How to Use a YouTube Transcript in ChatGPT
Copy a YouTube transcript, then paste it into ChatGPT for notes, quotes, and drafts. What to include, what to check, and where the caption text comes from.
Why the transcript works better than the link
ChatGPT cannot watch the video for you. A transcript gives it the words. Paste those words and you can ask for notes, a summary, quotes, or a first draft.
Start with the caption text from a public video. Get the transcript here, then copy it.
A prompt that stays useful
Paste the transcript under a short instruction. One task per prompt.
- Notes: “Turn this transcript into study notes. Keep the timestamps.”
- Quotes: “List five lines I could quote. Keep each timestamp.”
- Draft: “Write a short blog outline from this transcript. Do not add facts that are not in the text.”
Check the result against the video
Auto-captions miss names and jargon. A model can repeat those mistakes or smooth them into something the speaker did not say.
Keep the timestamps. Open the video at that second before you publish a quote. For a shorter first read, use the summary, then return to the transcript for the lines you will cite.
What this does not do
This page does not send your video to ChatGPT. You copy the text and paste it where you work. Private videos and videos without captions have no transcript to paste.
The transcript tool is free. No account.