How To Transcribe A YouTube Video Quickly

Imagine if viewers can’t understand your content because of your accent or you have the sound turned off, you’d probably lose them.

In the video below, I show you 5 ways to quickly transcribe a YouTube video so viewers can read the captions while watching your video.

I’ll also show you how to quickly edit the auto-generated captions from YouTube, add your own subtitles, upload a professional transcript, or use free software to generate subtitles in different languages.

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1. Here’s how to edit the auto-generated captions from YouTube

  • Log into to YouTube channel,
  • Click on the Profile icon,
  • Click YouTube Studio,
  • Click the Videos tab,
  • Select the video that you wish to transcribe,
  • Click on the pencil icon that says, “Details,”
  • Click Subtitles. As you can see YouTube has automatically created the subtitles for the video when it was published.

Let’s go back to the video to see the auto-generated captions from YouTube.

  • Click on CC,
  • Play the video.
    Now we can see the auto-generated captions that are created from YouTube. Automatic captions are available in English, Dutch, French, German, Italian, Japanese, Korean, Portuguese, Russian, and Spanish. YouTube encourages creators to edit the automatic captions because they’re not entirely accurate.

How To Edit The Autogenerated Captions On YouTube

  • Hover over the three dots,
  • I can edit on Classic Studio or I can download the file, and edit it that way.
  • I’m going to edit on Classic Studio,
  • If I click on Actions, I can download the file.
  • If I play the video, I can see the different captions under the video right here.
  • Click Edit, it’ll take a few minutes to edit the auto-generated captions to make sure it’s accurate.
  • You can also use keyboard shortcuts. As the captions appear on the video, you’ll see them under the video.
  • When you’re finished correcting the auto-generated transcript from YouTube, click Publish edits.
  • Now you’ll see two files. You’ve got the automatic captions right here and you’ve got the edited captions right here.
  • Now just click to update. Now I’ve got two files. I’ve got the auto-generated ones, which I’ll show you how to remove later, and I’ve got the corrected ones right.
  • After editing the document, I can just upload the file to YouTube.

Let me ask you a question…
How do you currently transcribe your YouTube videos?
Post your answer on the comments below. I’d love to read them and I’m sure others would too.

2. Another way to edit the auto-generated captions is to download the file and edit it that way.

  • Hover over these three dots,
  • Click Download
  • Right-click on the file
  • Open the file with TextEdit. Now I can just go through the document and just make all the corrections as I need. After I’ve finished editing the document, I can just upload the file.

3. Here’s how to add your own subtitles and closed captions.

  • Click Add Language.
  • Click English, United States,
  • Under Subtitles, click Add. Or I can upload a text transcript, I can transcribe and auto-sync, or I type or paste in a full transcript of the video, and subtitle timings will be set automatically. You also create new subtitles or CC.

Here’s how I can create subtitles and closed captions by typing them in as I watch the video.

  • Click Create new subtitles or CC,
  • As I play the video, I can just enter the text to the left. I can also use the keyboard shortcuts.
  • After I’ve finished adding all my captions, just click Publish.

4. Now I’m going to transcribe and auto-sync from a file that I’ve got transcribed.

  • Click on Transcribe and auto-sync.
  • I’m going to select a file that I got transcribed by GoTranscript.
  • Here’s how to add the transcribed text.
  • Select all the text, copy it, and paste it into the box, Command+V.
  • Click Set Timings. I’ve got the auto-generated transcript here and I’ve got the professional generated transcript here.
  • I’m going to wait a few minutes to set timings.
  • I’m going to click Set Timings, it says, “Subtitle timings being set. Check back soon.
  • I’m going to click Setting timings again and the video has now been transcribed by professional third-party services.
  • Click Publish. Now I can see that my video has been transcribed into English, United States.

Here’s how to remove the auto-generated transcript.

  • Select the auto generated transcript
  • Click Delete Draft
  • Now if I click CC, play the video, I can see my captions displayed accurately on the video.

5. Here’s how to generate subtitles and captions for your videos with a free online editor.

  • Go to kapwing.com,
  • Click on Tools,
  • Scroll down,
  • Click Subtitler,
  • Upload your YouTube file, or paste a link in the box. I’ll paste my YouTube link in the box.
  • It says Fetching Content. I can add more in subtitles or to generate the subtitles or upload an SRT file.
  • Click Auto-generate. If you haven’t signed in, you can continue with Google. It says “Using this tool, you can add subtitle automatically, powered by artificial intelligence. Note that this feature is still in BETA and the process is not 100% accurate”.
  • After adding the subtitles, you can then edit the text in the editor.”
  • Select your video language.
  • Select English, United States, or if you want to translate in a different language, you can select from all the languages.
  • Click Auto-generate. Now, Kapwing has auto-generated all the subtitles for the video.
  • Now, I can just play the video and edit the subtitles line by line. You also have the ability to format the text, change the text position, change the background, and download the SRT file.
  • When you download the SRT file, it contains all the texts and timings of your video.
  • You can then upload the SRT directly to YouTube to display the subtitles on your video.
  • I’m going to click create, Kapwing is now creating the edited transcript for my video.
  • Here’s my video that’s been transcribed by Kapwing.
  • If I play the video, I can see the accuracy of the captions. I can download the video, edit the video, make a copy, share the video, or embed the video.
  • If I click Edit, then I can download the SRT file and upload it to YouTube.

So should you transcribe your YouTube videos?

Absolutely.
Here are 4 reasons why you should transcribe your videos.

1. People who can’t hear the video can read the captions under the video.

2. You want to appeal to an international audience.
Some of those people who can’t speak English can’t understand what you’re saying in the video, so they can read the captions under the video.

3. Viewers often pay better attention to your video if they can read along while watching it.
This can improve the engagement and watch time for your video.

4. Repurpose your transcript into a blog post, or share it on your website to reach a larger audience.

Do you want to reach a global audience by translating your videos into different languages?

If that’s a yes, click here to watch my next video on how to translate videos into any other language.

Get The One Blueprint That Gives You Step-By-Step Instructions On How To Grow A Profitable YouTube Channel. Click here for more info

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