YouTube Captions to Text
Convert YouTube captions into clean, readable text. No timestamps, no errors, no formatting issues. Just text.
3 free conversions per day — no signup required
Captions to text in three steps
Paste the YouTube URL
Copy the URL of any YouTube video and paste it into the input field. TubeScript accepts standard YouTube links, shortened youtu.be links, and playlist URLs.
Convert the captions
Click "Get Transcript" and TubeScript extracts the video's captions, removes timing codes, fixes auto-caption errors, and formats everything into clean, readable paragraphs.
Copy or download
Copy the formatted text to your clipboard with one click or download it as a TXT file. If you need timestamps preserved, download the SRT version instead.
The problem with YouTube captions
YouTube's built-in captions are designed for on-screen display during video playback. They are broken into short fragments, timed to appear for a few seconds each, and stripped of most punctuation. Trying to read them as continuous text is frustrating — the line breaks are arbitrary, the grammar is fragmented, and there is no paragraph structure.
Copying captions directly from YouTube is also difficult. There is no "copy all captions" button. The transcript panel shows text in tiny segments that are hard to select, and copying them produces a messy result with timestamps mixed into the text and inconsistent spacing throughout.
Auto-generated captions add another layer of problems. YouTube's speech recognition frequently misinterprets words, omits punctuation entirely, and produces run-on text that is difficult to parse. Technical terms, proper nouns, and accented speech are particularly error-prone.
The TubeScript solution
TubeScript converts YouTube captions into properly formatted, readable text. The AI processes the raw caption data — whether from manual captions or auto-generated ones — and produces clean paragraphs with correct punctuation, capitalization, and sentence boundaries.
The result reads like a document, not a stream of disconnected caption fragments. You get proper paragraphs, clean grammar, and text you can actually use — for notes, articles, quotes, or any other purpose.
What TubeScript fixes
Removes timestamps
Raw caption data is full of timing codes that clutter the text. TubeScript strips them out and produces flowing paragraphs. If you need timestamps for reference, they are available separately in the transcript viewer.
Fixes auto-caption errors
YouTube's auto-captions frequently misspell words, miss punctuation, and produce grammatically broken text. TubeScript's AI corrects these errors and produces text that reads naturally and accurately.
Formats into paragraphs
Captions are fragmented into short, timed segments. TubeScript merges them into coherent paragraphs organized by topic, making the text easy to read, skim, and search.
Adds proper punctuation
Auto-generated captions typically lack periods, commas, and question marks. TubeScript restores proper punctuation and capitalization so the text follows standard written conventions.
Common use cases
Note-taking — Students and professionals convert captions from lectures, tutorials, and presentations into clean text they can annotate, highlight, and search. Reading a formatted transcript is far more effective than trying to decipher raw caption fragments.
Content repurposing — Writers and marketers convert video captions into the raw material for blog posts, newsletters, and social media content. Clean, formatted text is ready to edit and publish, unlike raw caption data that requires extensive cleanup.
Accessibility — Making video content available as readable text helps deaf and hard-of-hearing viewers, people in noise-sensitive environments, and anyone who prefers reading to watching. Properly formatted text is far more accessible than raw caption fragments.
Quoting videos — Journalists, researchers, and writers need to pull accurate quotes from videos. Clean text with proper punctuation makes it easy to copy exact quotes without having to manually fix formatting issues from raw caption data.
Frequently asked questions
How do I convert YouTube captions to text?
Paste any YouTube video URL into the input field above and click "Get Transcript." TubeScript will extract the captions, clean up formatting errors, and produce readable text that you can copy or download. No account or signup required.
Will this remove timestamps from the captions?
Yes. TubeScript converts raw caption data into clean, flowing paragraphs without inline timestamps. If you need timestamps for reference, you can toggle them on in the transcript viewer or download an SRT file that preserves timing data.
Does this fix auto-caption errors?
Yes. YouTube's auto-generated captions frequently contain misspelled words, missing punctuation, and incorrect line breaks. TubeScript's AI cleans up these errors and produces properly punctuated, grammatically correct text that reads naturally.
Can I convert captions from videos in other languages?
Yes. TubeScript works with captions in any language. If a video has captions in Spanish, French, Japanese, Korean, or another language, TubeScript will extract and format them into clean text. For videos without captions, the AI generates text from the audio in the spoken language.
What is the difference between captions and a transcript?
Captions are timed text segments designed to appear on-screen during video playback. A transcript is the full text of a video formatted for reading. TubeScript converts caption data into a transcript — removing timing codes, merging fragmented lines, and formatting the text into coherent paragraphs.
Convert captions to text
Paste any YouTube URL below and get clean, readable text from the video's captions.