Chrome extension
Get unlimited browser transcripts and take timestamped notes in a side panel, next to the video you are already watching. Current version: 2.11.0.
Install
Installs from the Chrome Web Store, and updates itself from there. Then:
- Open a YouTube video, click the VidWords icon, then choose Connect to VidWords.
- Already had YouTube tabs open? The extension repairs them in place after install or update; if Chrome blocks that repair for a particular tab, reload it once.
Installing by hand instead
Chrome installs and updates the extension for you, so this is only for a browser that cannot reach the Web Store — a Chromium fork, or a Chrome locked down by enterprise policy. A hand-installed copy does not auto-update.
- Download vidwords-extension.zip and unzip it somewhere permanent.
- Open
chrome://extensionsand enable Developer mode (top right). - Click Load unpacked and select the unzipped folder.
Connecting opens a VidWords page where you sign in normally and approve the extension. The extension never sees your password. After the first successful connection, a one-time welcome explains the main panel features and can be dismissed immediately.
What the extension does
On YouTube watch, Shorts, and live-video pages, the panel loads that video's transcript. Where possible it reads the transcript from the YouTube page you are already viewing — in your own browser, from your own connection — and sends just the transcript text and its language to VidWords to save under your account. Browser transcripts are unlimited and use no Cloud Requests. If browser extraction is unavailable, you can ask VidWords Cloud to retrieve it instead. You can search, copy, translate, or export TXT, SRT, and VTT; AI summaries use AI Processing Units.
Reading the transcript in your browser only sends the caption text and language to VidWords — never your YouTube cookies, account, or browsing activity.
Clicking a timestamp jumps the YouTube player to that moment, and the panel highlights and follows the line currently being spoken. Scroll manually whenever you want to read ahead; follow mode pauses briefly so it never fights you. Notes you write are anchored to the playback position, can quote the transcript line they were taken against, and appear in your VidWords library alongside notes written on the web.
A note also keeps the picture from the moment you took it: the panel grabs the frame on screen as you start writing, shows it before you save, and stores it with the note — so a list of notes is a list of moments you recognize rather than a column of timestamps. Notes taken from a transcript line, or on the website, get YouTube's own preview frame for that second instead. You can drop a frame before saving, or turn capture off entirely in extension settings.
Any signed-in account can open the Chat tab to ask follow-up questions about the video, at 2 AI Processing Units per reply. The conversation keeps a short thread for context, and answers are grounded in the transcript rather than the open web.
The Library tab lists transcripts saved to your VidWords account. Choose one to open its YouTube video and load the saved transcript through the same free reopen path used elsewhere in the panel.
Extension settings let you choose the default transcript view, start with profanity masking on or off, enable or disable playhead following, and turn off saving the video frame with each note.
Right-click a YouTube watch page, Short, live video, or a link to one and choose Open transcript in VidWords to navigate to that video and open the side panel in one step.
When one video becomes a workflow
Take VidWords beyond Chrome
The extension is the free route for a person reading one video. When you need software or an AI agent to process links for you, use the same account through the VidWords API or MCP server. Every new account includes 100 Developer Requests; after that, continue with non-expiring PAYG Cloud Requests or a Starter, Pro, or Team plan.
Keyboard shortcuts
Use Ctrl+Shift+Y to open the panel, Alt+Shift+F to focus transcript search, and Alt+Shift+N to start a note at the current playhead. On macOS, the defaults are Command+Shift+Y, Control+Shift+F, and Control+Shift+N. Change any of them at chrome://extensions/shortcuts.
Signing in, and what the extension can reach
The extension holds a token issued only for the browser you approved. That token can read your transcript history, use transcript chat, read and write your notes, and check how much of your monthly allowance is left. It cannot change your plan, make payments, see your billing history, or regenerate your API token. Revoke it at any time from Settings or from the panel's menu — your notes stay in your account.
Permissions, in plain language
| Permission | Why it is used |
|---|---|
sidePanel | Show the VidWords panel beside the page instead of in a small popup. |
storage | Keep the connection token and your panel preferences for this browser. |
identity | Open the VidWords sign-in page during Connect and receive the resulting token. |
contextMenus | Add the Open transcript in VidWords item only on supported YouTube video pages and links. |
scripting | Restore VidWords' own two declared content scripts in YouTube tabs that were already open when the extension was installed or updated. This avoids reloading the video and cannot inject on sites outside the YouTube access listed below. |
youtube.com access | Add the Open in VidWords button, read the current playback position and the captions already loaded for the video on screen, take the still frame that is saved with a note, jump the player when you click a timestamp, and notice when you switch to a different video so the panel can follow along. |
vidwords.com access | Fetch your transcripts and notes from your account. |
The extension requests no browsing-history, clipboard, microphone, camera, or all-sites access. Its network requests go only to vidwords.com and to YouTube itself for the video and captions already open in the tab. It deliberately does not ask for the tabs permission, so it cannot see the address of any tab that is not a YouTube page. It does not read the video's audio, contains no third-party advertising or analytics SDK, performs no cross-site tracking, and loads no remote code. VidWords records user-requested actions such as successful transcript extraction against the connected account so usage and reliability are measurable. Data practices for the extension are set out in the privacy policy.
Manual ZIP installation notice
For most users, install directly from the Chrome Web Store for automatic updates. If you install manually via ZIP in Developer mode, Chrome will not auto-update when new versions release; return to this page to check for updates.
When a transcript is unavailable
Videos that are private, unavailable, age-restricted, or have no accessible captions may not produce a transcript, and the panel says so instead of failing silently. Videos with no captions can be transcribed from their audio instead — a paid feature, available on any paid plan or with a top-up of AI Processing Units. Fresh audio transcription uses one Cloud Request plus 3 AI Units per minute, and the panel states the price before spending anything.
Prefer not to install anything? Paste the link directly into the web extractor. For many videos, use the bulk transcript extractor.