How to Convert a YouTube Transcript for ChatGPT Summaries
Turn messy YouTube auto-captions into clean paragraphs ChatGPT can summarize accurately, without timestamps and filler words.
The problem with raw captions
Auto-generated captions arrive as hundreds of tiny lines, each with a timestamp, no punctuation, and lots of 'um' and 'you know'. A one-hour video can be 15,000 tokens before cleaning.
Clean it in seconds
Paste the transcript into the Transcript Cleaner. It strips timestamps, removes filler words, and joins fragments into readable paragraphs.
Check the length with the Token Counter. For very long talks, the Context Compressor can summarize extractively while keeping key terms you choose.
A prompt that works
Try: 'Here is a cleaned transcript of a talk. Give me a five-bullet summary, the three most actionable ideas, and any claims that need fact-checking.' Clean input plus a specific output format gives consistently better summaries.
Try it free in your browser
- Transcript Cleaner — Removes timestamps, filler words, and duplicate speaker labels.
- Context Compressor — Reduce token usage with compression strategies tuned for LLMs.
- Token Counter — Live token, character, and context-window meter for any prompt. Uses official tiktoken encoders.
Tools mentioned
Frequently asked
Where do I find a YouTube transcript?
Open the video description and choose Show transcript, then copy the text panel.
Why not just paste the link?
Not every chat model can open videos, and when they can, a cleaned transcript still gives more reliable quotes and timestamps you control.
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