From Audio to Words on YouTube: A Comprehensible Free Guide

How to Transcribe a YouTube Video for FREE

Richard Bennett

Mar 27, 2024• Proven solutions

If you want to transcribe your videos to make the dialogs and speeches available in text format, you can use YouTube Transcribe feature that the streaming site offers for free. In this article, I’ll share with you a couple of methods to transcribe a YouTube video for free.

Part 1: Transcribe YouTube Video Automatically for Free [2 Ways]
Part 2: Transcribe YouTube Video to Text Online with Third-Party Service
Part 3: Benefits of Transcribing YouTube Videos
Part 4: YouTube Video Transcription FAQs

Part 1: How to Transcribe YouTube Video Automatically for Free [2 Ways]

Besides the basic video editing features on the YouTube platform, you can now quickly transcribe YouTube videos to the text as well. The good thing is, you can either use the automatic transcription feature that YouTube offers, or upload it manually while adjusting the timing as you go further.

Below are the two methods to transcribe your YouTube videos for free:

Method 1: Use the Automated Transcription Service on YouTube

As the name suggests, YouTube automatic transcription service works automatically. This means you don’t even have to click the ‘Transcribe’ button anymore to transcribe a YouTube video, and the website takes care of it on its own. All you need to do is, choose English as the language of the video when setting up subtitles. You can follow the instructions given below to do so:

Step 1 Upload a Video

Sign in to your YouTube account, click your profile picture from the top-right corner, and click YouTube Studio from the menu. Next, click CREATE from the upper-right corner, click Upload videos from the menu, and drag and drop a video from your computer to the Upload videos box that appears next.

Step 2 Select Transcription Language

On the Details page of the next box that appears, scroll down and click MORE OPTIONS, and select English in the Video language drop-down list under the Language, subtitles, and closed captions (CC) section.

Step 3 Publish the Video

Follow the on-screen instructions from this point to publish the video, and wait while YouTube automatically transcribes and adds the close captions to it.

Note: Depending on the duration of the clip, the time YouTube would take to transcribe may vary.

After YouTube has transcribed the video, you can download the transcription file in your preferred format. The instructions are given below explain how you can do so:

Get to the Subtitles Window

While on the YouTube Studio page, click Subtitles from the left pane to go to the Channel subtitles page. And then click the video you want to modify.

Get to Classic Studio

In the video subtitle page of the target video, hover mouse on the Published Automatic status under the Subtitles column, click the Options icon (with three vertical dots) that appears, and click Edit on Classic Studio.

Download Transcription File

Click and open the Actions drop-down list from the top-left corner of the left pane, click your preferred transcription format including .vtt, .srt and .sbv from the list, and save the file on your local hard disk.

Method 2: Get YouTube Transcription when Watching

In addition, if you are watching any other video, you can make YouTube transcribe that for you as well. You can follow the instructions given below to get the YouTube video to text transcription:

Step 1: Play the Video

Go to the video on YouTube and start playing it. Make sure NOT to get to full-screen mode as doing so would hide the option to transcribe the clip.

Step 2: Enable Transcription

Click the More icon (with three horizontal dots) from under the bottom-right corner of the video player, and click Open transcript to see the video transcription in the Transcript pane that appears in the right.

Step 3: Manage Timestamps

Click the Options icon (with three vertical dots) from the top-right corner of the Transcript pane, and click Toggle timestamp to enable or disable the timestamps in the video transcription.

Limitations of Using YouTube Transcribe

Although YouTube’s automatic transcription is a decent feature that saves you a lot of time, since Google uses machine learning algorithms to convert the speech to text, the level of accuracy may vary depending on the accent of the speaker, and the clarity of the audio the video has. Also, even sometime you may not be satisfied with the end-results.

Alternatively, you can use Kapwing to transcribe a YouTube video and download the transcription file with the below step-by-step instructions:

Step 1: Add YouTube Video

Copy the URL of YouTube video you want to transcribe, go to https://www.kapwing.com/subtitles , paste the URL in the Paste a URL field, wait while Kapwing fetches the content of the video, and opens the Add subtitles to Video page.

