Mastering YouTube Video Edits with iMovie: A Step-by-Step Guide

Easy Way to Edit YouTube Videos in iMovie

Richard Bennett

Mar 27, 2024• Proven solutions

iMovie is the built-in video editor that allows you to combine several video clips. It is available for both Mac and iOS devices. This app was first released in 1999 when it came with the iMac DV model.

With the use of the iMovie, you are able to create movies that include sound effects, menus, transitions, titles, themes, and music, just to name a few. The resulting movie can be saved onto physical media or as a file on the hard drive.

If you are a Mac user, then you can easily edit YouTube videos in iMovie. All you need to do is to follow the simple steps below. In this article, you will learn how to import videos, organize videos, add YouTube titles and add transitions.

• Part 1. Steps on Editing YouTube Videos Using iMovie
• Part 2. A Better Choice to Edit YouTube Videos

Part 1. Steps on Editing YouTube Videos Using iMovie

To edit a video for YouTube with iMovie, you can follow these steps.

Step 1: Import Video Clips into iMovie

If you have recorded the video clips with the use of a videocam, then connect the camera to the Mac and open the app. You can import the videos by manually selecting the clips that will be part of the YouTube video.

Note: If you want to import videos that you have already published on your YouTube channel, then you can download them from the channel, and save them as MP4. However, if the videos were uploaded by other users, then you need to use a video converter, this article will let you know the 8 best video converters to convert video to MP4.

Step 2: Edit the Video Clips

Once you have all the clips that you need, the next step is to edit YouTube videos in iMovie. When you import the clips, you have created an Event in the app. If you want to include a clip in your final video, just drag the file to the project browser, where you can edit the video.

You can also add videos from other Events into the current project. You can select the parts of the video by dragging across the video from the chosen start to stop points. Edit the video until you are satisfied with the results.

Step 3: Enhance the Video

Once you have edited the video, you can then add background music, themes, sound effects, onscreen text, transitions between clips, and photos. The best thing about iMovie is that it comes with a sound effects library. It also allows you to upload audio from your iTunes library, iLife, and GarageBand.

iMovie allows you to add text to any part of the video, whether it is a title screen at the start, credits at the end, and everything in between. Try to enhance the video until you think it is ready to be uploaded to YouTube.

• Add YouTube title : If you want to add a title for YouTube Video, all you need to do is click Title in the toolbar, and then highlight My Movie on the left. From here, enter the title you like.
• Organize videos : You also can rearrange video clips in the timeline. Just drag the video on the timeline to wherever you want.
• Add transitions : If you have more than one video clip, you definitely need transitions between them. Click the Transitions tab, and then select one transition you like. In the end, drag it to stop between two clips.

Step 4: Export and Upload the Video to YouTube

When you edit YouTube videos in iMovie, you have the option to export the video straight to the video streaming website. All you need to do is to click on the Share button found at the top of the screen. Then select YouTube. Add your YouTube account in iMovie by entering your username and password. Then you choose a title, description, and tags for the video.

You can choose the resolution and size of the video that includes HD 720p and HD 1080p, mobile, medium, and large. Click on Publish to upload the video to YouTube. Uploading the video will take several minutes to a couple of hours, depending on the resolution and size of the video.

Part 2. A Better Choice to Edit YouTube Videos

There’s a better way to edit YouTube videos. It involves the use of Wondershare Filmora . It is user-friendly and allows beginners to make videos professional-looking videos.

This software has more than 300 video effects for family, weddings, love, and travel, etc. You can also add animated captions to photos that will help tell the story. It comes with an array of intro and credit templates that will enhance your video.

Lastly, you can easily share the resulting movie on YouTube, DVD, other devices, and a lot more.

Richard Bennett

Richard Bennett is a writer and a lover of all things video.

Follow @Richard Bennett

Richard Bennett

Mar 27, 2024• Proven solutions

iMovie is the built-in video editor that allows you to combine several video clips. It is available for both Mac and iOS devices. This app was first released in 1999 when it came with the iMac DV model.

With the use of the iMovie, you are able to create movies that include sound effects, menus, transitions, titles, themes, and music, just to name a few. The resulting movie can be saved onto physical media or as a file on the hard drive.

If you are a Mac user, then you can easily edit YouTube videos in iMovie. All you need to do is to follow the simple steps below. In this article, you will learn how to import videos, organize videos, add YouTube titles and add transitions.

• Part 1. Steps on Editing YouTube Videos Using iMovie
• Part 2. A Better Choice to Edit YouTube Videos

Part 1. Steps on Editing YouTube Videos Using iMovie

To edit a video for YouTube with iMovie, you can follow these steps.

Step 1: Import Video Clips into iMovie

If you have recorded the video clips with the use of a videocam, then connect the camera to the Mac and open the app. You can import the videos by manually selecting the clips that will be part of the YouTube video.

Note: If you want to import videos that you have already published on your YouTube channel, then you can download them from the channel, and save them as MP4. However, if the videos were uploaded by other users, then you need to use a video converter, this article will let you know the 8 best video converters to convert video to MP4.

Step 2: Edit the Video Clips

Once you have all the clips that you need, the next step is to edit YouTube videos in iMovie. When you import the clips, you have created an Event in the app. If you want to include a clip in your final video, just drag the file to the project browser, where you can edit the video.

You can also add videos from other Events into the current project. You can select the parts of the video by dragging across the video from the chosen start to stop points. Edit the video until you are satisfied with the results.

Step 3: Enhance the Video

Once you have edited the video, you can then add background music, themes, sound effects, onscreen text, transitions between clips, and photos. The best thing about iMovie is that it comes with a sound effects library. It also allows you to upload audio from your iTunes library, iLife, and GarageBand.

iMovie allows you to add text to any part of the video, whether it is a title screen at the start, credits at the end, and everything in between. Try to enhance the video until you think it is ready to be uploaded to YouTube.

