How to copy a YouTube transcript with the Chrome extension

Install the local extension

1. Download the extension ZIP.
2. Extract the ZIP file into a folder you can keep.
3. Open chrome://extensions in Chrome.
4. Enable Developer mode.
5. Select Load unpacked. Select the extracted folder.

This is a local development build for Chrome 116 or later. It is not listed in the Chrome Web Store. If you replace the files with an update, select Reload on the extension card.

Copy captions from a video

1. Open a YouTube video.
2. Select Copy transcript on the YouTube page, or open the extension and select Get this transcript.
3. Choose an available caption language if needed.
4. Enable Timestamps if you want video times in the text.
5. Select Copy text or Download Markdown.

The extension stores recent captures on your device. Open Recent captures to read one again. Use Clear extension history to remove that history.

Use the web reader

Paste a video link into the online reader. No extension is required. Captures save in this browser. The extension has its own history. To capture your active YouTube tab through MCP, download and run the local tool, then pair the extension there.

The reader supports search, timestamp links and Markdown, TXT, SRT and JSON downloads. Deleting one copy does not remove other copies.

If captions do not load

Check that you have a YouTube video open in the connected Chrome profile. Open YouTube’s transcript panel, then retry. If you selected a language, check that it is available for that video.

Some videos have no captions. YouTube can also block a request. The tool reports the failure instead of creating text from audio. See the Shorts and troubleshooting guide for more help.