Actually readable output
Caption fragments get merged into sentences and paragraphs at natural pauses, instead of dumping 400 two-second lines.
Free · Manifest V3 · Local-only
YouTube captions, minus the mess.
TranscriptSnap pulls the transcript from the video you're watching, strips the timestamps and caption clutter, and hands you clean, readable text. Copy it, download it, done.
0 servers · 0 accounts · 0 network requests
0:12so the first thing you want to do is
0:14[Music]
0:15so the first thing you want to do is
0:17open up the settings panel and then
0:19scroll down to where it says export
0:22uh and that's where most people get
0:24stuck because the button is hidden
0:26behind the advanced toggle
0:28[Applause]
So the first thing you want to do is open up the settings panel and then scroll down to where it says export.
And that's where most people get stuck, because the button is hidden behind the advanced toggle.
- No backend
- Nothing to upload to. There is no server.
- No account
- No sign-up, no API key, no paid tier.
- No tracking
- Zero analytics, zero third-party scripts.
How it works
Three clicks from video to clean text
TranscriptSnap reads the transcript YouTube already renders on the page. That's why it needs no API, no key and no connection.
STEP 01
Open a video
On any youtube.com/watch page, click the TranscriptSnap pill in the corner or the toolbar icon.
STEP 02
Hit Transcribe
The transcript is read from the page, de-duplicated, stripped of timestamps and sound cues, and regrouped into paragraphs.
STEP 03
Copy or download
Take it to your clipboard or save a .txt file. Want the timestamps back? One toggle brings them in.
What you get
Small tool, no surprises
Timestamps on demand
Off by default for reading and pasting. Flip them on when you need to cite a moment or jump back to it.
Clear status, every step
A chip tells you exactly where you are: Ready, Transcribing, Transcribed, Copied — or a plain-English reason it couldn't.
Four permissions, no more
activeTab, scripting, storage and youtube.com. Storage keeps one setting: timestamps on or off.
Privacy
The transcript never leaves your browser
This isn't a policy promise wrapped around a data pipeline. There is no pipeline. The extension makes no network requests of any kind — you can verify it in the DevTools network tab, or read the source, which is short.
What is collected
Nothing. No transcript text, no video IDs, no usage events, no identifiers.
What is stored
One boolean in Chrome's local storage: whether you want timestamps shown. It's removed when you uninstall.
FAQ
Questions people actually ask
Does TranscriptSnap send my transcripts anywhere?
No. The extension makes no network requests at all. It reads the transcript YouTube already renders on the page, cleans it in memory, and shows it to you. Nothing is uploaded, logged or stored.
Which videos work?
Any YouTube video that has captions, including auto-generated ones. If YouTube offers a "Show transcript" button for the video, TranscriptSnap can clean it. If the uploader disabled captions, there is no transcript to extract and you'll see a clear message saying so.
Do I need an account or an API key?
No. There is no sign-up, no key and no paid tier. Install it and it works.
What permissions does it ask for?
activeTab, scripting and storage, plus host access to youtube.com. Storage holds a single preference — whether timestamps are shown. No transcript text is ever saved.
Does it work in Edge, Brave or Opera?
Yes. It's a standard Manifest V3 extension, so any Chromium browser with MV3 support can load it.
Something broke. Where do I report it?
Open an issue on GitHub. The bug form asks for the video URL, your browser version and what the status chip said, which is usually enough to reproduce it.