Free tool
Free YouTube Transcript Generator
Get the transcript of any YouTube video. Paste the URL below and copy the full text with timestamps — free, no signup, no watching required.
Want the summary instead? One click on any thumbnail.
Want the summary instead of the raw transcript?
One click on any YouTube thumbnail — Zloth summarizes the video with timestamps and saves it to your library. Free to start.
Key Takeaways
- Paste any YouTube video URL and get the full transcript with timestamps — free, no signup, no watching required.
- Works with manual captions, auto-generated captions, and YouTube Shorts.
- Copy the transcript with or without timestamps, ready to paste into ChatGPT, Claude, notes, or a doc.
- If a video has no captions at all, YouTube provides no transcript — that is a YouTube limitation, not a tool limitation.
- Want the summary instead of the raw text? The Zloth Chrome extension summarizes any video in one click from its thumbnail.
How to get the transcript of a YouTube video
- Copy the video URL. Any format works: a normal watch link, a short youtu.be link, or a YouTube Shorts link.
- Paste it into the generator above and click Get Transcript.
- Copy the transcript. Take the plain text, or keep the timestamps if you need to reference specific moments.
The tool reads the caption track YouTube already stores for the video — manual captions when the creator uploaded them, auto-generated captions otherwise. Nothing is re-transcribed, so the result is instant and free. Want the other methods too? See how to get a transcript of a YouTube video.
YouTube to transcript: what people use it for
- Feeding an AI: paste the transcript into ChatGPT or Claude to ask questions about a video — we wrote up the exact workflow in how to summarize a YouTube video with ChatGPT.
- Notes and quotes: pull exact wording from lectures, interviews, and tutorials without scrubbing through the video.
- Research and accessibility: read a video instead of watching it, search the text, or translate it.
If your goal is the first one — getting an AI summary — you can skip the copy-paste entirely. The Zloth Chrome extension puts a Summarize button on every YouTube thumbnail and returns a timestamped summary without opening the video.
Skip the transcript. Get the summary in one click.
Zloth summarizes any YouTube video directly from its thumbnail — no copy-pasting transcripts into another tab. Free to start with 120 monthly summaries.
Frequently Asked Questions
How do I get the transcript of a YouTube video?
Copy the video URL from YouTube, paste it into the transcript generator above, and click Get Transcript. The full transcript appears in seconds with timestamps, and you can copy it with one click.
Is this YouTube transcript generator free?
Yes. The transcript tool is completely free with no signup. It fetches the caption track YouTube already provides for the video, so there is no cost to pass on.
Does it work with auto-generated captions?
Yes. If a video only has auto-generated captions, the tool uses those and labels the result as auto-generated. Manual captions are preferred when the video has them, since they are usually more accurate.
Why does a video have no transcript?
A transcript can only exist if the video has captions. If the creator disabled captions and YouTube has not auto-generated any (common for music, very new uploads, or some languages), there is no caption track to fetch — no transcript tool can produce one in that case.
Does it work for YouTube Shorts?
Yes. Paste the Shorts URL (youtube.com/shorts/…) and the tool fetches its transcript the same way as for a normal video, as long as the Short has captions.
Can I get a summary instead of the full transcript?
Yes — that is exactly what the Zloth Chrome extension does. Instead of copying a transcript into ChatGPT, you click Summarize on any YouTube thumbnail and get a timestamped summary saved to your library. It is free to start with 120 monthly summaries.