YouTube

YouTube video to text

YouTube video to text: upload the video from YouTube and get the text of it with a timecode on every segment, the speakers on request, and TXT, SRT, VTT, CSV or DOCX out. Free $0, 3 files a day.

3 files a day up to 30 minutes, free99+ languagesSpeaker separation and timestamps
In short

Here is the whole path: take the video from YouTube from YouTube, send the file to the widget on this page, and the text comes back one segment per line. The free plan is $0 and gives 3 files a day.

How it works

How to get the file and turn it into text

  1. 1

    Open your own video

    Sign in to the account that uploaded the video and open the video on the site or in the app.

  2. 2

    Press Download

    The Download button under the video offers the file as an MP4 in 720p or in 360p.

  3. 3

    Check the file

    A file taken for offline use is encrypted, and it plays only inside the app of YouTube.

  4. 4

    Wait for the transcript

    Our own measurement on a short file was 0.84 s. A long recording goes through a queue and is saved to your account, so the text is there when you come back for it.

  5. 5

    Read the first lines before you share them

    The engine keeps the time of every segment, so a correction in the editor does not move anything else. Read the beginning and the names before the file goes out.

The result

What comes back from the engine

  • TXT

    One segment per line, the way a person wrote it down. It is the format to paste into a ticket, a chat or a document.

  • TXT, CSV

    The start and the end time of every segment, and the speakers named separately when you ask for it.

  • SRT, VTT

    SRT and VTT with the time of every line, so the recording can carry its own subtitles.

  • Markdown, DOCX

    The transcript is edited through the API and exported as Markdown for a wiki, or as DOCX for a review.

The facts

What YouTube keeps, and what it gives

Where YouTube keeps the file, and what it says about it
WhatWhat the platform says
Where the file isA video is downloaded from YouTube only by the account that uploaded it: the Download button under the video, in the format MP4 at 720p or 360p.
What the file isThe downloaded file of a video is an MP4 in 720p or in 360p.
What can go wrongA video of somebody else cannot be downloaded as a file with the official tools of YouTube.
What usually failsThe file of a video downloaded for offline use is encrypted and plays only inside the app of YouTube.
Length of one fileup to 30 minutes on the free plan, no minute limit on Pro
Free plan$0: 3 files a day, up to 30 minutes per file, no card
Pro plan$10 a month when you pay yearly ($120 a year), or $20 a month
The case

What the recording does not give you

Meetings end in files. the video from YouTube sits on a laptop or in a cloud folder, and the work that follows, the minutes, the list of actions, the quote for the customer, waits for a person with an hour and a half. Our own transcription engine reads the file once and gives the text back with the timecodes in place, so the minutes are written from the recording and not from memory.

Tips

  • Export SRT when the YouTube recording has to become a subtitled video.

  • Send the audio when YouTube gives you both: it is the smaller file.

  • Split a long YouTube recording into two files and not into one big one.

  • A file called meeting-2026-10-24 tells you nothing in November.

Questions about YouTube files

What if the YouTube file records somebody else?

Then it is the rule of any conversation: the people in the room have to know that it is being recorded. Nothing in this service changes that duty.

What size may the YouTube file be?

up to 30 minutes, on every plan. A longer YouTube recording has to be cut into parts before it is sent here.

Does the YouTube file keep working after the download?

On your device, yes: the file you took down is yours. What may change is the copy of YouTube, because a cloud recording can be deleted by its owner.

Can the YouTube recording become subtitles?

Yes. SRT and VTT come out of the same file, with the time of every line, and that is the format a player of a video needs.

Related pages

Sources

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Reading: 4 minutesUpdated Transcribsi editorial team

Drop a recording — the text arrives in a minute

Speakers by name, a time on every line, export to TXT, SRT, VTT, CSV and Markdown.

3 files a day up to 30 minutes, free99+ languagesSpeaker separation and timestamps