# How to See the Transcript on the YouTube App (iPhone and Android) Source: https://transcript-yt.com/blog/how-to-see-transcript-on-youtube-app · Updated 2026-11-10 · TranscriptYT > See a YouTube transcript in the iPhone or Android app: tap the description, then Show transcript. Plus what to do when the app hides it or won't let you copy. To see a transcript in the YouTube app, open the video, tap the title or description to expand it, scroll down to the Transcript section, and tap Show transcript. If that button is missing or you need to copy the text, paste the video link into the free [YouTube transcript tool](https://transcript-yt.com/youtube-transcript) in your phone's browser instead, which works on any phone and gives you the full text to copy or download. ## How to open the transcript in the YouTube app (iPhone and Android) The steps are the same in the YouTube app for iPhone, iPad, and Android. The transcript lives inside the expanded description, not in the player menu, which is why most people never find it. The panel scrolls along with the video and highlights the line being spoken. Tap any line to jump to that moment, which is handy for finding the one part of a long tutorial or lecture you actually need. Swipe the panel down or tap the X to close it and return to the comments and description. - Open the video in the YouTube app. - Tap the video title, or the "...more" link under it, to expand the description. - Scroll down past the description text to the Transcript section. - Tap Show transcript. A panel opens under the player with every line and its timestamp. - Tap a line to jump to that point in the video. ## Why there is no Show transcript button in the YouTube app If you expand the description and there is no Transcript section, one of these is usually the reason. The first two are the most common. Captions are not the same as the on-screen CC button. If a video has captions, tapping CC in the player (or the three-dot menu, then Captions) shows them on the video, but that still gives you only one line at a time and nothing you can copy. - The video has no captions. If the uploader turned captions off, or YouTube could not generate them (music, very short clips, heavy background noise, or an unsupported language), there is no transcript to show. - It is a Short. YouTube does not offer a transcript button on Shorts in the app or on the web. - The video is new. Auto-generated captions can take a while to appear after upload, and live streams usually get them only after the stream ends. - Your app is out of date. The mobile transcript panel rolled out gradually through server-side updates, so update YouTube from the App Store or Google Play and check again. ## How to copy a YouTube transcript on your phone The app's transcript panel is made for reading, not copying. Lines cannot be selected as one block, and timestamps sit between every line, so getting the text into Notes, Google Docs, or a chat app means retyping or screenshotting. The quickest way around this is a transcript tool that runs in your phone's browser. The free YouTube transcript generator takes the video link and returns the whole transcript as plain text, with a copy button and an option to drop the timestamps. It works in Safari and Chrome with no app to install and no account for your first 5 videos a day (25 a day after signing in). - In the YouTube app, tap Share under the video, then Copy link. - Open transcript-yt.com/youtube-transcript in Safari or Chrome and paste the link. - Tap Get transcript, then copy the text, with or without timestamps. - Or download it as TXT, SRT, VTT, JSON, CSV, or Markdown, or save it as a [PDF](https://transcript-yt.com/youtube-transcript-to-pdf) to keep in Files or Google Drive. ## Use the desktop YouTube site on your phone If you want YouTube's own transcript panel but the app hides it, the desktop site sometimes still shows it. In Safari, tap the aA button in the address bar and choose Request Desktop Website. In Chrome on Android, tap the three-dot menu and check Desktop site. Then open the video on youtube.com, expand the description, and tap Show transcript. This is fiddly on a small screen, the YouTube app may try to take over the link, and it still does nothing for Shorts or videos without captions. It is a fallback, not the main route. ## Transcripts for Shorts, other languages, and videos without captions Shorts have captions like any other video, but YouTube shows no transcript button for them. Paste the Short's link into the [YouTube Shorts transcript](https://transcript-yt.com/youtube-shorts-transcript) tool to read and copy it. If the video is in a language you don't read, the free tool lists every caption language the video has and can [translate the transcript](https://transcript-yt.com/youtube-transcript-translator) into 150+ languages. To skip reading altogether, the [YouTube summarizer](https://transcript-yt.com/youtube-summarizer) turns the transcript into a short summary with timestamped notes. To find the moment a word is said, [search the transcript](https://transcript-yt.com/youtube-transcript-search) and tap the timestamp link it returns. When a video has no captions at all, no tool that reads captions can help, including YouTube itself. Signed-in users of the free tool get a Transcribe the audio with AI option on caption-less videos, billed from their account credits at 1 credit per started minute of audio. AI transcription needs a paid plan or credit pack; free accounts read captions only. The details are in [how to transcribe a YouTube video without captions](https://transcript-yt.com/blog/transcribe-youtube-video-without-captions). ## For developers: get YouTube transcripts without the app If you are building something that needs transcripts on mobile, such as a notes app, a study tool, or a shortcut that saves a video's text, scraping the YouTube app is not an option. The [YouTube Transcript API](https://transcript-yt.com/api) takes a video URL or ID and returns the transcript as JSON with timestamps, or directly as text, SRT, VTT, CSV, or Markdown. Videos without captions fall back to AI transcription. Each successful transcript costs 1 credit. The free plan includes 100 credits one time, and paid plans start at $3 a month for 1,000 credits. A request from an iOS Shortcut, a backend, or the command line looks like this: ``` curl "https://transcript-yt.com/v1/transcript?url=https://youtu.be/5f3Pn-N6yLc&format=text" \ -H "Authorization: Bearer $TRANSCRIPTYT_KEY" ``` ## Quick checklist when the transcript won't show - Update the YouTube app and reopen the video. - Expand the full description and scroll all the way down; the Transcript section sits below the description text and links. - Tap CC in the player to check whether the video has captions at all. - If it is a Short, use the Shorts transcript tool instead. - If you need to copy the text, paste the link into the free transcript tool in your browser. - If there are no captions, use AI transcription from the audio. ## FAQ ### How do I see the transcript of a YouTube video on my phone? In the YouTube app, tap the video title to expand the description, scroll to the Transcript section, and tap Show transcript. If it isn't there, paste the video link into a browser transcript tool such as transcript-yt.com/youtube-transcript. ### Why can't I see Show transcript on YouTube mobile? Usually the video has no captions, it is a Short, or your app needs an update. YouTube only shows the transcript button when captions exist, and never on Shorts. ### Can I copy a YouTube transcript on iPhone? Not easily in the YouTube app, which shows the transcript line by line with timestamps. Copy the video link, paste it into the free tool at transcript-yt.com/youtube-transcript in Safari, and copy or download the full text. ### Do YouTube Shorts have transcripts? Shorts usually have captions, but YouTube shows no transcript button for them. Paste the Short's link into transcript-yt.com/youtube-shorts-transcript to get the text. ### Is there a free way to get YouTube transcripts on Android? Yes. YouTube's Show transcript panel is free, and the TranscriptYT web tool gives 5 transcripts a day without an account and 25 a day after signing in, from Chrome on any Android phone.