How to Get a Transcript of a YouTube Shorts Video

Getting the text from a YouTube Short isn't as simple as clicking "Show transcript," but it's definitely possible and even more useful. This guide walks you through a few different methods, from clever workarounds inside YouTube to powerful automated tools. By the end, you'll know exactly how to turn the audio from any Short into usable text for your content strategy.

Why You Might Need a Transcript from a YouTube Short

You might be wondering if it's worth the effort. The short answer is yes. Once you have the text from a video, you unlock a ton of possibilities that can save you time, improve your reach, and breathe new life into your best-performing content. Social media marketing is about working smarter, not just harder, and transcripts are a secret weapon for efficiency.

Here are a few of the most common reasons why pulling a transcript is a game-changer:

• Epic Content Repurposing: This is the big one. A 60-second Short can be the foundation for an entire content campaign. Turn the key points into a thread on X, a detailed LinkedIn post, an Instagram carousel, or even a short blog post. You've already done the hard work of creating the original idea, transcripts let you multiply its impact.
• Beefing Up Your SEO: YouTube's algorithm is smart, but it loves text. By pasting a clean transcript into your Short's description, you give the platform more keywords and context. This helps YouTube understand exactly what your video is about, increasing its chances of appearing in search results and recommended feeds.
• Creating Better Captions: While YouTube auto-generates captions for Shorts, they aren't always accurate. Pulling a transcript allows you to quickly clean up any errors, add punctuation, and perfect your captions for a more professional and accessible viewing experience.
• Easily Quoting or Referencing: Need to grab an exact quote from an influencer's Short for a reaction video, blog post, or case study? A transcript lets you copy and paste the text perfectly, without having to awkwardly replay the video ten times.
• Improving Accessibility: Providing a text-based version of your video content makes it accessible to a wider audience, including those who are deaf or hard of hearing, or those who simply prefer to read instead of watch.
• Content and Competitor Analysis: Want to understand what makes a competitor's Short go viral? Transcribe it. Analyzing the script can reveal the structure, language, and pacing that makes their content so compelling, giving you valuable insights for your own strategy.

The Main Hurdle: YouTube's Missing Transcript Button for Shorts

If you've ever tried to get a transcript from a regular, long-form YouTube video, you know the process is simple. You click the three little dots (`...`) below the video description, and right there is a neat little option called "Show transcript." Click it, and a full, time-stamped transcript pops up on the side. Easy.

With YouTube Shorts, however, that button is nowhere to be found. The user interface is stripped down for quick, vertical viewing on mobile, and the transcript feature was one of the casualties. This fundamental difference is why so many marketers and creators get stuck. They know the option should be there, but for Shorts, it simply isn't a native feature. But don't worry, there are ways around this limitation.

Method 1: The Manual YouTube Desktop Trick (Works Sometimes)

For a quick, free solution that works directly within YouTube, you can use a simple URL trick. This method basically fools YouTube into thinking the Short is a standard long-form video, which sometimes causes the "Show transcript" button to reappear. It doesn't work 100% of the time, as it depends on whether YouTube successfully auto-generated captions in the background, but it's always the first thing you should try.

Here's how to do it step-by-step on a computer:

1. Find your Short: Open the YouTube Short you want to transcribe in your web browser. Don't do this on your phone, as the URL structure is different.
2. Look at the URL: The URL in the address bar will look something like this:
   https://www.youtube.com/shorts/VIDEO_ID_HERE
3. Modify the URL: This is the important part. You need to manually edit the URL. Select the `shorts/` part and replace it with `watch?v=`, so the example above becomes:
   https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VIDEO_ID_HERE
4. Load the New Page: Press Enter to load the new URL. The Short will now open in the classic horizontal YouTube video player, just like a regular video.
5. Find the Transcript Button: Look below the video description box and click on the three dots (`...`). If the trick worked, you should now see the "Show transcript" option. Click it!

The transcript will appear in a box next to the video. From there, you can easily copy and paste the text into a document for editing. If the option doesn't appear, it means a transcript isn't available for that specific video through YouTube's system, and it's time to move on to a dedicated tool.

