Using Text Ape Chrome Extension

Here is how you can download any YouTube video Transcript in 6 easy steps using TextApe:

• Install the Text Ape extension from the Chrome Web Store (link)
• Go to any YouTube video (here is great podcast with Greg Isenberg and Arvid Kahl)
• Navigate to the Notepad icon 🗒️  in TextApe’s extension in the top left corner
• Click the red button saying "Get Timestamped Transcript to get the full transcript of the video in a clear and readable form
• Click [Copy] in the top right corner of the extension and there you have it

Text Ape sources Transcripts directly from the video. And transforms the raw transcript text into an easy to read text. All in a neat interface on the right side from the video.

The Manual Method (Free but Time-Consuming)

This is the way I used to do it videos. It is ok. But I prefer Text Ape these days. I have built it for myself after all (right?).

Here’s the manual way:

• Open up a YouTube video (here is another cool pod of Greg and Andrew Wilkinson)
• Click the Show more in the thumbnail section below the video
• Click Show transcript
• An interface with the transcript will pop up on the right side of the video
• Copy and Paste into ChatGPT or Claude or Gemini and ask for a clearly readable transcript

It works, but why make it harder?

Use Cases

Here are some of the ways you could use downloaded YouTube transcripts in your work

• Marketers, do marketing sentiment analysis using Chat GPT or Claude:
  • Find brands mentions of your clients in the video
  • Detect negative and positive sentiments of the product brands
  • Manage the brand’s marketing message and the product based on the finding
• Creators, generate your own YouTube video transcripts based on the collected transcripts:
  • Collect transcripts from niche content creators/experts
  • Clean and format the data for training
  • Use the processed transcripts to train custom language models
  • Create specialized chatbots and AI applications

PS

If you're doing serious work with content production and research, Text Ape can save you hours. I’d love to talk to you on a Google Meet if you are that person. In the meantime, here is a link to Text Ape in the Chrome Store. Give it a try!

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