Export format
YouTube transcript to NotebookLM
NotebookLM can add some YouTube links directly, but it fails on videos it cannot read and gives you no control over the text. Export the transcript instead: the title, link and channel at the top so NotebookLM's citations point back to the video, then the transcript in paragraphs.
How it works
- Paste a YouTube video link or ID.
- Download the file (or copy the text).
- In NotebookLM, click Add source and upload the file, or paste the text as a copied-text source.
What the NotebookLM export looks like
Real output for “Me at the zoo”, the first video on YouTube, produced by the same code as the tool above.
# Video transcript: Me at the zoo - Source: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jNQXAC9IVRw - Channel: jawed - Language: en - Duration: 0:19 ## Transcript All right, so here we are, in front of the elephants the cool thing about these guys is that they have really... really really long trunks and that's cool (baaaaaaaaaaahhh!!) and that's pretty much all there is to say
Who it's for
- Students building a notebook from a lecture series
- Researchers mixing videos with papers and notes
- Anyone making Audio Overviews from video content
Other formats
Need this for many videos?
Pull a playlist's transcripts with the playlist tool, or get the same data from code with the transcript API and MCP server.
YouTube transcript to NotebookLM: questions
Why not add the YouTube link to NotebookLM directly?
NotebookLM's YouTube source only works for public videos it can read, and sometimes fails without saying why. A transcript file always uploads, and you can combine many videos in one notebook.
How do I add the file to NotebookLM?
Open your notebook, click Add source, and upload the downloaded file. You can also choose Copied text and paste the transcript.
What if a video has no captions?
The tool can only export captions YouTube already has, creator-written or auto-generated. Videos with captions turned off have nothing to export, and the tool tells you so.
Can I export a whole playlist or channel?
This page exports one video at a time. For a playlist, the playlist tool pulls transcripts for its videos; for whole channels or recurring exports, the API and MCP server return the same data for every video.
