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How to Transcribe a YouTube Video to Text (and When YouTube's Transcript Isn't Enough)

How to see YouTube's automatic transcript, when you need your own transcription, and how to get text and SRT subtitles for your own videos in minutes.

Sonorarium Team 2 min read

There are two very different situations: you want to read what's said in someone else's video, or you want the text and subtitles of your own videos to publish, translate or repurpose. For the first, YouTube is enough; for the second you need the video file and your own transcript.

Option 1: the transcript YouTube already provides

Many videos have automatic captions, and YouTube lets you see the full text:

  1. Open the video on a computer.
  2. Expand the description and click Show transcript.
  3. A panel opens with the text and timestamps; you can select and copy it.

It's quick, but limited: not every video has it, automatic captions don't have reliable punctuation, and you can't correct them or download them in a useful format.

Option 2: transcribe your own videos

If the video is yours, you have the original file or can download it from YouTube Studio (Content → the video's menu → Download). With it:

  1. Open the YouTube video transcription tool and upload the file (MP4, MOV, WEBM… up to 2 GB). The audio is extracted automatically.
  2. Pick the video's language.
  3. In a few minutes you get punctuated text with timestamps.
  4. Review it: click any sentence to hear it and fix it.
  5. Download it as SRT to upload as subtitles, or as Word/TXT to reuse the text.

The first 15 minutes are free, with no sign-up. After that you only pay for the minutes you use, from $3 with no subscription.

Downloading other channels' videos to transcribe them breaks YouTube's terms and may infringe copyright. For other people's videos, use option 1.

Uploading the subtitles to YouTube

  1. In YouTube Studio, open the video and go to Subtitles.
  2. Choose the language and click Add → Upload file → With timing.
  3. Select the SRT you downloaded and publish.

Your subtitles replace the automatic ones and come out properly punctuated. There's more detail in our guide to creating SRT subtitles.

What you get from your videos' text

  • SEO on and off YouTube: a rich description and a blog post based on the video bring in searches the video alone doesn't.
  • Accessibility: accurate captions for deaf viewers and anyone watching without sound.
  • Repurposing: threads, posts and newsletters from what you already said.
  • Translation: with reviewed text, preparing subtitles in other languages is much easier.

FAQ

Can I paste a YouTube link instead of uploading the file? No: you upload the video file. That way only videos you have the original of get transcribed.

Does it work with long videos, like livestreams or lectures? Yes, files up to 2 GB are supported. If the video is bigger, export just the audio (M4A or MP3), which is much smaller.

Does it work for Shorts? Yes. For vertical subtitles, see our guide to adding subtitles to TikTok, Instagram and YouTube videos.