• Add YouTube title : If you want to add a title for YouTube Video, all you need to do is click Title in the toolbar, and then highlight My Movie on the left. From here, enter the title you like.
• Organize videos : You also can rearrange video clips in the timeline. Just drag the video on the timeline to wherever you want.
• Add transitions : If you have more than one video clip, you definitely need transitions between them. Click the Transitions tab, and then select one transition you like. In the end, drag it to stop between two clips.

Step 4: Export and Upload the Video to YouTube

When you edit YouTube videos in iMovie, you have the option to export the video straight to the video streaming website. All you need to do is to click on the Share button found at the top of the screen. Then select YouTube. Add your YouTube account in iMovie by entering your username and password. Then you choose a title, description, and tags for the video.

You can choose the resolution and size of the video that includes HD 720p and HD 1080p, mobile, medium, and large. Click on Publish to upload the video to YouTube. Uploading the video will take several minutes to a couple of hours, depending on the resolution and size of the video.

Part 2. A Better Choice to Edit YouTube Videos

There’s a better way to edit YouTube videos. It involves the use of Wondershare Filmora . It is user-friendly and allows beginners to make videos professional-looking videos.

This software has more than 300 video effects for family, weddings, love, and travel, etc. You can also add animated captions to photos that will help tell the story. It comes with an array of intro and credit templates that will enhance your video.

Lastly, you can easily share the resulting movie on YouTube, DVD, other devices, and a lot more.

Richard Bennett

Richard Bennett is a writer and a lover of all things video.

Follow @Richard Bennett

Richard Bennett

Mar 27, 2024• Proven solutions

iMovie is the built-in video editor that allows you to combine several video clips. It is available for both Mac and iOS devices. This app was first released in 1999 when it came with the iMac DV model.

With the use of the iMovie, you are able to create movies that include sound effects, menus, transitions, titles, themes, and music, just to name a few. The resulting movie can be saved onto physical media or as a file on the hard drive.

If you are a Mac user, then you can easily edit YouTube videos in iMovie. All you need to do is to follow the simple steps below. In this article, you will learn how to import videos, organize videos, add YouTube titles and add transitions.

• Part 1. Steps on Editing YouTube Videos Using iMovie
• Part 2. A Better Choice to Edit YouTube Videos

Part 1. Steps on Editing YouTube Videos Using iMovie

To edit a video for YouTube with iMovie, you can follow these steps.

Step 1: Import Video Clips into iMovie

If you have recorded the video clips with the use of a videocam, then connect the camera to the Mac and open the app. You can import the videos by manually selecting the clips that will be part of the YouTube video.

Note: If you want to import videos that you have already published on your YouTube channel, then you can download them from the channel, and save them as MP4. However, if the videos were uploaded by other users, then you need to use a video converter, this article will let you know the 8 best video converters to convert video to MP4.

Step 2: Edit the Video Clips

Once you have all the clips that you need, the next step is to edit YouTube videos in iMovie. When you import the clips, you have created an Event in the app. If you want to include a clip in your final video, just drag the file to the project browser, where you can edit the video.

You can also add videos from other Events into the current project. You can select the parts of the video by dragging across the video from the chosen start to stop points. Edit the video until you are satisfied with the results.

Step 3: Enhance the Video

Once you have edited the video, you can then add background music, themes, sound effects, onscreen text, transitions between clips, and photos. The best thing about iMovie is that it comes with a sound effects library. It also allows you to upload audio from your iTunes library, iLife, and GarageBand.

iMovie allows you to add text to any part of the video, whether it is a title screen at the start, credits at the end, and everything in between. Try to enhance the video until you think it is ready to be uploaded to YouTube.

• Add YouTube title : If you want to add a title for YouTube Video, all you need to do is click Title in the toolbar, and then highlight My Movie on the left. From here, enter the title you like.
• Organize videos : You also can rearrange video clips in the timeline. Just drag the video on the timeline to wherever you want.
• Add transitions : If you have more than one video clip, you definitely need transitions between them. Click the Transitions tab, and then select one transition you like. In the end, drag it to stop between two clips.

Step 4: Export and Upload the Video to YouTube

When you edit YouTube videos in iMovie, you have the option to export the video straight to the video streaming website. All you need to do is to click on the Share button found at the top of the screen. Then select YouTube. Add your YouTube account in iMovie by entering your username and password. Then you choose a title, description, and tags for the video.

You can choose the resolution and size of the video that includes HD 720p and HD 1080p, mobile, medium, and large. Click on Publish to upload the video to YouTube. Uploading the video will take several minutes to a couple of hours, depending on the resolution and size of the video.

Part 2. A Better Choice to Edit YouTube Videos

There’s a better way to edit YouTube videos. It involves the use of Wondershare Filmora . It is user-friendly and allows beginners to make videos professional-looking videos.

This software has more than 300 video effects for family, weddings, love, and travel, etc. You can also add animated captions to photos that will help tell the story. It comes with an array of intro and credit templates that will enhance your video.

Lastly, you can easily share the resulting movie on YouTube, DVD, other devices, and a lot more.

Richard Bennett

Richard Bennett is a writer and a lover of all things video.

Follow @Richard Bennett

Richard Bennett

Mar 27, 2024• Proven solutions

iMovie is the built-in video editor that allows you to combine several video clips. It is available for both Mac and iOS devices. This app was first released in 1999 when it came with the iMac DV model.

With the use of the iMovie, you are able to create movies that include sound effects, menus, transitions, titles, themes, and music, just to name a few. The resulting movie can be saved onto physical media or as a file on the hard drive.

If you are a Mac user, then you can easily edit YouTube videos in iMovie. All you need to do is to follow the simple steps below. In this article, you will learn how to import videos, organize videos, add YouTube titles and add transitions.