Step 2: Transcribe the Video

Click Auto-generate from the right window, and follow the on-screen instructions to transcribe YouTube video to text.

Step 3: Download the Transcription File

Click Download SRT from the left pane, and follow the instructions from there to download the transcription file in *.srt format.

Pros

Kapwing is free to use
The auto-transcription process is quick and less tedious
Kapwing also allows manual transcription and uploading of an existing *.srt file

Cons

The auto-transcribed text might lack accuracy as the task is done by the speech-to-text tools that work in the background

You can follow the step-by-step instructions to transcribe a YouTube video and download the transcription file using Kapwing:

Step 1: Add YouTube Video

Step 2: Transcribe the Video

Click Auto-generate from the right window, and follow the on-screen instructions to transcribe YouTube video to text.

Step 3: Download the Transcription File

Click Download SRT from the left pane, and follow the instructions from there to download the transcription file in *.srt format.

Pros

Kapwing is free to use
The auto-transcription process is quick and less tedious
Kapwing also allows manual transcription and uploading of an existing *.srt file

Cons

The auto-transcribed text might lack accuracy as the task is done by the speech-to-text tools that work in the background

Part 3: Benefits of Transcribing YouTube Videos

You may need video transcriptions for several reasons, such as analyzing the summary of the entire speech in the video, extracting a single phrase or quote that was spoken in the clip, or making the video helpful even for those suffering from hearing impairment. When you transcribe a YouTube video, the transcript can be useful in many ways. Some of the most common benefits of transcribing a video include:

Search Engine Optimization

When you add subtitles, the text can appear in Google search results when someone types a similar phrase in the search box. This helps get more views to your videos, thus giving your channel popularity, and you, monetary gains in the long run.

Accent

If the speaker in the video is from a different region and is using an accent that you are not much comfortable with, you can turn on the subtitles and read the dialogs along with the video.

Repurposing on Blogs

If you own a blog that you have embedded your video to, the transcription could be used to add text to it so the target audience can get a fair idea of what the video is all about. This is useful because many people prefer reading over watching.

YouTube Video Transcription FAQs

1. How to Transcribe YouTube Video to Text

Usually the transcription files have *.srt extension that are globally accepted and supported by almost all media players. However, there might be instances when you want to have the subtitles in plain text.

That said, to convert an SRT file to TXT, you can:

Right-click the SRT file
Go to Rename
Replace srt with txt and press Enter
Click OK on the confirmation box that appears next to convert SRT to TXT

After this, you can simply double-click the file, and read and modify the transcribed content as needed.

2. How to Edit and Upload Edited Transcript to YouTube

If you made any modifications to the transcript that was automatically generated by YouTube or any other third-party transcription tool, you can follow the steps given below to upload the new file to the YouTube video:

Go to YouTube Studio and then to the Channel subtitles page as explained earlier
Expand the Languages column of the target video
Click the Options icon that appears under the Subtitles column when you hover mouse on to it
Click Edit on Classic Studio
On the next page, click Edit from the top-right corner

Click to open the Actions drop-down list from the upper-left corner
Click Upload a file
- Follow the on-screen instructions from there to upload the modified transcription file
- Click Save Changes from the top-right corner of the page when done

Conclusion

If you are looking for a quick and easy way of adding subtitles to your videos, letting YouTube transcribe for you could be a good approach. However, because these auto-generated transcriptions are created by machine learning algorithms, their accuracy cannot be counted on. Therefore, the best way to get the job done accurately is, let YouTube auto-transcribe your video, download the transcription file, make the necessary changes to it, and then upload the file back to the video.

Richard Bennett

Richard Bennett is a writer and a lover of all things video.

