Is YouTubeForge free to use?

Yes. No account, no sign-up. Public YouTube captions are extracted as-is. Ads may appear around the tool.

How do I access the transcript after generating it?

Every result lives on the home URL with v= and mode=text. Optional query params: lang, tlang, and mode (audio, translate, summary, srt).

Can I download the transcript?

Yes. Download TXT, SRT, VTT, Markdown with timestamp links, or JSON. Copy and Copy Markdown are also available.

Is there a limit to the length of the video?

Captions have no extra length cap. Video: about 3 hours at 360p/480p, 90 min at 720p, 60 min at 1080p+. Audio: about 3 hours.

Guide

SRT vs VTT — which subtitle file should you download?

Both formats store timed lines. Players and editors prefer different ones. YouTubeForge builds SRT and VTT from the same public caption track so you can pick what your tool expects.

What SRT is

SubRip (.srt) is the common interchange format: cue number, start → end timestamps, then text. Most desktop video editors and many players open it without fuss.

What VTT is

WebVTT (.vtt) is the web-native format for HTML5 <track>. Browsers and many streaming workflows expect VTT. It can carry slightly richer cue settings than classic SRT.

Which should you choose?

Editing in Premiere, CapCut, or VLC → start with SRT. Embedding captions on a website → prefer VTT. Unsure? Download both; they come from the same cues.

How to download from a YouTube video

Paste the link on /youtube-to-srt (or use the box below), open the result, then download SRT or VTT. Timestamps stay aligned with the caption track YouTube published.

Transcript text vs subtitle file

A plain transcript is for reading and search. SRT/VTT are for players: they need start, end, and cue order. Use TXT/Markdown when you want quotes; use SRT/VTT when you want on-screen captions.

Open SRT / VTT download All guides

FAQ

Can I get SRT if YouTube only has auto-captions?

Yes, when that auto track is public. Quality matches YouTube’s auto captions.

Is VTT the same as SRT?

Same idea (timed text), different file syntax. Convert by downloading the format you need.

Do you burn captions into the video?

No. You get a sidecar subtitle file to load in a player or editor.