How to get a YouTube transcript and summary
A transcript helps you find a passage without replaying an entire video. YouText turns the available captions from a public YouTube video into readable text, with optional summaries and notes to help you return to the source.
1. Start with a public YouTube link
Copy the video link from YouTube. Select YouText at the top of this page to open the homepage, paste the link, and choose Get transcript. Private videos are not supported. You can begin with the available free allowance; the account and usage prompts explain what you need to continue.
2. Check which captions you are reading
The transcript depends on captions available for that video. Check the displayed language and source information, including whether captions were supplied manually or generated automatically. Automatic captions can mishear names, punctuation and technical terms. If no usable captions are available, YouText cannot produce a transcript: it does not download audio or transcribe the recording.
3. Find the passage and return to the video
Read the transcript and use its timestamps to locate the corresponding moment in the source video. For an important quotation, check the surrounding words and the original video before relying on it. A transcript records what was said; it does not establish that a speaker's claim is true.
4. Create a summary when you need an overview
After getting a transcript, choose Summarize to request key points, detailed notes, quotes and a timestamped outline. Summaries can help you navigate a long video, but they can omit context or make mistakes. Compare important conclusions with the transcript, and treat a speaker's opinions, predictions and disputed claims as claims rather than established facts.
Understand your allowance before continuing
Transcript and summary requests use your YouText allowance. Summary costs depend on the transcript, so check the usage estimate shown for the action instead of assuming every video costs the same. Your account's Usage view shows the remaining allowance and the available options. Getting a transcript and creating a summary are separate actions.
How cached requests affect your allowance
A new transcript or summary request may reuse an equivalent public artifact that is already cached. The same user-facing credit price applies to that new request, even when the result is reused; a cached summary does not mean a new AI generation took place. Reopening work already saved in your Library is not a new paid request. Source captions can change, and a cached result is not proof that the video was checked again just now.
Keep your saved work in your Library
Your Library and Organize views are scoped to your account. Saving or organizing a transcript does not publish it as a public page for other visitors. Sign in to return to your saved work, and check the privacy policy for information about retention and account deletion.
Use the source responsibly
Public availability does not remove a video's copyright or give you permission to republish its contents. This guide contains original instructions, not copied captions. When using a transcript or summary in your own work, preserve the source context and check any permission you need.