCX, JSON, SRT, or VTT. This makes the tool useful for interviews, lectures, podcasts, and tutorials whose captions are absent or incomplete. The transcript is still a machine-generated first draft: background music, overlapping voices, specialist terms, names, and numbers can be misheard. For research or publication, keep the source URL, use timestamps to replay material passages, and correct important wording before quoting it. Private, paid, login-only, age-restricted, or region-blocked videos may not expose a media stream and therefore may not be processable from a pasted link.
A useful transcript should help you return to the recording, not separate a quotation from its context. Whisper AI keeps timestamped passages beside the source so researchers, students, and editors can locate a claim, replay the surrounding moment, and record a defensible reference before copying text into another document.
Create a source-linked transcriptSearch the transcript for a guest, product, technical term, or quotation instead of scrubbing through an hour-long interview. Each match retains timing information, making the result practical for lecture notes, podcast research, editorial verification, and chapter planning.
Search with timestampsThis workflow does not depend on copying YouTube's caption panel. When a public video exposes an accessible media stream, speech recognition can create a fresh transcript from the audio track. That helps with creator-disabled captions, podcasts, interviews, and uploads whose existing subtitles are incomplete.
Transcribe the spoken trackThe current Scribe v2 transcription model documents support for more than 90 languages. Choose the spoken language when you know it or use automatic detection, then retain the source-language transcript when creating a translated reading copy so important names and claims remain checkable.
Transcribe multilingual videoA transcript is the foundation for faster content work. Open the saved result to create a concise summary, inspect topics and action items, ask questions about the recording, and prepare text for articles, descriptions, captions, or internal documentation.
Start with the transcriptTranscribe the spoken track when a usable YouTube caption file is missing.
Scan passages and return to the relevant moment without replaying the whole video.
Create TXT, DOCX, JSON, SRT, or VTT files for notes and subtitle workflows.
Find names, quotations, and topics inside long-form recordings.
Select a source language, use automatic detection, or translate the finished transcript.
Signed-in results stay attached to your account and can be removed from your library.
Copy the browser address for the video and paste it into the field above.
The resolver reads video metadata, obtains the audio stream, and starts the transcription task.
Review timestamped text, correct important names, then download the format your next tool needs.
Speech recognition is fast, but the quality of the recording and the way you review it still determine whether the finished text is reliable enough to use.
A creator may publish several versions of the same talk. Prefer the original upload with direct speech, limited background music, and the highest-quality audio. Reaction videos, compilations, and screen recordings can introduce overlapping voices that are harder to separate. If the video is a repost, verify quotations against the original source before treating the transcript as authoritative.
Automatic transcription is most likely to struggle with unusual names, acronyms, technical terms, product names, and numbers spoken quickly. Search for those details first and compare each occurrence with the player. Add important vocabulary in the advanced instructions when you run a file through the full workspace, then keep a corrected version for any document or caption you plan to publish.
A timestamp lets another reviewer hear the original tone, hesitation, interruption, or visual context around a sentence. Preserve timing when you are preparing research notes, educational references, or an editorial brief. A transcript can make speech easier to quote, but it should not flatten sarcasm, uncertainty, or a visual demonstration into a claim the speaker did not intend.
Generating text does not transfer ownership of the video, audio, or script. Use transcripts for work you are authorized to perform, short quotations allowed by applicable law, accessibility for content you control, or internal analysis. Do not republish a complete transcript merely because the tool made it easy to copy, and remove saved tasks when the source should no longer remain in your account.
Related resources
Upload private files, record in the browser, edit transcripts, and manage exports.
Transcription accuracy guidePrepare audio and review names, numbers, speakers, and specialist vocabulary.
Transcription pricingCheck current plan allowances, minute packs, and the free account allowance.
FAQ
Yes. When an existing caption track is not usable, Whisper AI can transcribe the audio stream with a speech recognition model.
Public standard videos and shorts are supported. Private, paid, age-restricted, region-blocked, or login-only videos may not be available to the media resolver.
Yes. Finished results include timed segments that can be exported as SRT or VTT, alongside TXT, DOCX, and JSON.
Accuracy depends on audio clarity, accents, background music, overlapping speech, and specialist vocabulary. Review names, figures, and high-stakes quotations before publishing.
No. Search only highlights matches and helps you move through the result; it does not rewrite the transcript.
Paste a public link, review the timestamped result, and move the transcript into your notes, captions, or content workflow.
Start transcribing