• Part 1. Steps on Editing YouTube Videos Using iMovie
• Part 2. A Better Choice to Edit YouTube Videos

Part 1. Steps on Editing YouTube Videos Using iMovie

To edit a video for YouTube with iMovie, you can follow these steps.

Step 1: Import Video Clips into iMovie

If you have recorded the video clips with the use of a videocam, then connect the camera to the Mac and open the app. You can import the videos by manually selecting the clips that will be part of the YouTube video.

Note: If you want to import videos that you have already published on your YouTube channel, then you can download them from the channel, and save them as MP4. However, if the videos were uploaded by other users, then you need to use a video converter, this article will let you know the 8 best video converters to convert video to MP4.

Step 2: Edit the Video Clips

Once you have all the clips that you need, the next step is to edit YouTube videos in iMovie. When you import the clips, you have created an Event in the app. If you want to include a clip in your final video, just drag the file to the project browser, where you can edit the video.

You can also add videos from other Events into the current project. You can select the parts of the video by dragging across the video from the chosen start to stop points. Edit the video until you are satisfied with the results.

Step 3: Enhance the Video

Once you have edited the video, you can then add background music, themes, sound effects, onscreen text, transitions between clips, and photos. The best thing about iMovie is that it comes with a sound effects library. It also allows you to upload audio from your iTunes library, iLife, and GarageBand.

iMovie allows you to add text to any part of the video, whether it is a title screen at the start, credits at the end, and everything in between. Try to enhance the video until you think it is ready to be uploaded to YouTube.

• Add YouTube title : If you want to add a title for YouTube Video, all you need to do is click Title in the toolbar, and then highlight My Movie on the left. From here, enter the title you like.
• Organize videos : You also can rearrange video clips in the timeline. Just drag the video on the timeline to wherever you want.
• Add transitions : If you have more than one video clip, you definitely need transitions between them. Click the Transitions tab, and then select one transition you like. In the end, drag it to stop between two clips.

Step 4: Export and Upload the Video to YouTube

When you edit YouTube videos in iMovie, you have the option to export the video straight to the video streaming website. All you need to do is to click on the Share button found at the top of the screen. Then select YouTube. Add your YouTube account in iMovie by entering your username and password. Then you choose a title, description, and tags for the video.

You can choose the resolution and size of the video that includes HD 720p and HD 1080p, mobile, medium, and large. Click on Publish to upload the video to YouTube. Uploading the video will take several minutes to a couple of hours, depending on the resolution and size of the video.

Part 2. A Better Choice to Edit YouTube Videos

There’s a better way to edit YouTube videos. It involves the use of Wondershare Filmora . It is user-friendly and allows beginners to make videos professional-looking videos.

This software has more than 300 video effects for family, weddings, love, and travel, etc. You can also add animated captions to photos that will help tell the story. It comes with an array of intro and credit templates that will enhance your video.

Lastly, you can easily share the resulting movie on YouTube, DVD, other devices, and a lot more.

Richard Bennett

Richard Bennett is a writer and a lover of all things video.

Follow @Richard Bennett

Simplify Your Life with These Tips on Free YouTube Transcription

How to Transcribe a YouTube Video for FREE

Richard Bennett

Mar 27, 2024• Proven solutions

If you want to transcribe your videos to make the dialogs and speeches available in text format, you can use YouTube Transcribe feature that the streaming site offers for free. In this article, I’ll share with you a couple of methods to transcribe a YouTube video for free.

• Part 1: Transcribe YouTube Video Automatically for Free [2 Ways]
• Part 2: Transcribe YouTube Video to Text Online with Third-Party Service
• Part 3: Benefits of Transcribing YouTube Videos
• Part 4: YouTube Video Transcription FAQs

Part 1: How to Transcribe YouTube Video Automatically for Free [2 Ways]

Besides the basic video editing features on the YouTube platform, you can now quickly transcribe YouTube videos to the text as well. The good thing is, you can either use the automatic transcription feature that YouTube offers, or upload it manually while adjusting the timing as you go further.

Below are the two methods to transcribe your YouTube videos for free:

Method 1: Use the Automated Transcription Service on YouTube

As the name suggests, YouTube automatic transcription service works automatically. This means you don’t even have to click the ‘Transcribe’ button anymore to transcribe a YouTube video, and the website takes care of it on its own. All you need to do is, choose English as the language of the video when setting up subtitles. You can follow the instructions given below to do so:

Step 1 Upload a Video

Sign in to your YouTube account, click your profile picture from the top-right corner, and click YouTube Studio from the menu. Next, click CREATE from the upper-right corner, click Upload videos from the menu, and drag and drop a video from your computer to the Upload videos box that appears next.

Step 2 Select Transcription Language

On the Details page of the next box that appears, scroll down and click MORE OPTIONS, and select English in the Video language drop-down list under the Language, subtitles, and closed captions (CC) section.

Step 3 Publish the Video

Follow the on-screen instructions from this point to publish the video, and wait while YouTube automatically transcribes and adds the close captions to it.

Note: Depending on the duration of the clip, the time YouTube would take to transcribe may vary.

After YouTube has transcribed the video, you can download the transcription file in your preferred format. The instructions are given below explain how you can do so:

1. Get to the Subtitles Window

While on the YouTube Studio page, click Subtitles from the left pane to go to the Channel subtitles page. And then click the video you want to modify.

1. Get to Classic Studio

In the video subtitle page of the target video, hover mouse on the Published Automatic status under the Subtitles column, click the Options icon (with three vertical dots) that appears, and click Edit on Classic Studio.

1. Download Transcription File

Click and open the Actions drop-down list from the top-left corner of the left pane, click your preferred transcription format including .vtt, .srt and .sbv from the list, and save the file on your local hard disk.