Follow @Richard Bennett

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The news channel distributes the most recent news events and information via television, radio, or the internet. People who work in news channels gather information from all over the world and convey it in the form of videos or audio. The content is created in a radio or television newsroom or by a broadcast network.

People nowadays don’t have much time to read newspapers since they only scan the headlines of specific news stories, which provide inadequate information. So, the news channel is the quickest way to acquire any news, which an individual can view or listen to at any time via smartphones, laptops (via the internet), or radio.

The news channel has grown in popularity to disseminate or broadcast information to the rest of the world. The focus of television programming might shift. Some channels cover international or national issues, while others concentrate on weather, movie marketing, celebrity news, or sports.

Moreover, YouTube has also become an essential news source for many Americans. A quarter of all adults in the United States (26%) say they acquire their news from YouTube. And, while few of these people say it is their primary news source, the majority believe it is an important way for them to stay informed. People from all over the world and from all walks of life post videos on YouTube. As a result, there is a diverse range of videos available on YouTube. Some examples are amateur films, handmade music videos, sports bloopers, news, and other amusing situations captured on video.

What Kind Of News Can You Get on YouTube?

On YouTube, you may find breaking news and popular stories.

On the site, there’s a shelf for breaking News

Except for viewers under the age of 18, and a Breaking News shelf is shown on the YouTube homepage. The breaking news shelf on the YouTube homepage can be reached simply by scrolling down the YouTube homepage when a major news event occurs. If you’re not interested, don’t bother. The homepage’s breaking news shelf can be turned off.

The information panel provides breaking news context in search results and will only offer text-based samples from a news story. In contrast, the content on the site will incorporate YouTube videos when they are available.

In search, the top News shelf

If you search for news, a Top News shelf appears in Search and has relevant information from news sources that follow Google News content policies. Regardless of age, the Top News shelf will appear.

Your homepage’s top News shelf

If you watch or search for news information, a top news shelf on your homepage may appear. Regardless of age, the top news shelf will appear, with relevant items from news sources that adhere to Google News’ content criteria.

Your homepage should have a COVID News shelf

On the homepage, a COVID-19 news shelf is now available. On our platform, there are news stories regarding COVID-19 from reliable news providers who respect Google News content policies and local health authorities. On the homepage, you can always hide the COVID-19 News shelf.

Why Should You Use Youtube as a News Source?

Many people use YouTube to watch funny viral videos and make-up lessons. However, a sizable portion of the American population relies on YouTube for news.

According to a recent Pew Research Center research, YouTube channels are an important source of news and information for more than a quarter of all individuals in the United States. While that’s a lot of people turning to YouTube for news, it’s not surprising given that the platform is the world’s second most-trafficked search engine, directly behind its sister business Google. People use YouTube as a source of information, but they’re seeking video rather than text.

What Are the Benefits of Youtube News?

What’s more surprising is that conventional news media organizations don’t account for nearly as much of what consumers consume. According to the report, half of the individuals who get their news via YouTube watch independent channels. And, of those who use YouTube to keep up with current events, 72 percent believe the platform is either an important or the most significant source of information for them. Independent media on YouTube frequently covers situations and topics that the mainstream media may overlook. It’s also often complementing, allowing viewers to understand the concerns better.

According to the Pew study, 66 percent of those who watch YouTube videos for news feel it helps them better comprehend current events. Sixty-eight percent said the videos maintain their attention and that they normally watch them intently rather than playing them in the background. Not only that, but when YouTube news users were asked to explain in their own words why YouTube is a unique place to get news, the most common responses were related to the content itself, such as access to news sources outside of the mainstream and the diversity of opinions and viewpoints available on the platform.

1. CNN

CNN is a branch of Turner Broadcasting System, which is a Warner Media company. CNN touts itself as the most reliable source of news and information, and it is widely acknowledged as such. CNN’s umbrella encompasses nine cable and satellite television networks, two radio networks, the CNN Digital Network, the United States’ largest network of news Websites, and CNN Newsource, the world’s most widely syndicated news service. As a result of the various extensions, CNN is proud ability to offer you up-to-the-minute news from across the globe.

