How to Download a YouTube Transcript as a Text or SRT File
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YouTube shows you the transcript but gives you no way to save it. There is no download button in the transcript panel, no export item in the ⋮ menu, and no option under the share sheet. This is deliberate and it has not changed in years.
So downloading a transcript means either producing the file yourself or using something that produces it for you. Which you should do depends on whether you own the video.
If you own the video: YouTube Studio
Creators can export their own subtitle files directly.
- Go to YouTube Studio.
- Open Subtitles in the left sidebar.
- Select the video.
- Next to the language track, open the ⋮ menu and choose Download.
- Pick a format: .srt, .vtt, or .sbv.
This is the cleanest route and it gives you a properly timed subtitle file. It only works for videos on your own channel.
If you do not own the video
There is no official export, so the options are manual or tool-assisted.
Manual: copy and save
Open the transcript panel, turn timestamps off via the ⋮ menu, select the text, copy it, and paste it into a text editor. Save as .txt.
This gives you a file, but a rough one: no punctuation if the video used automatic captions, line breaks every few words, and on long videos a real risk of missing sections because the panel only renders what is near your scroll position. The details of that trap are in how to copy a transcript from YouTube.
Tool-assisted: download a formatted file
Brevyd's transcript generator returns the full transcript already punctuated and paragraphed, and lets you take it in the format you actually need:
- Plain text via YouTube to text, with no timestamps, ready to paste into a document.
- SRT subtitles via YouTube to SRT, correctly timed and numbered so it loads in a video editor or media player.
- Notes via YouTube to notes if you want structured points rather than a wall of speech.
Which file format do you want?
.txt is right if you are quoting, searching, or feeding the text into something else. No timing information, just words.
.srt is right if the text needs to line up with video. It is the most widely supported subtitle format: every editor, player, and platform reads it. Each entry has a sequence number, a start and end time, and the line of text.
.vtt is the web-native equivalent of SRT, used by HTML5 video. Functionally similar. Use it if something specifically asks for WebVTT.
.docx or .pdf is right if a person is going to read it. Neither is produced directly by any of the above; paste the plain text into your word processor and export from there.
A note on SRT files from automatic captions
If the source was YouTube's automatic captions, an SRT generated from it inherits every weakness of that track: no punctuation, no speaker labels, and cue boundaries that break mid-sentence because the recognizer emits text in short bursts rather than by clause.
For subtitling work that is going to be seen by an audience, that output is a starting point rather than a finished file. Expect to edit it. A transcript that has been punctuated and re-segmented first, as Brevyd's is, gives you noticeably less cleanup.
Frequently asked questions
Why is there no download button on YouTube? YouTube has never offered one for third-party videos. The transcript panel is designed for reading and navigation, not export.
Can I download the transcript in another language? The transcript panel can auto-translate the caption track, and you can copy the translated text. For a foreign-language video, transcribing from audio into your target language generally produces better results than translating already-imperfect captions.
Do browser extensions work for this? Some do. They break regularly, because they depend on YouTube's page structure, which changes. That is worth knowing before you rely on one.
Can I download a transcript for a private video? Only if it is yours, through YouTube Studio. No third-party tool can legitimately access a private video.
What about videos with captions disabled? There is no caption track to download. The text has to come from the audio instead. See how to get a transcript when captions are disabled.
Paste a link and download the transcript in the format you need.