Method 2: Get YouTube Transcription when Watching

In addition, if you are watching any other video, you can make YouTube transcribe that for you as well. You can follow the instructions given below to get the YouTube video to text transcription:

Step 1: Play the Video

Go to the video on YouTube and start playing it. Make sure NOT to get to full-screen mode as doing so would hide the option to transcribe the clip.

Step 2: Enable Transcription

Click the More icon (with three horizontal dots) from under the bottom-right corner of the video player, and click Open transcript to see the video transcription in the Transcript pane that appears in the right.

Step 3: Manage Timestamps

Click the Options icon (with three vertical dots) from the top-right corner of the Transcript pane, and click Toggle timestamp to enable or disable the timestamps in the video transcription.

Limitations of Using YouTube Transcribe

Although YouTube’s automatic transcription is a decent feature that saves you a lot of time, since Google uses machine learning algorithms to convert the speech to text, the level of accuracy may vary depending on the accent of the speaker, and the clarity of the audio the video has. Also, even sometime you may not be satisfied with the end-results.

Alternatively, you can use Kapwing to transcribe a YouTube video and download the transcription file with the below step-by-step instructions:

Step 1: Add YouTube Video

Copy the URL of YouTube video you want to transcribe, go to https://www.kapwing.com/subtitles , paste the URL in the Paste a URL field, wait while Kapwing fetches the content of the video, and opens the Add subtitles to Video page.

Step 2: Transcribe the Video

Click Auto-generate from the right window, and follow the on-screen instructions to transcribe YouTube video to text.

Step 3: Download the Transcription File

Click Download SRT from the left pane, and follow the instructions from there to download the transcription file in *.srt format.

Pros

• Kapwing is free to use
• The auto-transcription process is quick and less tedious
• Kapwing also allows manual transcription and uploading of an existing *.srt file

Cons

• The auto-transcribed text might lack accuracy as the task is done by the speech-to-text tools that work in the background

You can follow the step-by-step instructions to transcribe a YouTube video and download the transcription file using Kapwing:

Step 1: Add YouTube Video

Copy the URL of YouTube video you want to transcribe, go to https://www.kapwing.com/subtitles , paste the URL in the Paste a URL field, wait while Kapwing fetches the content of the video, and opens the Add subtitles to Video page.

Step 2: Transcribe the Video

Click Auto-generate from the right window, and follow the on-screen instructions to transcribe YouTube video to text.

Step 3: Download the Transcription File

Click Download SRT from the left pane, and follow the instructions from there to download the transcription file in *.srt format.

Pros

• Kapwing is free to use
• The auto-transcription process is quick and less tedious
• Kapwing also allows manual transcription and uploading of an existing *.srt file

Cons

• The auto-transcribed text might lack accuracy as the task is done by the speech-to-text tools that work in the background

Part 3: Benefits of Transcribing YouTube Videos

You may need video transcriptions for several reasons, such as analyzing the summary of the entire speech in the video, extracting a single phrase or quote that was spoken in the clip, or making the video helpful even for those suffering from hearing impairment. When you transcribe a YouTube video, the transcript can be useful in many ways. Some of the most common benefits of transcribing a video include:

• Search Engine Optimization

When you add subtitles, the text can appear in Google search results when someone types a similar phrase in the search box. This helps get more views to your videos, thus giving your channel popularity, and you, monetary gains in the long run.

• Accent

If the speaker in the video is from a different region and is using an accent that you are not much comfortable with, you can turn on the subtitles and read the dialogs along with the video.

• Repurposing on Blogs

If you own a blog that you have embedded your video to, the transcription could be used to add text to it so the target audience can get a fair idea of what the video is all about. This is useful because many people prefer reading over watching.

YouTube Video Transcription FAQs

1. How to Transcribe YouTube Video to Text

Usually the transcription files have *.srt extension that are globally accepted and supported by almost all media players. However, there might be instances when you want to have the subtitles in plain text.

That said, to convert an SRT file to TXT, you can:

• Right-click the SRT file
• Go to Rename
• Replace srt with txt and press Enter
• Click OK on the confirmation box that appears next to convert SRT to TXT

After this, you can simply double-click the file, and read and modify the transcribed content as needed.

2. How to Edit and Upload Edited Transcript to YouTube

If you made any modifications to the transcript that was automatically generated by YouTube or any other third-party transcription tool, you can follow the steps given below to upload the new file to the YouTube video:

• Go to YouTube Studio and then to the Channel subtitles page as explained earlier
• Expand the Languages column of the target video
• Click the Options icon that appears under the Subtitles column when you hover mouse on to it
• Click Edit on Classic Studio
• On the next page, click Edit from the top-right corner

• Click to open the Actions drop-down list from the upper-left corner
• Click Upload a file
  • Follow the on-screen instructions from there to upload the modified transcription file
  • Click Save Changes from the top-right corner of the page when done

Conclusion

If you are looking for a quick and easy way of adding subtitles to your videos, letting YouTube transcribe for you could be a good approach. However, because these auto-generated transcriptions are created by machine learning algorithms, their accuracy cannot be counted on. Therefore, the best way to get the job done accurately is, let YouTube auto-transcribe your video, download the transcription file, make the necessary changes to it, and then upload the file back to the video.

Richard Bennett

Richard Bennett is a writer and a lover of all things video.

Follow @Richard Bennett

Richard Bennett

Mar 27, 2024• Proven solutions

If you want to transcribe your videos to make the dialogs and speeches available in text format, you can use YouTube Transcribe feature that the streaming site offers for free. In this article, I’ll share with you a couple of methods to transcribe a YouTube video for free.

