How to Download YouTube Captions as SRT or TXT
Download YouTube subtitles and captions as SRT or plain text. Step-by-step methods for editors, students, and content teams who already work from video.
SRT vs TXT: which format do you need?
SRT (SubRip) stores cue timing and is the standard for subtitle tracks in editors and players. TXT is plain readable text for writing, research, and AI prompts. Download SRT for editing video; download TXT for blogs, notes, and summaries.
Fast method: paste the YouTube URL
- Open the transcript tool.
- Paste the full YouTube link.
- Generate the transcript.
- Download SRT for subtitles or TXT for plain text.
This works for public videos that already have captions. It does not create speech-to-text from raw audio when captions are disabled.
What a valid SRT file looks like
1
00:00:01,000 --> 00:00:04,200
Welcome to the tutorial
2
00:00:04,200 --> 00:00:07,800
Today we export YouTube captionsEach block needs a sequence number, a timing line, and one or more text lines, separated by a blank line.
Common problems and fixes
- No captions available: the uploader disabled them, or the video is restricted.
- Wrong language: multi-language videos may default to auto-English; try the language you need if available.
- Broken timing in editor: confirm the file is UTF-8 SRT and that your editor’s frame rate settings are sane.
- Messy line breaks: auto-captions often split mid-sentence — clean them before publishing.
Legal and fair-use notes
Captions are part of the creator’s content. Use downloads for personal study, accessibility, fair quotation, or content you own. Do not republish someone else’s full transcript as your own article without permission.
Next: turn a long transcript into takeaways with the AI video summarizer — then return to the lines that still matter.