Free YouTube Subtitle Extractor
Paste a YouTube video URL and instantly retrieve its subtitles with timestamps. Copy the text or download as .txt or .srt.
Turn these subtitles into newsletters with AI
Yeemel automatically extracts content from your YouTube videos and transforms it into professional newsletters ready to send. Free to get started.
Get started for freeDownload Subtitles from Any YouTube Video
Downloading YouTube subtitles has become essential for many use cases: creating blog posts from videos, translating content, studying a foreign language, or simply keeping a written record of a tutorial. Yet YouTube does not offer a "Download subtitles" button directly on its videos.
Our tool solves this problem in seconds. Paste the video URL and instantly retrieve the full transcript with timestamps. You can then download the file in .txt format (text with timestamps) or .srt format (SubRip, compatible with VLC, Premiere Pro, DaVinci Resolve and most video players).
The tool works with subtitles added manually by the video creator as well as with YouTube auto-generated subtitles. The latter are available on the vast majority of videos, even when the creator has not added subtitles themselves.
How to Enable Subtitles on YouTube (Desktop & Mobile)
If you are looking to turn on subtitles on YouTube, here are the steps for each device:
On Desktop (PC / Mac)
- Play the YouTube video
- Click the CC (subtitles) icon at the bottom of the player
- Click the gear icon ⚙️ → Subtitles/CC
- Select your preferred language from the list (or "Auto-translate" → choose your language if the video is in another language)
On Mobile (iPhone / Android)
- Open the video in the YouTube app
- Tap the video to show the controls
- Tap CC in the top-right of the player
- If your language is not available, tap the gear icon → Subtitles → Auto-translate → select your language
YouTube auto-translation is not always perfect, especially for technical vocabulary. If you need a reliable transcript, our extractor retrieves native subtitles when available, bypassing auto-translation entirely.
YouTube Subtitles: Why Extract and Download Them?
YouTube subtitles are not just for accessibility. They have become a work tool for content creators, marketers, students and communication professionals.
Content Creation
Turn a 30-minute video into a blog post, Twitter thread or newsletter in minutes using the transcript.
Language Learning
Download subtitles to study vocabulary, pronunciation and sentence structure in a foreign language.
SEO Optimization
Use video transcripts to create keyword-rich descriptions and improve your channel ranking in search results.
Research & Monitoring
Quickly scan the content of a webinar, filmed podcast or conference without watching the entire video.
Download a YouTube Video with Subtitles
Many people look for ways to download a YouTube video with embedded subtitles (hard-coded into the video). However, it is often more practical to download the subtitles separately as an .srt file.
Why? Because an SRT file gives you more flexibility:
- Video Editing — Import the .srt file into Premiere Pro, Final Cut or DaVinci Resolve to customize subtitle appearance (font, color, position)
- Translation — Edit the text file to translate subtitles into any language
- Accessibility — Add subtitles on other platforms (Instagram Reels, TikTok, LinkedIn) that do not pull YouTube subtitles
- Repurposing — Turn the transcript into an article, summary, or newsletter (this is what Yeemel does automatically)
Our tool extracts subtitles in SRT format with precise timestamps, ready to use in any editing software or video player.
How to Extract YouTube Subtitles in 3 Steps
No software, Chrome extension or account needed. Our extractor works directly in your browser:
Copy the Video URL
On YouTube, click "Share" or copy the URL from the address bar. youtube.com/watch?v=, youtu.be/ and youtube.com/shorts/ formats are all supported.
Paste and Click "Extract"
Paste the link in the field above and click the button. Extraction takes a few seconds. The tool tries the default language subtitles first.
Copy or Download
Copy the plain text, download as .txt (with readable timestamps) or as .srt (standard format for video editing and media players).