• Part 1: Transcribe YouTube Video Automatically for Free [2 Ways]
• Part 2: Transcribe YouTube Video to Text Online with Third-Party Service
• Part 3: Benefits of Transcribing YouTube Videos
• Part 4: YouTube Video Transcription FAQs

Part 1: How to Transcribe YouTube Video Automatically for Free [2 Ways]

Besides the basic video editing features on the YouTube platform, you can now quickly transcribe YouTube videos to the text as well. The good thing is, you can either use the automatic transcription feature that YouTube offers, or upload it manually while adjusting the timing as you go further.

Below are the two methods to transcribe your YouTube videos for free:

Method 1: Use the Automated Transcription Service on YouTube

As the name suggests, YouTube automatic transcription service works automatically. This means you don’t even have to click the ‘Transcribe’ button anymore to transcribe a YouTube video, and the website takes care of it on its own. All you need to do is, choose English as the language of the video when setting up subtitles. You can follow the instructions given below to do so:

Step 1 Upload a Video

Sign in to your YouTube account, click your profile picture from the top-right corner, and click YouTube Studio from the menu. Next, click CREATE from the upper-right corner, click Upload videos from the menu, and drag and drop a video from your computer to the Upload videos box that appears next.

Step 2 Select Transcription Language

On the Details page of the next box that appears, scroll down and click MORE OPTIONS, and select English in the Video language drop-down list under the Language, subtitles, and closed captions (CC) section.

Step 3 Publish the Video

Follow the on-screen instructions from this point to publish the video, and wait while YouTube automatically transcribes and adds the close captions to it.

Note: Depending on the duration of the clip, the time YouTube would take to transcribe may vary.

After YouTube has transcribed the video, you can download the transcription file in your preferred format. The instructions are given below explain how you can do so:

1. Get to the Subtitles Window

While on the YouTube Studio page, click Subtitles from the left pane to go to the Channel subtitles page. And then click the video you want to modify.

1. Get to Classic Studio

In the video subtitle page of the target video, hover mouse on the Published Automatic status under the Subtitles column, click the Options icon (with three vertical dots) that appears, and click Edit on Classic Studio.

1. Download Transcription File

Click and open the Actions drop-down list from the top-left corner of the left pane, click your preferred transcription format including .vtt, .srt and .sbv from the list, and save the file on your local hard disk.

Method 2: Get YouTube Transcription when Watching

In addition, if you are watching any other video, you can make YouTube transcribe that for you as well. You can follow the instructions given below to get the YouTube video to text transcription:

Step 1: Play the Video

Go to the video on YouTube and start playing it. Make sure NOT to get to full-screen mode as doing so would hide the option to transcribe the clip.

Step 2: Enable Transcription

Click the More icon (with three horizontal dots) from under the bottom-right corner of the video player, and click Open transcript to see the video transcription in the Transcript pane that appears in the right.

Step 3: Manage Timestamps

Click the Options icon (with three vertical dots) from the top-right corner of the Transcript pane, and click Toggle timestamp to enable or disable the timestamps in the video transcription.

Limitations of Using YouTube Transcribe

Although YouTube’s automatic transcription is a decent feature that saves you a lot of time, since Google uses machine learning algorithms to convert the speech to text, the level of accuracy may vary depending on the accent of the speaker, and the clarity of the audio the video has. Also, even sometime you may not be satisfied with the end-results.

Alternatively, you can use Kapwing to transcribe a YouTube video and download the transcription file with the below step-by-step instructions:

Step 1: Add YouTube Video

Copy the URL of YouTube video you want to transcribe, go to https://www.kapwing.com/subtitles , paste the URL in the Paste a URL field, wait while Kapwing fetches the content of the video, and opens the Add subtitles to Video page.

Step 2: Transcribe the Video

Click Auto-generate from the right window, and follow the on-screen instructions to transcribe YouTube video to text.

Step 3: Download the Transcription File

Click Download SRT from the left pane, and follow the instructions from there to download the transcription file in *.srt format.

Pros

• Kapwing is free to use
• The auto-transcription process is quick and less tedious
• Kapwing also allows manual transcription and uploading of an existing *.srt file

Cons

• The auto-transcribed text might lack accuracy as the task is done by the speech-to-text tools that work in the background

You can follow the step-by-step instructions to transcribe a YouTube video and download the transcription file using Kapwing:

Step 1: Add YouTube Video

Copy the URL of YouTube video you want to transcribe, go to https://www.kapwing.com/subtitles , paste the URL in the Paste a URL field, wait while Kapwing fetches the content of the video, and opens the Add subtitles to Video page.

Step 2: Transcribe the Video

Click Auto-generate from the right window, and follow the on-screen instructions to transcribe YouTube video to text.

Step 3: Download the Transcription File

Click Download SRT from the left pane, and follow the instructions from there to download the transcription file in *.srt format.

Pros

• Kapwing is free to use
• The auto-transcription process is quick and less tedious
• Kapwing also allows manual transcription and uploading of an existing *.srt file

Cons

• The auto-transcribed text might lack accuracy as the task is done by the speech-to-text tools that work in the background

Part 3: Benefits of Transcribing YouTube Videos

You may need video transcriptions for several reasons, such as analyzing the summary of the entire speech in the video, extracting a single phrase or quote that was spoken in the clip, or making the video helpful even for those suffering from hearing impairment. When you transcribe a YouTube video, the transcript can be useful in many ways. Some of the most common benefits of transcribing a video include:

• Search Engine Optimization

When you add subtitles, the text can appear in Google search results when someone types a similar phrase in the search box. This helps get more views to your videos, thus giving your channel popularity, and you, monetary gains in the long run.

• Accent

If the speaker in the video is from a different region and is using an accent that you are not much comfortable with, you can turn on the subtitles and read the dialogs along with the video.

• Repurposing on Blogs

If you own a blog that you have embedded your video to, the transcription could be used to add text to it so the target audience can get a fair idea of what the video is all about. This is useful because many people prefer reading over watching.

