Chrome extension

YouTube transcript Chrome extension

A free YouTube transcript extension that puts the transcript right beside the player on every video — one click, with timestamps, search, translate and export. No sign-in, no tracking. Try the no-install tool below, or add the extension for one-click access everywhere.

Works on any video with captions · or add the Chrome extension for one-click transcripts on every video.

What the extension does

Installed, the extension adds a transcript panel next to the YouTube player. Open any video and the full text is there — every line tagged with its moment, so a click jumps the video to that point and the current line highlights as it plays. No pasting links, no leaving the page: the words sit beside the video you’re already watching.

It reads the captions YouTube already serves for the video, in your own browser, and lays them out as clean, readable text. For the background on where the words come from, the YouTube transcript overview goes deeper.

Why an extension instead of a website

Both give you the same transcript; the difference is friction. A website means copying the link, switching tabs and pasting it. The extension means the transcript is simply there, on every watch page, the moment you open a video — one click, no copying. If you pull transcripts now and then, the web tool is plenty. If you do it daily — studying, researching, taking notes, making content — the extension saves the back-and-forth every single time.

Same transcript, zero friction — right beside the video you’re already watching.

What you get

• Clickable timestamps — jump to any moment; the line highlights as the video plays. See transcript with timestamps.
• Search — find any word in the video and land on where it’s said. See searching a transcript.
• Translate — read the transcript in another language in one click. See translate a YouTube video.
• Copy & export — take the text as TXT, Markdown, SRT or VTT, with or without timestamps.
• Read-along — follow the words and the audio together, handy for fast or accented speakers.

For the step-by-step of getting the words on any video, how to get the transcript of a YouTube video walks through it.

Free, and genuinely private

The transcript — reading it, copying it, exporting it — is free, with no account and no daily limit. And it’s built to be minimal: it runs only on youtube.com, has no analytics or tracking, and stores nothing about you beyond a couple of local preferences (like whether timestamps are on). It reads the captions YouTube already provides and sends nothing to a server of ours — there isn’t one. Plenty of tools say “free”, then ask you to sign up or watch you with trackers. This one doesn’t. The full details are in the privacy policy.

Prefer no install? Use the web tool

You don’t have to install anything to try it. The tool above takes a YouTube link and gives you the same transcript — read it, search it, copy or export it, right here. It’s the no-install taster; the extension is the same thing without the copy-paste, on every video. Pick whichever fits how often you do it.

Who it’s for

The extension earns its place for anyone who turns videos into something else. Students read a recorded lecture at their own pace and pull the text into revision notes. Researchers and journalists search a long interview for the exact line that was said and quote it with its timestamp, instead of trusting memory. Creators open their own uploads and reshape the transcript into blog posts, show notes and social captions — close to a week of writing from a single video. Language learners read along while they listen, and switch the transcript into their own language when a passage is hard.

The thread through all of it is the same: the words are right there beside the video, every time, with no copy-paste between tabs. You stop watching the whole thing to find one piece and start treating a video the way you’d treat a document — open it, search it, take what you need. Add it once and it’s on every watch page from then on; if it ever turns out you don’t want it, removing it is one click and clears everything it stored. It’s a small tool that quietly removes a lot of friction.

Frequently asked questions

What does the YouTube transcript extension do?

It shows the transcript of a YouTube video right next to the player, in one click — with clickable timestamps, search, translate and export. It reads the captions in your browser; there’s no sign-in and no tracking.

Is the extension free?

Yes. The transcript, copy and export are free, with no account and no daily limit.

Does it collect my data?

No. It has no account and no analytics, and it only runs on youtube.com. It reads the captions YouTube already serves and stores nothing about you — just a couple of local preferences.

Do I need the extension, or is the website enough?

The website tool works without installing anything — paste a link and get the transcript. The extension is for doing it often: one click on the watch page, no copying links, and it works in your own browser session.