Where is the Show transcript button now?

On desktop, look below the player rather than in the player controls: click the three-dot menu next to the like and share buttons, then Show transcript. On mobile, expand the description fully first and look for the transcript option inside it.

Why does Show transcript appear on some videos but not others?

The option only exists when a caption track does. Music-heavy uploads, very recent publishes still processing, noisy recordings, less-supported languages, and videos where the uploader disabled captions all lack one.

The button is there but the panel is empty. What now?

That is a loading problem rather than a missing feature. Hard-reload the page, open the video URL fresh in a new tab, and test in an incognito window with extensions disabled — ad blockers and privacy tools sometimes intercept caption requests.

How do I copy a transcript without the timestamps?

Open the transcript panel, click its own three-dot menu, and toggle timestamps off before selecting and copying. This is the step most people miss, and it saves deleting hundreds of lines by hand.

Did YouTube Remove Transcripts? No — Here's Where It Went

Q: Did YouTube remove transcripts?

No. Transcripts still exist and are still free. The button has moved more than once, which is the main source of confusion, and it only appears on videos that actually have a caption track.

Can't find 'Show transcript' any more? YouTube did not remove transcripts, but it has moved the button more than once and it does not appear on every video. Where to look now.

Quick answer: No. Transcripts still exist and are still free to open. What has changed is where the button lives — YouTube has relocated it more than once, and it now sits somewhere most people do not think to look. The other half of the confusion is that the option genuinely does not appear on every video, which makes a moved button look like a removed feature.

Where the transcript is now

On desktop, open the video, look below the player rather than in the player controls, and click the three-dot menu next to the like and share buttons. Choose Show transcript. The panel opens to the right of the video.

On mobile, expand the description first — tap the description area to open it fully — then look for the transcript option inside. It is not in the player overflow menu, which is where most people check and give up.

If you remember it being somewhere else, you are probably right. It has moved.

Why it is missing on some videos

The button only appears when a caption track exists. No captions, no button — and that is a property of the video, not a change to YouTube:

Music-heavy uploads frequently never get automatic captions
Very recent uploads may still be processing — see how long transcription takes
Heavy background noise, crosstalk and poor audio degrade recognition to the point where nothing is produced
Less-supported languages often get nothing
Uploaders can disable captions outright
Private, members-only and most age-restricted videos do not expose captions to anything outside your session

So if the option is there on one video and gone on the next, nothing broke. Full detail in "no transcript available" explained.

The button is there but the panel stays empty

Different problem entirely — that is a loading or interference issue rather than a missing feature. Hard-reload the page, try an incognito window with extensions disabled, and check whether a strict ad blocker or privacy extension is intercepting the caption request. Full sequence in transcript not loading.

One thing worth knowing once you have it open

The transcript panel has its own three-dot menu with a toggle timestamps option. Turning it off before you select and copy saves deleting hundreds of timestamp lines by hand, which is how most people waste ten minutes on this. Method in removing timestamps properly.

If what you want is the meaning, not the text

A transcript is raw material — a one-hour video produces roughly 9,000 words of unpunctuated speech, which is not something anyone reads to save time.