How to get a summary of a YouTube video

Sometimes you need to get the information from YouTube videos fast. And you don’t have the time to watch the entire thing. So here are three ways of how you can get a summary of a YouTube video.

Lex Fridman interview of Elon Musk, 2024

Use Text Ape YouTube Summarizer (Fastest Method)

  • Install the Text Ape extension from the Chrome Web Store (link)
  • Go to any YouTube video (here is a great podcast with Jason Fried and Greg Isenberg)
  • Click the red "Get Summary" button on the right side of the video
  • Get instant AI-generated summaries, timestamps, and key insights

Text Ape uses Claude under the hood. And a chain of prompts. The quality is great.

Text Ape runs on Claude and custom prompts. The quality is solid. No tab switching, no copying transcripts, no hassle. Creators use summaries for social posts or a newsletter. Marketers use it for influencer research, competitive brand analysis and product review insights. And non-business folks can cut the time on long lectures.

Manual Method (Free but Time-Consuming)

Manual is the way I used to summarise videos. It is ok. But as a power user of my own tool, I find Text Ape more convenient (not surprising, eh?).

Here’s the manual way:

  • Open up a YouTube video (here is another cool pod of Greg Isenberg 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 summary

It works, but why make it harder?

Check Video Description

  • Look for timestamps in the video description
  • Check for chapter markers in the progress bar
  • Some creators include their own summaries

Pro Tip

If you're doing serious work with content production and research, Text Ape will save you hours. Want to give Text Ape a try? Here is a link to Text Ape in the Chrome Store.

Thank you for reading!

~ Marie

Watching long form YouTube Videos for studies and research? Save time and boost productivity with Text Ape YouTube Summaries!

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