How to Translate a YouTube Transcript into Another Language
Read or repurpose a video in a language its captions were never written in.
YouTube's own auto-translate captions are convenient but ephemeral — they only exist inside the video player. If you want a translated transcript as an actual document you can read, edit, or download, you need a tool that translates the extracted text itself.
Steps
- Paste the video URL into CaptionFetch and fetch the transcript in its original caption language.
- Open the translation option (available on the Plus plan) and choose your target language.
- The translated transcript appears alongside the original — translation is non-destructive, so you always keep the source text and can toggle between the two.
- Download the translated version in TXT, SRT, VTT, JSON, CSV, or PDF, or save it to your library if you are signed in.
Why keep the original alongside the translation
Machine translation is good but not perfect, especially for idioms, technical jargon, and names. Keeping the source transcript next to the translation means you can spot-check anything that reads oddly against what was actually said, rather than trusting the translation blind.
Translating subtitle files, not just plain text
If you translate an SRT or VTT export, the timestamps are preserved — only the caption text changes. That means a translated subtitle file still lines up with the video, which matters if you are producing subtitles for viewers in another language rather than just a translated reading copy.