YouTube Transcript Generator: 90+ Languages
Turn a YouTube video into a transcript: download the file, upload it, and get an editable transcript with word-level timestamps and an SRT you can correct.
Last updated: 2026-08-26
First, the honest part: you download the file
This tool takes file uploads, not links.
Not fetching from links is a deliberate choice — pulling content from a third-party platform on a user's behalf runs into both copyright and platform terms of service. So the flow is: you download the video or audio, then upload it.
Please also only process content you own or have permission to use.
The platform already made captions. Why do it again?
Three reasons, in order of how much they matter:
- You get an editable source file. Fixing a platform caption means editing entries one at a time in the back end. Here you get a full transcript and an SRT, corrected locally and uploaded back.
- Proper nouns and code-switching are far better. Names, product terms and mixed-language speech are where auto-captions collapse — and they are also the words in your content that least tolerate being wrong.
- The transcript becomes an article. Search engines cannot read speech. A video's transcript is very nearly the first draft of a written piece — the same content, through a second door.
Real output
Tested on an English podcast intro. Unedited response:
One more: a typical YouTube explainer intro, transcript underneath:
Detected language: eng (confidence 96.2%)
Welcome back to the show. Today we're talking about something
every creator hits eventually, the moment your voice has to scale
Word timings (first 8):
Welcome[0.10→0.34] back[0.42→0.58] to[0.64→0.72] the[0.76→0.82]
show.[0.90→1.14] Today[1.76→1.98] we're[2.02→2.16] talking[2.18→2.48]
Note the comma in the middle: the source has a full stop there, and the engine inferred a comma from the pause length. Punctuation is the least stable part of any transcript because it is guessed from timing. Irrelevant for captions; worth a pass for a published document.
The full workflow
- Download the video or audio. If the file is large, take audio only — the picture is never used.
- Upload to the voice studio → transcribe, 200MB total per upload.
- Wait a minute or two for an hour of material.
- Correct the text, concentrating on names, product terms and jargon.
- Export: the transcript becomes an article, the SRT goes back to the platform as captions.
Step 4 only needs a proper-noun pass. Ordinary words land above 95%; the words worth checking are precisely the ones the platform got wrong too.
What to do with the transcript
| Use | How |
|---|---|
| Better captions | Correct the SRT and upload it over the auto-generated track |
| Video into an article | Use the transcript as a first draft |
| Clips | Search for the line, cut on word boundaries using the timings |
| Other languages | Translate the transcript and re-time, or use video dubbing |
| Studying other creators | Make a long video searchable instead of scrubbing it |
FAQ
Can I paste a link? No — uploads only. Not fetching avoids copyright and platform terms problems.
Why not just use auto-captions? For an editable source, better proper nouns, and a transcript you can publish.
File too large? Download audio only, or export the audio track — 60–120MB per hour.
Mixed languages? Handled automatically — the case auto-captions fail most often.
Start here
Cost: 20 credits per file (up to 200MB per upload), refunded automatically if it fails. The $3.99 trial pack has 150 credits, enough for 7 files, and they never expire.
Related: MP4 to text · MP3 to text · subtitle generator · short video voiceover