YouTube Video Transcription FAQs

1. How to Transcribe YouTube Video to Text

Usually the transcription files have *.srt extension that are globally accepted and supported by almost all media players. However, there might be instances when you want to have the subtitles in plain text.

That said, to convert an SRT file to TXT, you can:

• Right-click the SRT file
• Go to Rename
• Replace srt with txt and press Enter
• Click OK on the confirmation box that appears next to convert SRT to TXT

After this, you can simply double-click the file, and read and modify the transcribed content as needed.

2. How to Edit and Upload Edited Transcript to YouTube

If you made any modifications to the transcript that was automatically generated by YouTube or any other third-party transcription tool, you can follow the steps given below to upload the new file to the YouTube video:

• Go to YouTube Studio and then to the Channel subtitles page as explained earlier
• Expand the Languages column of the target video
• Click the Options icon that appears under the Subtitles column when you hover mouse on to it
• Click Edit on Classic Studio
• On the next page, click Edit from the top-right corner

• Click to open the Actions drop-down list from the upper-left corner
• Click Upload a file
  • Follow the on-screen instructions from there to upload the modified transcription file
  • Click Save Changes from the top-right corner of the page when done

Conclusion

If you are looking for a quick and easy way of adding subtitles to your videos, letting YouTube transcribe for you could be a good approach. However, because these auto-generated transcriptions are created by machine learning algorithms, their accuracy cannot be counted on. Therefore, the best way to get the job done accurately is, let YouTube auto-transcribe your video, download the transcription file, make the necessary changes to it, and then upload the file back to the video.

Richard Bennett

Richard Bennett is a writer and a lover of all things video.

Follow @Richard Bennett

Richard Bennett

Mar 27, 2024• Proven solutions

If you want to transcribe your videos to make the dialogs and speeches available in text format, you can use YouTube Transcribe feature that the streaming site offers for free. In this article, I’ll share with you a couple of methods to transcribe a YouTube video for free.

• Part 1: Transcribe YouTube Video Automatically for Free [2 Ways]
• Part 2: Transcribe YouTube Video to Text Online with Third-Party Service
• Part 3: Benefits of Transcribing YouTube Videos
• Part 4: YouTube Video Transcription FAQs

Part 1: How to Transcribe YouTube Video Automatically for Free [2 Ways]

Besides the basic video editing features on the YouTube platform, you can now quickly transcribe YouTube videos to the text as well. The good thing is, you can either use the automatic transcription feature that YouTube offers, or upload it manually while adjusting the timing as you go further.

Below are the two methods to transcribe your YouTube videos for free:

Method 1: Use the Automated Transcription Service on YouTube

As the name suggests, YouTube automatic transcription service works automatically. This means you don’t even have to click the ‘Transcribe’ button anymore to transcribe a YouTube video, and the website takes care of it on its own. All you need to do is, choose English as the language of the video when setting up subtitles. You can follow the instructions given below to do so:

Step 1 Upload a Video

Sign in to your YouTube account, click your profile picture from the top-right corner, and click YouTube Studio from the menu. Next, click CREATE from the upper-right corner, click Upload videos from the menu, and drag and drop a video from your computer to the Upload videos box that appears next.

Step 2 Select Transcription Language

On the Details page of the next box that appears, scroll down and click MORE OPTIONS, and select English in the Video language drop-down list under the Language, subtitles, and closed captions (CC) section.

Step 3 Publish the Video

Follow the on-screen instructions from this point to publish the video, and wait while YouTube automatically transcribes and adds the close captions to it.

Note: Depending on the duration of the clip, the time YouTube would take to transcribe may vary.

After YouTube has transcribed the video, you can download the transcription file in your preferred format. The instructions are given below explain how you can do so:

1. Get to the Subtitles Window

While on the YouTube Studio page, click Subtitles from the left pane to go to the Channel subtitles page. And then click the video you want to modify.

1. Get to Classic Studio

In the video subtitle page of the target video, hover mouse on the Published Automatic status under the Subtitles column, click the Options icon (with three vertical dots) that appears, and click Edit on Classic Studio.

1. Download Transcription File

Click and open the Actions drop-down list from the top-left corner of the left pane, click your preferred transcription format including .vtt, .srt and .sbv from the list, and save the file on your local hard disk.

Method 2: Get YouTube Transcription when Watching

In addition, if you are watching any other video, you can make YouTube transcribe that for you as well. You can follow the instructions given below to get the YouTube video to text transcription:

Step 1: Play the Video

Go to the video on YouTube and start playing it. Make sure NOT to get to full-screen mode as doing so would hide the option to transcribe the clip.

Step 2: Enable Transcription

Click the More icon (with three horizontal dots) from under the bottom-right corner of the video player, and click Open transcript to see the video transcription in the Transcript pane that appears in the right.

Step 3: Manage Timestamps

Click the Options icon (with three vertical dots) from the top-right corner of the Transcript pane, and click Toggle timestamp to enable or disable the timestamps in the video transcription.

Limitations of Using YouTube Transcribe

Although YouTube’s automatic transcription is a decent feature that saves you a lot of time, since Google uses machine learning algorithms to convert the speech to text, the level of accuracy may vary depending on the accent of the speaker, and the clarity of the audio the video has. Also, even sometime you may not be satisfied with the end-results.

Alternatively, you can use Kapwing to transcribe a YouTube video and download the transcription file with the below step-by-step instructions:

Step 1: Add YouTube Video

Copy the URL of YouTube video you want to transcribe, go to https://www.kapwing.com/subtitles , paste the URL in the Paste a URL field, wait while Kapwing fetches the content of the video, and opens the Add subtitles to Video page.

Step 2: Transcribe the Video

Click Auto-generate from the right window, and follow the on-screen instructions to transcribe YouTube video to text.

Step 3: Download the Transcription File

Click Download SRT from the left pane, and follow the instructions from there to download the transcription file in *.srt format.

