Fast, intelligent, and versatile YouTube transcript extraction with Side Panel persistence, batch processing, and 1-click AI workflow.
YouTube Transcript Copier is a privacy-first browser extension engineered to extract, format, and export YouTube transcripts in milliseconds. Built with a resilient multi-strategy extraction engine, it bypasses DOM volatility and provides seamless integration with modern AI tools like ChatGPT, Claude, and Gemini.
Whether you are a student, researcher, developer, or creator, YouTube Transcript Copier saves hours of manual copying and formatting.
- Native Player Integration: Adds an unobtrusive "Copy Transcript" button right next to YouTube's Like/Share buttons and inside YouTube Shorts reels.
- Auto-Copy on Video Load: Toggle auto-copy in settings to automatically grab transcripts the instant any video opens.
- Global Shortcut: Press
Ctrl + Shift + Y(Windows/Linux) orCmd + Shift + Y(macOS) to copy without touching your mouse.
- Automated Scanner: Detects playlists, recommended queues, and channel uploads directly from the active tab.
- Queue Controls: Extract dozens of transcripts in sequence with live progress, pause, resume, and stop controls.
- Token Safety Alert: Live character and token counter alerts you when extractions approach LLM context limits.
- Bulk ZIP Download: Export entire playlist transcriptions in a single neatly organized archive.
- Direct Export: One click launches ChatGPT, Claude, or Gemini in a new tab.
- Automated Text Insertion: The extension automatically types your chosen prompt and the full transcript directly into the chat prompt box.
- Custom Prompt Library: Use ready-made presets (Summarize 5 Bullets, Key Takeaways, Chapter Outline, TL;DR) or save and manage your own custom prompts.
Export clean transcriptions formatted for your exact workflow:
- SRT (
.srt): SubRip format for video editors (Premiere, Final Cut, DaVinci Resolve). - VTT (
.vtt): WebVTT format for web players. - Markdown (
.md): Structured notes for Obsidian, Notion, and Logseq. - JSON (
.json): Raw timestamps and text objects for developers and data analysis. - CSV (
.csv): Structured tables for Excel and Google Sheets. - Plain Text (
.txt): Clean paragraph or line-by-line format.
- Instant Highlighting: Filter through long transcripts with real-time text matching.
- Interactive Timestamps: Click any timestamp in the side panel or popup to seek video playback directly to that exact second.
Fully translated interface and store listings with instant runtime switching across 30 languages:
- Americas & Europe: English (
en), Spanish (es), Portuguese (pt_BR), French (fr), German (de), Italian (it), Dutch (nl), Polish (pl), Ukrainian (uk), Russian (ru), Swedish (sv), Danish (da), Finnish (fi), Norwegian (no), Czech (cs), Romanian (ro), Hungarian (hu), Greek (el) - Asia & Pacific: Japanese (
ja), Korean (ko), Simplified Chinese (zh_CN), Traditional Chinese (zh_TW), Hindi (hi), Vietnamese (vi), Indonesian (id), Thai (th), Turkish (tr) - Middle East (Native RTL): Arabic (
ar), Hebrew (he), Persian / Farsi (fa) with complete Right-to-Left (RTL) layout mirroring.
- Chrome Side Panel: Read and search transcripts in Chrome's dedicated side panel drawer without popup auto-closing.
- Saved Workspaces: Bookmark clips, take timestamped notes, and save transcripts locally for offline review.
- Instant Error Reporting: "Report Issue with Video" button appears directly on extraction failures, pre-populating diagnostics.
- Automatic YouTube Language & Context Detection: Captures active video title, URL, current error message, and the YouTube webpage's active language attribute (
document.documentElement.lang). - Flexible Submission: Submit via Google Forms (auto-copies diagnostic report to clipboard) or send a pre-filled direct email.
- Uninstall Survey Integration: Registered automatic uninstall feedback survey to understand user needs and resolve issues swiftly.
- 100% Client-Side: All transcript processing, formatting, and storage happens entirely on your machine.
- Zero Telemetry: No tracking, no user profiling, and no third-party analytics scripts.
- Zero API Keys: No accounts, logins, or paid subscription keys required.
Install with one click from the Chrome Web Store.
- Clone or download this repository:
git clone https://github.com/madireis/youtube-transcript-copier.git
- Navigate to
chrome://extensions/in your browser. - Enable Developer mode in the upper-right corner.
- Click Load unpacked and select the extension folder (or the
dist/packagefolder).
| Shortcut | Action |
|---|---|
Ctrl + Shift + Y (Windows/Linux) |
Copy formatted transcript to clipboard |
Cmd + Shift + Y (macOS) |
Copy formatted transcript to clipboard |
- Feedback & Diagnostic Modal: Added dedicated in-popup modal with category selection and optional notes.
- YouTube Website Language Detection: Automatically retrieves YouTube's DOM language setting (
document.documentElement.lang) to debug language-specific caption issues. - Uninstall Survey: Configured
chrome.runtime.setUninstallURLwith a dedicated Google Form to capture exit feedback. - 1-Click Form & Email Support: Open the Google Form with diagnostics copied to clipboard, or compose a pre-filled email.
This project is licensed under the MIT License.
Made with care by @madireis