Link: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCupvZG-5ko\_eiXAupbDfxWw/videos

2. FOX NEWS CHANNEL

According to PUBLIC POLICY POLLING, FOX NEWS is a top-five cable network; it has been the most-watched news channel in the country for more than 12 years and is the most trusted television news source in the country. It’s a 24-hour all-encompassing news service focused on breaking news, politics, and business.

Link: https://www.youtube.com/user/FoxNewsChannel/videos

3. TMZ NEWS CHANNEL

You’ll discover the newest celebrity gossip and entertainment news from TMZ.com on TMZ Chatter, as well as some of the best pieces from TMZ on TV, interviews from TMZ Live, and up-to-the-minute reporting from the journalistic staff. Reporting on Hollywood movie stars, Instagram celebrities, and viral internet sensations.

Link: https://www.youtube.com/user/TMZ/videos

4. TYT NEWS CHANNEL

The largest internet news show in the world is TheYoungTurks. The hosts are Cenk Uygur and Ana Kasparian. It is a one-of-a-kind show that puts all of the news that is important to people together in one place. Politics, entertainment, sports, and pop culture are all topics they enjoy discussing.

Link: https://www.youtube.com/user/TheYoungTurks/videos

5. NEW YORK TIMES

The New York Times is known for its high-quality journalism and sophisticated, interactive multimedia storytelling. Whether reporting on international conflicts and domestic political disputes or covering the newest fashion trends and scientific breakthroughs, New York Times video journalists offer a unique and unforgettable perspective on the world. It’s all the news worth watching.

Link: https://www.youtube.com/user/TheNewYorkTimes/videos

6. NBC NEWS CHANNEL

The official NBC News YouTube Channel is a key source of international news and information. Breaking news, technology, politics, health, entertainment, science, and business, as well as exclusive NBC investigations, may all be found on this channel.

Link: https://www.youtube.com/user/NBCNews/videos

7.US MILITARY NEWS

The Army, Navy, Marine Corps, Air Force, and Coast Guard are all represented on the US Military News Channel. This channel is updated daily with new movies of weapons, planes, ships, guns, artillery, vehicles, military actions, and technologies.

Link: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC2PbsEK-vgc3qFy1eAYYzSg/videos

8. ABC NEWS

ABC News is your go-to source for breaking news, commentary, exclusive interviews, top stories, and videos. They are constantly updated with breaking news, top stories, videos, photographs, special reports, and exclusive interviews.

Link: https://www.youtube.com/user/ABCNews/videos

9. RUSSIA TODAY NEWS

RT is a global news channel with studios in Moscow and Washington. With a worldwide audience of over 700 million people or more than 25% of all cable customers worldwide, RT news covers the critical topics of our day for those who want to go deeper.

Link: https://www.youtube.com/user/RussiaToday/videos

10. ZEE NEWS CHANNEL

Zee Media Corporation Ltd (ZMCL), India’s largest news network, reaches over 150 million Indians through a slew of national and regional news channels. The company’s flagship channel, Zee News, with the phrase ‘Soch Badlo Desh Badlo,’ indicating a concentration on hardcore and serious news.

Link: https://www.youtube.com/user/zeenews/videos

Time to Extract a Conclusion

● People’s interest is piqued by YouTube videos, which are excellent sources of information. People can easily access YouTube videos to learn more about relevant developments. It is unknown how trustworthy and beneficial the information gained via YouTube is. Excellent and reputable YouTube videos can be employed as a valuable source of information.

● On YouTube, you can watch live and local sports, news, and entertainment from over 70 different channels, including ABC, CBS, FOX, NBC, ESPN, HGTV, TNT, and others. YouTube also provides local and regional content, with over 98 percent of US TV households having complete local network coverage. The YouTube news channel is quite effective and beneficial to the public. It has several advantages.

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