Updated October 13, 2026

YouTube Transcript Download: TXT, SRT, VTT (and What You Must Know)

Searching for a YouTube transcript downloader, YouTube transcript to TXT, or YouTube transcript SRT export usually means one thing: you want the words — for notes, translation drafts, or subtitle files — not a cracked video rip. This post explains the formats, honest limits, and how our on-site converter helps when you paste captions YouTube already shows you.

Open the free tool: YouTube Transcript → TXT / SRT / VTT. It converts pasted transcript text (and timed SRT/VTT if you paste those). It does not claim to bypass YouTube, DRM, or paid walls.

TXT vs SRT vs VTT

If you only need searchable text, export TXT. If you need burn-in or burn-in-ready subtitles, keep or create SRT / VTT. Our tool can also turn plain lines into simple sequential SRT/VTT cues — useful for drafts, not a substitute for YouTube’s own timed captions when you need frame accuracy.

Common uses (and the permission line)

• Personal notes — study, meeting recap, quote checking.
• Subtitle drafts — start from captions, then edit.
• Accessibility — reading along when audio is hard.
• Secondary creation — translation, dubbing, clip packaging — only when you have rights or a license. “I found a transcript” is not a license.

Shorts that expose a transcript panel can be handled like long-form videos: if YouTube shows captions, you can copy them; if not, no tool should invent a legal shortcut.

Terms, copyright & what this tool is not

This section is required reading before you use /tools/youtube-transcript.

• Respect YouTube’s Terms of Service. Use captions and transcripts the way YouTube’s product allows (for example, Show transcript in the official player). Do not treat third-party sites as a green light to scrape, harvest, or automate around platform limits.
• Copyright still applies. Creators and rightsholders own the audiovisual work and usually the caption text. Only process content you own, have permission to use, or otherwise have a lawful basis to use. Republishing someone else’s transcript without permission can infringe copyright.
• This is not a pirate video downloader. We do not promise “download any video,” “bypass copyright,” “remove DRM,” or “unlimited captions for every URL.” The companion tool exports text formats from material you supply — primarily paste from YouTube’s own UI in this release.
• No cracking or wall-jumping guidance. We will not document how to bypass login walls, age gates, paid memberships, or region locks. If captions are unavailable in YouTube, stop.
• Disclaimer. XHS Downloader / xiaohongshudownloader.com is independent of YouTube / Google. This article is general information, not legal advice. For takedowns see our DMCA and Copyright pages.

How to export with our free tool

1. On YouTube, open a video that has captions → ⋯ → Show transcript → copy the text (or copy timed captions if you already have SRT/VTT).
2. Open YouTube Transcript tool, paste the text, pick TXT, SRT, or VTT, then export.
3. Optional: paste the watch URL for your own reference. Auto remote fetch is specified for a later phase — see docs/youtube-transcript-spec.md in the project — and will only use lawful, permissioned paths.

FAQ

Related tools on this site

Need Xiaohongshu / RedNote media instead of YouTube text? Use the Xiaohongshu video downloader or the RedNote caption transcript extractor. Related tools: YouTube Transcript.

Open the YouTube Transcript converter →