How to get a YouTube transcript on a computer, iPhone, Android or Shorts
The fastest way to get a YouTube transcript is the Show transcript option in the video description on a computer. On a phone, or when you want to copy, download or translate the text, paste the video link into this tool. The sections below cover each device, Shorts, and what to do when the option is missing.
On a computer
YouTube has a transcript viewer built in. Open the video in your browser, open the description under the video, and choose Show transcript. A panel opens with the text of the video. Click any line and the video jumps to that moment, so the transcript is a quick way to find a part of the video. YouTube lays out the same steps on its help page, View video transcripts (checked 24 Oct 2026).
The viewer is made for reading along and jumping around. If you select the text by hand to copy it, you usually take the time next to every line with you, and then you have to clean those out before the text is useful in a document. That is the main reason people reach for a separate tool.
On an iPhone or an Android phone
In the YouTube app, tap more under the title to open the description and look for Show transcript there. The app changes its layout from time to time, and YouTube's help page describes the web steps rather than the app, so if the option does not appear, the video may simply not have one. A phone browser works too. Open the video on youtube.com in Safari or Chrome and ask the browser for the desktop version of the page, which most phone browsers offer in their menu.
The shortest route on a phone skips the YouTube screen altogether. Tap Share under the video and copy the link, open freeyoutubetranscribe.com in your browser, and paste. The transcript appears in a few seconds with a time beside each line, and you can search it, copy it or download it. There is nothing to install and no account to make.
A shortcut that works on any device is to replace youtube.com with freeyoutubetranscribe.com in the address of a watch or Shorts link. The tool opens with that video already loaded.
YouTube Shorts
A Short plays in a tall, swipeable player that has no obvious place for a transcript. Usually the normal watch page is the easier place to look. In a browser, change the address from youtube.com/shorts/ followed by the video id to youtube.com/watch?v= followed by the same id, and the watch page usually opens with the description and Show transcript option. You can also paste the Shorts link straight into this tool, which accepts both forms. The Shorts guide goes into more detail.
When the Show transcript option is missing
If there is no Show transcript option, the video has no caption track that YouTube can display. The uploader may have switched captions off, automatic captions may not exist yet for that language, the video may be very new, still live, mostly music, or private. Each case has a different fix, andthe guide to missing transcripts walks through them one by one. In short, wait and try again, try another caption language, or on desktop Chrome or Edge use the live transcription this site offers, which listens to the video as it plays and runs on your own computer.
What this tool adds
Reading and jumping through the text is where YouTube's viewer stops. This tool picks up from there. You can copy the transcript as plain text or with timestamps, or copy it together with a ready made prompt for an AI assistant. You can download it as a text file, a timestamped text file, an SRT or VTT subtitle file, or Markdown. If the video has several caption languages they are in a list, and the tool can ask YouTube for a machine translation into the languages the video offers.
There is no account and no daily limit on reading, copying or downloading. Each transcript also shows its word count and an estimated reading time, so you can tell a five minute clip from a three hour lecture before you start.
Getting clean text
Two settings decide how tidy the result looks. The plain text view merges the lines into paragraphs with no times in the way, which is what you want for notes and documents. The timestamped view keeps a time beside each line, which suits quoting and checking. Captions that YouTube generates automatically are labelled (auto) in the caption list, and they often arrive without proper sentences. For English there is a Fix punctuation option that adds sentence breaks and capitals without changing any word.
Which route to pick
Use YouTube's own viewer when you only want to read along or jump to a moment in a video you already have open. Use this tool when you want the text outside YouTube, in a file, in another language, or from a phone. If you are weighing other tools as well, thecomparison of free transcript tools lists the limits each one states on its own page.
Common questions about getting a YouTube transcript
Where is the Show transcript button on YouTube?
On the web it sits in the video description. Open the description under the video and choose Show transcript. YouTube explains this on its help page called View video transcripts. If the button is not there, the video probably has no transcript to show.
Can I get a YouTube transcript on my phone without installing anything?
Yes. Copy the video link from the YouTube app, open freeyoutubetranscribe.com in your phone browser, paste the link, and the transcript appears as text you can copy or download. No account is needed.
How do I get the transcript of a YouTube Short?
Change shorts in the web address to watch?v=, which usually opens the normal watch page, or paste the Shorts link straight into this tool, which accepts both forms.
Can I download a YouTube transcript as a file?
This tool downloads plain text, timestamped text, SRT, VTT and Markdown files. YouTube describes viewing and jumping through the transcript on its help page, and does not describe a download there.
Can I read a transcript in another language?
If the video offers other caption languages, pick one from the caption language list. This tool can also request YouTube’s machine translation into the languages the video offers.