This post was originally published on Glasp:
👉 How to Get Transcripts of the YouTube Video
Do you want to get transcripts of YouTube videos on desktop quickly and easily? With the Glasp browser extension, you can access a full transcript in clean text, copy it with one click, and save it into your favorite note-taking apps like Notion, Obsidian, or Evernote.
Unlike YouTube’s default transcript feature (which splits dialogue into very short lines and timestamps), Glasp generates a concise transcript in longer segments (about 30 seconds each), making it easier to read, highlight, and reuse.
This tutorial will walk you through how to install Glasp, get YouTube transcripts, and export them anywhere.
How to use Glasp to get a Transcript of a YouTube Video on a Desktop
Glasp is a free browser extension-based social web highlighter that you can use to capture content online and highlight and organize quotes and ideas. In addition to its functions, the Glasp browser extension provides transcripts of YouTube videos with one click with fewer timestamps.
In contrast to the YouTube default system that provides the transcript in short sentences and few words per timestamp, the Glasp extension provides a concise and correct text format of the video content with fewer timestamps by combining exact words spoken in at least 30 seconds of the video.
Step 1: Install the Glasp extension to your browser
First of all, please install the Glasp browser extension in your laptop. It's available on Chrome, Brave, Microsoft Edge, Safari, and Opera.
👉 Install in Chrome, Brave, Microsoft Edge, and Opera
👉 Install in Safari
Step 2: Open a YouTube video
Please open any YouTube video. If you could have successfully installed the Chrome extension, you can see a Glasp toolbar at the top right.
Click the down-row icon on the toolbar. It opens a window including the transcripts of the YouTube video.
Step 3: Copy the transcripts
Please click on the icon at the right on the toolbar. It copies all the transcripts in the YouTube video.
Note: If YouTube doesn't provide the transcripts, the Glasp extension can't show the transcripts.
Step 4: Paste the transcripts
After you copy the transcripts of the YouTube video, paste them anywhere you want. Here, I showcase how to paste on Notion.
As you can see, it copies the title and link to the YouTube video.
(Optional) Step 5: Change the pasting setting
If you'd like to paste it in markdown style, please change the settings from the toolbar. To do that, click the setting button on the toolbar.
It opens the setting page, so please select Markdown in the section below.
You can close this page after selecting the Markdown. The setting is automatically saved.
After updating the setting, please try to copy-n-paste the YouTube transcripts again. Here, I paste it in the markdown style.
With this feature, you can grasp the content of the video easily, take notes, save your learnings, and create a new video.
I hope this article helps you understand how to get the YouTube video's transcripts. If you’re interested in Glasp, you can look into it here 👀
- Glasp: YouTube Transcript Extractor
And if you want to know how to summarize the YouTube video, please look at this tutorial.
- How to see a summary of a YouTube video with Glasp
FAQs
Q. Do I need a Glasp account to get YouTube transcripts?
No. You only need the Glasp browser extension. However, if you want to save highlights or notes permanently, you’ll need to sign up for a free account.
Q. Which browsers support the Glasp extension?
Glasp works on Chrome, Brave, Microsoft Edge, Opera, and Safari.
Q. Why can’t I see the transcript on some YouTube videos?
Some videos don’t provide transcripts (e.g., newly uploaded videos, live streams, or music videos without captions). In those cases, the Glasp extension cannot generate a transcript.
Q. Can I copy and paste transcripts into other apps?
Yes. With one click, you can copy the transcript and paste it into Notion, Obsidian, Google Docs, Word, Evernote, or any text editor.
Q. Can I export YouTube transcripts in Markdown format?
Yes. In the Glasp toolbar settings, switch the export option to Markdown. Your pasted transcript will then include clean formatting suitable for note-taking apps.
Q. Does this work for long videos (e.g., 2+ hours)?
Yes, but very long transcripts may take more time to copy and paste. If the video doesn’t have a transcript available, Glasp cannot generate one.
Q. Can I summarize a YouTube transcript with Glasp?
Yes. After getting the transcript, you can use Glasp’s summary feature or paste it into ChatGPT with a prompt like “Summarize this transcript in key points.”
Before you leave
We hope this tutorial helps you quickly get clean, readable YouTube transcripts and reuse them in your own workflow.
See you next time,
Glasp team
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