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YT Transcript Grabber

One click to copy and download the transcript of the YouTube video you're watching.

Features

  • Works with both the classic engagement-panel transcript and the newer "In this video → Transcript" sidebar layout.
  • Optional timestamps ([mm:ss] prefix per line).
  • Copies to clipboard on click, and/or downloads as a .txt file named after the video title.
  • No network calls, no tracking, no account — see PRIVACY.md.

Install (end users)

Once published, install from the Chrome Web Store listing and pin the icon. On a YouTube watch page, click the icon → Grab & Copy.

Install (unpacked, for development)

  1. chrome://extensions
  2. Toggle Developer mode on.
  3. Load unpacked → pick this folder.

How it works

The popup injects a small function into the active YouTube tab via chrome.scripting.executeScript. That function:

  1. Clicks the Transcript tab / button if the panel isn't already open.
  2. Scans the DOM for mm:ss-prefixed rows.
  3. Filters out recommended-video rows, chapter chips, and the player's own time display.
  4. Clusters the remaining rows to the tightest common ancestor — that's the transcript panel.
  5. Strips YouTube's screen-reader-only spoken-form duration ("8 seconds", "1 minute, 5 seconds") that otherwise bleeds into each caption.

The result is copied to the clipboard and optionally saved as a .txt.

Repo layout

yt-transcript-extension/
├── manifest.json          # MV3 manifest
├── popup.html / popup.js  # UI + scraper
├── icons/                 # 16/32/48/128 PNGs
├── store/                 # Chrome Web Store assets
├── build_icons.py         # Regenerates icons from code
├── PRIVACY.md             # User-facing privacy policy
├── PUBLISHING.md          # Step-by-step store submission guide
└── LICENSE                # MIT

License

Copyright © 2026 DigitalGods. All rights reserved.

This software is proprietary. See LICENSE for the full terms. End users receive a personal, non-transferable license to run the extension when they install it from the Chrome Web Store; no right to copy, modify, redistribute, or create derivative works is granted.