Summarize a YouTube Video
Paste a video link: in a few seconds, AI gives you the gist, the key points and the key moments, with timestamps that open the video at the right spot. Perfect for checking whether a video is worth watching, or reviewing a lecture without sitting through all of it.
- Free
- No sign-up
- Clickable timestamps
- Videos in any language
Privacy — Only the video link is sent to our server, to read its captions and write the summary. Nothing is kept, and no account is needed.
How do you summarize a YouTube video?
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Copy the video link
In the YouTube app, tap "Share", then "Copy link"; on a computer, copy the address from the browser bar. Short youtu.be links and Shorts work too.
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Paste it and start the summary
Tap "Paste" (or press Ctrl+V), then "Summarize". It takes 5 to 20 seconds: the video's captions are fetched, then the summary is written.
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Read, copy or download
Skim the summary, click a timestamp like [04:12] to open the video at that exact moment, then copy the text or download it as a .txt file.
The gist of a video, without watching all of it
Three clear parts
A short overview gives the main idea in a few sentences, followed by the key points as a list and the key moments of the video.
Clickable timestamps
Each key moment has its timestamp: one click opens the video on YouTube right at that point, so you can check or dig deeper.
Always in English
The summary is written in English, even if the video is in Spanish, French or Japanese.
Copy or download
One button copies the summary as clean text, without formatting symbols; another saves it as a .txt file, with the video's title and link.
How AI summarizes a YouTube video, and its limits
The tool doesn't watch the video: it reads its captions, meaning everything that's said, along with when it's said. These can be captions written by the creator or YouTube's auto-generated captions, which covers the vast majority of videos with talking. AI reads that text, pulls out what matters and writes a summary in three parts: a short overview, the key points, then the key moments with their timestamps. The direct consequence: anything that's only shown on screen (a demo with no commentary, a chart, a slide nobody reads out loud) won't appear in the summary. A video without speech, like a music video, gameplay without commentary or an ambient video, can't be summarized. On the other hand, the tool shines on videos with lots of talking: lectures, talks, video podcasts, interviews, tutorials, explainers and news.
Summarize a lecture, a talk or a tutorial without watching it all
A YouTube video summary comes in handy in many situations. When studying, the summary of a lecture on YouTube gives you the outline and the concepts to remember in a minute; the key points can go straight into your notes or flashcards. Before starting an hour-long video, the overview tells you whether it really answers your question. For a tutorial, the timestamps take you straight to the useful part, without scrubbing through the progress bar. To prepare a presentation, a meeting or an article, you get a video's key points in seconds. The summary stays faithful to what's said, but it's written automatically: for a number, a name or a quote that matters, click the nearest timestamp and check it in the video.
A video in another language, a summary in English
The summary is always written in English, whatever the language of the video: it's an easy way to understand a talk in Spanish, a tutorial in Japanese or an interview in German without speaking the language. The AI translates while it summarizes, and keeps names and brand names as they are. The quality depends on the captions: auto-generated captions sometimes mangle a name or a technical term, and the summary may inherit that. To get a summary in another language, just switch the site's language: the same tool exists in 15 languages.
Summary or transcript: which one do you need?
The summary boils the video down to a few paragraphs: perfect for understanding it quickly, taking notes or deciding whether the video is worth your time. If you need the full text, word for word, to quote a passage, make subtitles or reread everything, use "YouTube Transcript" instead, which gets the complete speech as TXT or SRT. For a very long video, note that the summary is based on about two hours of speech at most: beyond that, only the first part is taken into account. Either way, the tool is free with no sign-up: only the video link is sent to our server, and no account or personal data is asked of you.
Frequently Asked Questions
How do I summarize a YouTube video for free?
Copy the video link, paste it into the box at the top of this page and click "Summarize". The summary appears in 5 to 20 seconds. It's free, with no sign-up and no extension to install.
Is there an AI that can summarize YouTube videos?
Yes, that's exactly what this tool does: AI reads the video's captions and writes a summary with the gist, the key points and the key moments. No need to copy the transcript into a chatbot: just paste the link.
Does the AI actually watch the video?
No. It reads what's said, thanks to the captions (even auto-generated ones). Anything only shown on screen isn't taken into account. The summary is faithful to the speech but written automatically: check an important point by clicking its timestamp.
Why can't my video be summarized?
Most of the time, the video has no captions at all, neither manual nor auto-generated: a music video, a video without speech, or a brand-new video whose auto-generated captions aren't ready yet. A private, deleted or members-only video can't be read either.
Can I get an English summary of a video in another language?
Yes. The summary is written in English, whatever the video's language: Spanish, French, German, Japanese… Names and brands are kept as they are.
Can it summarize a long video, an hour or more?
Yes. A one- or two-hour video can be summarized without any problem; it just takes a little longer. Beyond about two hours of speech, only the first part of the video is taken into account.