Pros

• Kapwing is free to use
• The auto-transcription process is quick and less tedious
• Kapwing also allows manual transcription and uploading of an existing *.srt file

Cons

• The auto-transcribed text might lack accuracy as the task is done by the speech-to-text tools that work in the background

You can follow the step-by-step instructions to transcribe a YouTube video and download the transcription file using Kapwing:

Step 1: Add YouTube Video

Copy the URL of YouTube video you want to transcribe, go to https://www.kapwing.com/subtitles , paste the URL in the Paste a URL field, wait while Kapwing fetches the content of the video, and opens the Add subtitles to Video page.

Step 2: Transcribe the Video

Click Auto-generate from the right window, and follow the on-screen instructions to transcribe YouTube video to text.

Step 3: Download the Transcription File

Click Download SRT from the left pane, and follow the instructions from there to download the transcription file in *.srt format.

Pros

• Kapwing is free to use
• The auto-transcription process is quick and less tedious
• Kapwing also allows manual transcription and uploading of an existing *.srt file

Cons

• The auto-transcribed text might lack accuracy as the task is done by the speech-to-text tools that work in the background

Part 3: Benefits of Transcribing YouTube Videos

You may need video transcriptions for several reasons, such as analyzing the summary of the entire speech in the video, extracting a single phrase or quote that was spoken in the clip, or making the video helpful even for those suffering from hearing impairment. When you transcribe a YouTube video, the transcript can be useful in many ways. Some of the most common benefits of transcribing a video include:

• Search Engine Optimization

When you add subtitles, the text can appear in Google search results when someone types a similar phrase in the search box. This helps get more views to your videos, thus giving your channel popularity, and you, monetary gains in the long run.

• Accent

If the speaker in the video is from a different region and is using an accent that you are not much comfortable with, you can turn on the subtitles and read the dialogs along with the video.

• Repurposing on Blogs

If you own a blog that you have embedded your video to, the transcription could be used to add text to it so the target audience can get a fair idea of what the video is all about. This is useful because many people prefer reading over watching.

YouTube Video Transcription FAQs

1. How to Transcribe YouTube Video to Text

Usually the transcription files have *.srt extension that are globally accepted and supported by almost all media players. However, there might be instances when you want to have the subtitles in plain text.

That said, to convert an SRT file to TXT, you can:

• Right-click the SRT file
• Go to Rename
• Replace srt with txt and press Enter
• Click OK on the confirmation box that appears next to convert SRT to TXT

After this, you can simply double-click the file, and read and modify the transcribed content as needed.

2. How to Edit and Upload Edited Transcript to YouTube

If you made any modifications to the transcript that was automatically generated by YouTube or any other third-party transcription tool, you can follow the steps given below to upload the new file to the YouTube video:

• Go to YouTube Studio and then to the Channel subtitles page as explained earlier
• Expand the Languages column of the target video
• Click the Options icon that appears under the Subtitles column when you hover mouse on to it
• Click Edit on Classic Studio
• On the next page, click Edit from the top-right corner

• Click to open the Actions drop-down list from the upper-left corner
• Click Upload a file
  • Follow the on-screen instructions from there to upload the modified transcription file
  • Click Save Changes from the top-right corner of the page when done

Conclusion

If you are looking for a quick and easy way of adding subtitles to your videos, letting YouTube transcribe for you could be a good approach. However, because these auto-generated transcriptions are created by machine learning algorithms, their accuracy cannot be counted on. Therefore, the best way to get the job done accurately is, let YouTube auto-transcribe your video, download the transcription file, make the necessary changes to it, and then upload the file back to the video.

Richard Bennett

Richard Bennett is a writer and a lover of all things video.

Follow @Richard Bennett

Richard Bennett

Mar 27, 2024• Proven solutions

If you want to transcribe your videos to make the dialogs and speeches available in text format, you can use YouTube Transcribe feature that the streaming site offers for free. In this article, I’ll share with you a couple of methods to transcribe a YouTube video for free.

• Part 1: Transcribe YouTube Video Automatically for Free [2 Ways]
• Part 2: Transcribe YouTube Video to Text Online with Third-Party Service
• Part 3: Benefits of Transcribing YouTube Videos
• Part 4: YouTube Video Transcription FAQs

Part 1: How to Transcribe YouTube Video Automatically for Free [2 Ways]

Besides the basic video editing features on the YouTube platform, you can now quickly transcribe YouTube videos to the text as well. The good thing is, you can either use the automatic transcription feature that YouTube offers, or upload it manually while adjusting the timing as you go further.

Below are the two methods to transcribe your YouTube videos for free:

Method 1: Use the Automated Transcription Service on YouTube

As the name suggests, YouTube automatic transcription service works automatically. This means you don’t even have to click the ‘Transcribe’ button anymore to transcribe a YouTube video, and the website takes care of it on its own. All you need to do is, choose English as the language of the video when setting up subtitles. You can follow the instructions given below to do so:

Step 1 Upload a Video

Sign in to your YouTube account, click your profile picture from the top-right corner, and click YouTube Studio from the menu. Next, click CREATE from the upper-right corner, click Upload videos from the menu, and drag and drop a video from your computer to the Upload videos box that appears next.

Step 2 Select Transcription Language

On the Details page of the next box that appears, scroll down and click MORE OPTIONS, and select English in the Video language drop-down list under the Language, subtitles, and closed captions (CC) section.

Step 3 Publish the Video

Follow the on-screen instructions from this point to publish the video, and wait while YouTube automatically transcribes and adds the close captions to it.

Note: Depending on the duration of the clip, the time YouTube would take to transcribe may vary.

After YouTube has transcribed the video, you can download the transcription file in your preferred format. The instructions are given below explain how you can do so:

1. Get to the Subtitles Window

While on the YouTube Studio page, click Subtitles from the left pane to go to the Channel subtitles page. And then click the video you want to modify.

