TranscriptYT
Get a free API key

Free YouTube tool

YouTube Shorts Transcript

Paste a YouTube Shorts link to get everything that's said in the Short, with timestamps. Copy it, translate it, or download it.

How to get the transcript of a YouTube Short

  1. 1

    Copy the Short's link

    In the YouTube app tap Share, then Copy link. A youtube.com/shorts/ URL works, and so does the video ID.

  2. 2

    Paste it and get the transcript

    The text appears in seconds, with a timestamp on each line.

  3. 3

    Copy or download

    Copy the text, translate it into 150+ languages, or download it as TXT, SRT, VTT, or PDF.

The text of any YouTube Short

YouTube shows a transcript panel for long videos but not for Shorts. This tool reads the Short's captions directly, so you get every word with its timestamp in a few seconds.

Study what makes Shorts work

Creators and marketers copy the scripts of top Shorts to study their hooks, pacing, and calls to action. Paste the text into the YouTube Word Counter to see how fast they talk.

Reuse your own Shorts

Turn your Shorts' scripts into captions, posts, or a blog post, or translate them to reach viewers in other languages.

Need more?

Need transcripts at scale? Use the API

The same transcripts are available through the YouTube Transcript API: timestamped JSON, text, SRT, VTT, CSV, or Markdown, 150+ languages, and AI transcription for videos without captions. Or connect the YouTube MCP server to Claude, Cursor, or Codex and just paste links in chat.

curl "https://transcript-yt.com/v1/transcript?url=5f3Pn-N6yLc&format=text" \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer ts_live_..."
Get a free API key See the API

Common questions

Can you get a transcript of a YouTube Short?

Yes. YouTube doesn't show a transcript button on Shorts, but most Shorts have auto-generated captions, and this tool reads them.

Is it free?

Yes. A few videos a day are free with no account, and signing in with Google raises the limit.

Why does a Short have no transcript?

Some Shorts have no speech, only music, or captions turned off. The free tool needs captions; the API can transcribe the audio with AI.

Can I get captions for a Short as SRT?

Yes. Click SRT or VTT under Download to get a subtitle file with timings.

Can I get the transcripts of a channel's Shorts in bulk?

Yes, with the TranscriptYT API: list a channel's videos and fetch each transcript, or use the YouTube Channel Transcripts tool.