Does it work if the video only has auto-generated captions?

Yes. If a creator hasn’t added their own subtitles, we fall back to YouTube’s auto-generated captions, which most videos have. The wording won’t be perfect, but it’s a solid starting point.

What’s the difference between SRT, VTT and TXT?

SRT and VTT are subtitle files with timestamps — SRT is the universal editor/player format, VTT is the web-native one. TXT is a plain transcript with the timestamps removed, ideal for reading, quoting, translating, or summarising with AI.

Can I get subtitles in other languages?

Right now the tool grabs the English track (human or auto). If a video has English captions or auto-captions, you’re covered. More languages are on the way.

Is it free, and are my files private?

Yes on both. LinksConverter is free with no account and no watermark. Subtitles are fetched on our servers and the file is automatically deleted after 2 hours.

Can I use the transcript with ChatGPT or other AI?

Definitely. A plain-text transcript is the ideal input to summarise a long video, pull quotes, translate it, or ask questions about it — without watching the whole thing.

LinksConverter

YouTube Subtitle Downloader

Download the subtitles or captions from any YouTube video — free, no sign-up, no watermark. Paste a link below to get a ready-to-use SRT file, or grab a plain-text transcript. It even works when a video only has YouTube’s auto-generated captions.

Drag & drop a file hereor click to browse from your device

Choose your format

SRT
The universal subtitle file — load it into any video editor or player, or upload it with your own re-cut.
TXT transcript
Plain text with the timestamps stripped out — perfect for notes, quotes, translation, or feeding to an AI to summarise.
VTT
The web-native caption format used by HTML5 <track> and most online players.

Prefer a specific output? Use the YouTube to SRT or YouTube to Text (transcript) page.

How to download YouTube subtitles

Copy the YouTube link
Open the video on YouTube and copy its URL from the address bar or the Share button. Any public video with captions works.
Paste it above
Drop the link into the box and start it. We fetch the video’s subtitle track — human-written captions if available, otherwise YouTube’s auto-generated ones.
Download your subtitles
You get a clean SRT file (or switch to a plain-text transcript). A one-time link appears the moment it’s ready, and the file is auto-deleted after 2 hours.