Quick answer
Install Vidgest from the Mac App Store, open the app, paste the YouTube URL, press Enter. The transcript appears with timestamps. Copy it, export to TXT, PDF, Markdown, SRT, VTT, or JSON, or run a one-tap AI summary. No browser extension, no account, free for unlimited transcripts on macOS 14.0 or later.
Step-by-step: get the transcript in under two minutes
Step 1: Install Vidgest from the Mac App Store
Open the Mac App Store and search for Vidgest, or use the direct link to the Mac App Store. The app is free, signed by Apple, and sandboxed. Requires macOS 14.0 (Sonoma) or later. Install size is small, so the download finishes in seconds on a normal connection.
Step 2: Open the app
Launch Vidgest from Spotlight, Launchpad, or the Applications folder. There is no sign-up screen. The main window is a paste field and a list of past transcripts (empty on first launch).
Step 3: Copy the YouTube URL
Open the YouTube video in any browser. Copy the URL from the address bar, or use the Share button under the video and copy the link. Both the full youtube.com URL and the short youtu.be URL work. Vidgest also accepts the URL of a specific timestamp; the timestamp is preserved.
Step 4: Paste into Vidgest and press Enter
Click into the paste field at the top of Vidgest, paste with Cmd+V, and press Enter (or click the fetch button). The app shows a brief progress indicator and the transcript appears in the main view, line by line, with timestamps.
Step 5: Read, search, or copy
Use Cmd+F to search within the transcript. Click any timestamp to jump back to that moment in YouTube in your default browser. Select text and Cmd+C to copy. The selection respects line breaks, so pasting into a notes app keeps things readable.
Step 6: Export
Use the Export menu. Free tier exports to TXT. Pro adds PDF, Markdown, SRT, VTT, and JSON. Markdown is useful for Obsidian, Bear, and Notion. SRT and VTT keep the original timestamp structure and can be used as subtitle files for other software. JSON is a clean dump of all transcript data for programmatic use.
Step 7 (optional): Run an AI summary
If you want a summary, chapters, or key takeaways instead of reading the whole transcript, press the AI button. Free tier gives 3 AI analyses per day. Pro gives 500 per month. Max ($49.99 one-time) lets you bring your own Google Gemini, Anthropic Claude, or OpenAI API key and pay the provider directly. The transcript text is sent only when you press the button.
Alternative methods (and why they are worse)
Method A: YouTube's own Show transcript panel
Click the three dots under any YouTube video and choose "Show transcript." A panel opens with the transcript inline. This works in a pinch, but the panel has no clean export. Copying produces a wall of text mixed with timestamps. There is no batch capability and no built-in AI summary.
Method B: Chrome or Safari extensions
Several extensions claim to add a "download transcript" button to YouTube. The download usually works, but you grant the extension permission to read every page you visit. Extensions break when YouTube changes its layout. Some IT environments block extension installs entirely. See the YouTube transcript without an extension page for the trade-offs in detail.
Method C: yt-dlp on the command line
If you are comfortable with Terminal, the open-source yt-dlp utility can fetch subtitle files. The command is something like yt-dlp --write-auto-subs --skip-download URL. It is powerful but unfriendly for batch usage, has no AI integration, and the output is a raw VTT file. Useful if you script everything. Overkill for grabbing one transcript on a Sunday afternoon.
Method D: Online transcript websites
Many sites take a YouTube URL and produce a transcript. They work for occasional use, but most rate-limit aggressively, paywall the export, or require sign-up. Your transcript also sits on their server, which matters if the content is sensitive.
Choosing the right method for you
- One quick transcript, read once, never need again: YouTube's own Show transcript panel.
- Regular use, clean exports, optional AI: Vidgest. This is what it is built for.
- 50+ videos in one go: Vidgest's batch queue. See the batch transcripts page.
- Command-line workflow with scripting: yt-dlp.
- One-off, no install: Online site, with the privacy trade-off in mind.
Try Vidgest free on Mac
Unlimited YouTube transcripts and 3 AI analyses per day on the free tier. No account, no credit card.
Download on the Mac App StoreFrequently asked questions
How long does it take to get a YouTube transcript on Mac?
About two minutes from install to first transcript. After install, each new transcript is a paste plus a few seconds of fetching.
Do I need to sign up for anything?
No. Vidgest has no account system. Install, paste, get the transcript.
Are the timestamps clickable?
Yes. Click any timestamp in the in-app view to jump back to that moment in YouTube in your default browser. SRT and VTT exports keep the timestamp data structured.
Can I get a transcript of a private or unlisted video?
Only if you can play the video yourself with a public URL. Private videos that require sign-in cannot be fetched by URL. For local recordings you own, drop the file into Vidgest and the on-device Whisper engine transcribes it in 19 languages without ever leaving your Mac.
What if YouTube did not generate captions for the video?
Some videos have no captions and no auto-generated transcript. In that case no URL-based tool can produce one. If you have the audio or video file, Vidgest's Whisper engine will transcribe it locally.
Is this method free?
Yes. The Mac App Store version of Vidgest is free with unlimited YouTube transcripts and 3 AI analyses per day. Pro and Max are optional.