Method 2: Using Automated Third-Party Tools (The Quick and Easy Option)

When the desktop trick fails, or when you need transcripts regularly, automated transcription tools are your best friend. These services use AI to listen to the audio and convert it into text with surprisingly high accuracy. This is the method most professionals use for its speed, reliability, and convenience.

These tools generally fall into two categories:

Free Online YouTube Transcript Generators

Dozens of websites offer free transcription services specifically for YouTube videos. They're incredibly straightforward: you paste in the YouTube Shorts URL, click a button, and the site spits out the raw transcript a few seconds later.

• Pros: They are fast, free, and require no account registration. Perfect for grabbing one or two transcripts quickly.
• Cons: The accuracy can be hit-or-miss, especially with background music or unclear audio. They also might be filled with ads or have limits on how many videos you can transcribe each day.

AI-Powered Transcription Services

For creators, marketers, and agencies who need consistently accurate transcripts, premium AI services like Otter.ai, Descript, or Rev are the industry standard. These platforms offer much more than just raw text. They provide features like speaker identification (tagging who is speaking), precise timestamping, and an interactive editor to correct any mistakes.

• Pros: Highly accurate, packed with professional features, great for collaborative work, and often have generous free tiers to get you started.
• Cons: The best features are typically behind a subscription, though the cost is often easily justified by the time savings.

How to Use Most Automated Tools:

Regardless of which service you choose, the process is almost identical:

1. Copy the YouTube Shorts URL: Go to the Short and copy its link directly from your browser's address bar.
2. Find the Input Field: On your chosen tool's website, look for an option that says "Import from link," "Paste a URL," or something similar.
3. Paste and Process: Paste the Short's URL into the provided field and click the "Transcribe" or "Generate" button.
4. Wait a Moment: The AI will take anywhere from a few seconds to a minute to process the audio and generate the full transcript.
5. Review and Export: Once it's done, you'll see the complete text. Read through it to fix any minor errors, especially with names or technical terms. Then, you can export it as a text file, SRT file (for captions), or just copy it to your clipboard.

Putting Your Transcript to Work: Smarter Content Strategy

Getting the transcript is only half the battle. The real value comes from what you do with it. This is where you transform a single piece of content into a multi-platform marketing machine.

1. Create High-Value Blog Content

That snappy 30-second Short with three great tips? It's the perfect outline for a 500-word blog post. Use the transcript as your starting point, then expand on each tip. Add more details, anecdotes, supporting data, and a strong call-to-action. You already know the topic resonates with your audience - now you're just giving it to them in a different format they can save and refer back to.

2. Fuel Your Twitter/X and Threads Strategy

A single Short is a goldmine for text-based platforms. Go through your transcript and pull out every single impactful one-liner, surprising statistic, or actionable tip. Each of these can become its own post. String three to five of them together to create a compelling thread that teases the topic and drives people to watch the original video.

3. Design Eye-Catching Social Carousels

Visual learners love carousels on platforms like Instagram and LinkedIn. Take the main points from your transcript and turn each one into a slide. Use a simple design template in Canva, pair the text with a related background image or icon, and you have a brand new, highly shareable piece of content that teaches your audience something valuable.

4. Seriously Boost Your YouTube SEO

Don't just leave your YouTube description box empty. After you've cleaned up your transcript, paste the entire thing into the video's description. This simple act provides a massive amount of relevant keywords for YouTube's algorithm to crawl. It helps signal what your video is about, making it more likely to appear to the audience it's intended for.

Final Thoughts

Getting a transcript from a YouTube Short calls for either a simple URL workaround or a great third-party tool, but putting in a little extra effort unleashes a huge amount of possibilities to repurpose your most valuable content and grow your brand message and reach.

Once you have that transcript and start creating new assets like blog posts, carousels, threads, and repurposed video clips, managing it all can get chaotic fast. We understand the challenge, which is why we built Postbase with a visual calendar that lets you see your entire multi-channel content strategy at a glance. Postbase is natively built for modern short-form video content creation so you can schedule your repurposed YouTube Short across all of your platforms, all in one simple view.