How to extract subtitles from YouTube videos?

How to extract subtitles from YouTube videos

The option to extract subtitles from YouTube videos actually is a standard option in YouTube, provided that the video owner has allowed for its viewers to access and copy subtitles from their YouTube videos.

To extract subtitles from a YouTube video, go to the three dots menu under the video for which you would like to extract subtitles > add translations > switch language to select the right language > actions > download.

Extracting subtitles from a YouTube video

The process to extract subtitles from a YouTube video is very simple, in case the video owner has allowed for anybody to add subtitles in other languages.

Start with an open video, and below the video on the right hand side, open the three dots menu, and select the add translations option.

Select subtitles language download

Then, in case the language in which you want to download the video is not the correct one, select the switch language option.

You must select a language for which the YouTube subtitles have already been provided to be able to download them. Usually, the original language of the video is the right one to begin with.

A pop-up with the list of available languages will be displayed, and it is necessary to find a language for which the subtitles have already been set or translated into, such as the language original video.

After having selected the subtitles download language, press the button set language to access the subtitles file.

Download subtitles option in YouTube

After having select the language in which the subtitles should be downloaded, a new screen will open, with the subtitles and timestamps on the left side, and the video playing on the right side.

This is the place where subtitles can actually be set for any language, in case you are interested in translating a YouTube video subtitles into a new language.

To download a file with the YouTube video subtitles, click on actions and select the download option.

The video subtitles text file can then be opened in a text editor such as Notepad++, and can be edited manually.

How to download a transcript from YouTube

In case a transcript is available for a given YouTube video, it is possible to download it by going on the video, selecting the three dots menu right under the video, and clicking on the open transcript option.

After having selected that option, the transcript will open next to the video.

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It is possible to change the language by using the language box at the bottom fo the transcript display.

Simply select the transcript text with your mouse, and copy and paste it into a text editor to download the transcript from the YouTube video!

YouTube: how to convert SBV to SRT file?

As it is only possible in YouTube to download SBV files, which might seems like an odd format, the only way to get an SRT file from YouTube captions download is to convert it, for example using an online tool.

Simply download the SGB subtitles file from the YouTube video, open it in a text editor that allows to open any file format like XML files and other, such as the  Notepad++ application   and copy the whole text to the clipboard.

Then, paste it in the field availble on the website, and click on Convert.

After that, copy the whole text that has been converted from SBV to SRT format, paste it in another file in your text editor, and save it as a text file with the .SRT format.

Extract captions from Youtube with a Youtube subtitle extractor

It is also possible to download directly a text file without any timestamp using a software that will download your YouTube video transcript for you.

A Youtube subtitle extractor software will simply need you to copy and paste the URL of the video for which you want to extract subtitles from Youtube and get it as a text file, with or without timestamps.

In my case, it is very useful to use this software to get the audio transcripts from my  International Consulting videocast   recordings in order to publish them on my website.

If you extract captions from Youtube for your own videos, it is a great way to rewrite them to match better your content using your favorite text editor. In my case it is important to remove duplicates from the Youtube subtitles to make them readable.

The Youtube subtitles extractor will let you download a txt (plain text) file transcript of your YouTube video, and you will be able to select the video interval for which the Youtube transcript download will be performed. It is also possible to remove timestamps, keep the original timestamps, or use custom timestamps.

Frequently Asked Questions

How to extract subtitle from video YouTube?

To extract subtitles from a YouTube video, go to the three-dot menu under the video you want to extract subtitles for > add translations > switch language to select the correct language > actions > download.

Is there a way to download or extract subtitles (closed captions) from YouTube videos for use in transcriptions or translations?

While YouTube does not directly offer a download option for subtitles, users can utilize third-party websites or software that allow for the extraction of subtitle files from YouTube videos. These tools typically require the video URL and can generate subtitle files in formats like SRT or TXT. Always ensure to use these tools ethically and comply with YouTube's terms of service.

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