YouTube transcript from a link

How a YouTube transcript is made here

You paste the link, and Kotosay transcribes the audio of the video, the same way it transcribes a file you upload. The YouTube transcript is one text with a timestamp on each line, in the language that is spoken, detected automatically.

Because the text comes from the audio, a video does not need captions for this. A link counts as one file and works for videos up to 3 hours. For a longer video, upload the file instead, up to 10 hours on Unlimited.

Which links work

To transcribe YouTube videos, copy the link from the address bar on a computer, or tap Share under the video in the YouTube app and copy it there.

• Normal watch links such as youtube.com/watch?v=...
• Short links that start with youtu.be
• Shorts
• Recordings of live streams, once the stream has ended

Videos that are harder to transcribe

The text is only as clear as the sound. A vlog with music under the voice, a gaming stream with loud game audio or a concert clip loses words where the music is loudest. Read those passages in the editor and fill the gaps from the video.

Panels and video podcasts have several people, and the text runs on without names. The timestamps help you find each change of voice, so play the video on YouTube at that second and type the names into the editor. When a video switches between two languages, choose the main one in the language picker before you paste the link.

When the audio cannot be fetched

Now and then the audio of a video cannot be fetched. Kotosay then uses the video's own captions, written by the creator or generated by YouTube, and the result says that it comes from captions. Read those lines with care, since automatic captions often lack punctuation and misspell names.

If a video has no captions either, the page offers the file upload right away. For a video of your own, take the original file from your camera roll or computer, or download it from YouTube Studio, and drop it in.

Show transcript inside YouTube

YouTube shows a transcript itself when a video has captions. On a computer, expand the description and click Show transcript. In the app, open the description and tap Show transcript. For a quick look at one video, that works well.

Kotosay helps when you want the whole text in one block, a transcript of a video without captions, corrections in an editor, or YouTube video to text transcription you can export as a document or subtitles.

A course or a playlist, one video at a time

For a lecture series or a playlist, paste the link of each video on its own. Every link is one file, so a free account covers 3 videos a day with the first 5 minutes of each. Single file opens one linked video in full for $4.99. Unlimited runs 3 links at once and takes each video in full up to 3 hours, which suits a whole course or a recorded conference day.

The transcription of YouTube videos in a series then sits in your account as one text per video, to read again before an exam or a deadline.

A YouTube transcript generator for your own channel

Creators use a YouTube transcript to improve their captions. Paste the link of your video, fix names and terms in the editor, then export SRT with Unlimited and upload it in YouTube Studio under Subtitles. Converting YouTube video to text this way also gives you a draft for the description, a blog post or a newsletter.

Quoting a video at the right second

Every line carries the time it was said. Before you quote, open the video at that time and listen once more, because a misheard word inside quotation marks is easy for readers to catch.

To send readers to the moment itself, click Share under the video on YouTube, tick Start at and enter the time from the text. The link then opens the video at that second.

Using someone else's words

A transcript makes quoting easy. Quote short passages with the creator's name and a link to the video. To republish the full text of someone else's video, ask the creator first. Rules differ by country, so check them for anything you publish.