1. Get to Classic Studio

In the video subtitle page of the target video, hover mouse on the Published Automatic status under the Subtitles column, click the Options icon (with three vertical dots) that appears, and click Edit on Classic Studio.

1. Download Transcription File

Click and open the Actions drop-down list from the top-left corner of the left pane, click your preferred transcription format including .vtt, .srt and .sbv from the list, and save the file on your local hard disk.

Method 2: Get YouTube Transcription when Watching

In addition, if you are watching any other video, you can make YouTube transcribe that for you as well. You can follow the instructions given below to get the YouTube video to text transcription:

Step 1: Play the Video

Go to the video on YouTube and start playing it. Make sure NOT to get to full-screen mode as doing so would hide the option to transcribe the clip.

Step 2: Enable Transcription

Click the More icon (with three horizontal dots) from under the bottom-right corner of the video player, and click Open transcript to see the video transcription in the Transcript pane that appears in the right.

Step 3: Manage Timestamps

Click the Options icon (with three vertical dots) from the top-right corner of the Transcript pane, and click Toggle timestamp to enable or disable the timestamps in the video transcription.

Limitations of Using YouTube Transcribe

Although YouTube’s automatic transcription is a decent feature that saves you a lot of time, since Google uses machine learning algorithms to convert the speech to text, the level of accuracy may vary depending on the accent of the speaker, and the clarity of the audio the video has. Also, even sometime you may not be satisfied with the end-results.

Alternatively, you can use Kapwing to transcribe a YouTube video and download the transcription file with the below step-by-step instructions:

Step 1: Add YouTube Video

Copy the URL of YouTube video you want to transcribe, go to https://www.kapwing.com/subtitles , paste the URL in the Paste a URL field, wait while Kapwing fetches the content of the video, and opens the Add subtitles to Video page.

Step 2: Transcribe the Video

Click Auto-generate from the right window, and follow the on-screen instructions to transcribe YouTube video to text.

Step 3: Download the Transcription File

Click Download SRT from the left pane, and follow the instructions from there to download the transcription file in *.srt format.

Pros

• Kapwing is free to use
• The auto-transcription process is quick and less tedious
• Kapwing also allows manual transcription and uploading of an existing *.srt file

Cons

• The auto-transcribed text might lack accuracy as the task is done by the speech-to-text tools that work in the background

You can follow the step-by-step instructions to transcribe a YouTube video and download the transcription file using Kapwing:

Step 1: Add YouTube Video

Copy the URL of YouTube video you want to transcribe, go to https://www.kapwing.com/subtitles , paste the URL in the Paste a URL field, wait while Kapwing fetches the content of the video, and opens the Add subtitles to Video page.

Step 2: Transcribe the Video

Click Auto-generate from the right window, and follow the on-screen instructions to transcribe YouTube video to text.

Step 3: Download the Transcription File

Click Download SRT from the left pane, and follow the instructions from there to download the transcription file in *.srt format.

Pros

• Kapwing is free to use
• The auto-transcription process is quick and less tedious
• Kapwing also allows manual transcription and uploading of an existing *.srt file

Cons

• The auto-transcribed text might lack accuracy as the task is done by the speech-to-text tools that work in the background

Part 3: Benefits of Transcribing YouTube Videos

You may need video transcriptions for several reasons, such as analyzing the summary of the entire speech in the video, extracting a single phrase or quote that was spoken in the clip, or making the video helpful even for those suffering from hearing impairment. When you transcribe a YouTube video, the transcript can be useful in many ways. Some of the most common benefits of transcribing a video include:

• Search Engine Optimization

When you add subtitles, the text can appear in Google search results when someone types a similar phrase in the search box. This helps get more views to your videos, thus giving your channel popularity, and you, monetary gains in the long run.

• Accent

If the speaker in the video is from a different region and is using an accent that you are not much comfortable with, you can turn on the subtitles and read the dialogs along with the video.

• Repurposing on Blogs

If you own a blog that you have embedded your video to, the transcription could be used to add text to it so the target audience can get a fair idea of what the video is all about. This is useful because many people prefer reading over watching.

YouTube Video Transcription FAQs

1. How to Transcribe YouTube Video to Text

Usually the transcription files have *.srt extension that are globally accepted and supported by almost all media players. However, there might be instances when you want to have the subtitles in plain text.

That said, to convert an SRT file to TXT, you can:

• Right-click the SRT file
• Go to Rename
• Replace srt with txt and press Enter
• Click OK on the confirmation box that appears next to convert SRT to TXT

After this, you can simply double-click the file, and read and modify the transcribed content as needed.

2. How to Edit and Upload Edited Transcript to YouTube

If you made any modifications to the transcript that was automatically generated by YouTube or any other third-party transcription tool, you can follow the steps given below to upload the new file to the YouTube video:

• Go to YouTube Studio and then to the Channel subtitles page as explained earlier
• Expand the Languages column of the target video
• Click the Options icon that appears under the Subtitles column when you hover mouse on to it
• Click Edit on Classic Studio
• On the next page, click Edit from the top-right corner

• Click to open the Actions drop-down list from the upper-left corner
• Click Upload a file
  • Follow the on-screen instructions from there to upload the modified transcription file
  • Click Save Changes from the top-right corner of the page when done

Conclusion

If you are looking for a quick and easy way of adding subtitles to your videos, letting YouTube transcribe for you could be a good approach. However, because these auto-generated transcriptions are created by machine learning algorithms, their accuracy cannot be counted on. Therefore, the best way to get the job done accurately is, let YouTube auto-transcribe your video, download the transcription file, make the necessary changes to it, and then upload the file back to the video.

Richard Bennett

Richard Bennett is a writer and a lover of all things video.

Follow @Richard Bennett

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