How to Summarize a YouTube Video [Fast & Easy]

If you're someone like me who loves to watch YouTube videos, you know it traditionally takes a lot of time and energy. As with other things right now, AI has a solution to cut the time it takes to consume each YouTube video content. 

From Chrome extension to speech-to-text apps, there are many AI tools that will help you summarize any YouTube video you want. While there are many free AI chatbots like ChatGPT available, you'll need a dedicated AI summarizer to generate accurate summaries. 

After a week of testing, I've found the three best ways to create YouTube summaries — ChatGPT, Notta Web App, and Notta Chrome Extension. Here's how to summarize a YouTube video with three different methods. 

How to Summarize YouTube Videos with ChatGPT 

Note: Generating a transcript or summary of any YouTube video isn't necessarily legal. It's best to seek permission from the creator before you record, transcribe, or even summarize videos. 

ChatGPT may be smart, but it can't transcribe or summarize YouTube videos — yet. You'll have to create the YouTube transcript manually and then summarize the content into bullet points or paragraphs via the AI chatbot. If you have the transcript ready, here are the next steps to summarize the YouTube transcript using ChatGPT. 

Step 1: Open this link: chat.openai.com and create a free ChatGPT account. On the ChatGPT home page, paste the transcript and ask the AI chatbot to summarize the given text. 

Here's what you can say: 'Summarize the above transcript in 100 words maximum.' 

Step 2: Wait for a few minutes, and ChatGPT will generate a short summary of the YouTube video transcript. You can copy the summary by simply clicking the clipboard icon. 

Pros & Cons of Using ChatGPT 

If you're already using OpenAI's ChatGPT to write, refine, or summarize content, you probably know the tool has certain limitations. 

Pros 

• ChatGPT is completely free to use. 

Cons

• Sometimes, ChatGPT does not give the desired output. 

• You'll have to spend hours modifying the prompts and editing the summary. 

• There's no option to directly generate a summary of YouTube videos or audio files. 

How to Summarize YouTube Videos with Notta 

A good YouTube summary will help you get all the information from the video — without the need to watch it. But how to summarize a YouTube video — and, that too, with great accuracy? Thankfully, the Notta Web App can help. 

One of the best things about Notta Web App is that you can directly paste the YouTube video link (or URL) — and then convert speech to text. With the Notta AI Summary Generator feature, you can create a summary that can be shared with the team. 

Here's how to summarize a YouTube video with Notta Web App. 

Step 1: Before you begin, copy the link to the YouTube video you want to summarize. Next, make sure you have a free Notta account — and once you've created your account, head over to the dashboard and click 'Import Files.' 

Paste the YouTube video URL under the 'Import from Link' section and watch Notta generate the video transcript.

Step 2: Now, double-click the recently transcribed file, and there you can select a pre-built summary template powered by Notta AI. 

Within a few minutes, Notta will summarize the YouTube video transcript into an overview, key chapters, and action items. 

Step 3: Now, it's time to download and export the YouTube video transcript and summary to your device. For this, just click the download icon and then choose the file format: TXT, DOCX, PDF, or XLSX. 

Pros & Cons of Using the Notta Web App

With Notta Web App, you can record videos, convert voice to text, and even generate short summaries. Here are a few pros and cons of Notta Web App you should know. 

Pros 

• By simply copying and pasting the YouTube link, the Notta Web App can generate transcripts and summaries. 

• It's relatively easy to use: just paste the video URL, and Notta will do its job. 

• The AI tool has a much higher accuracy rate (compared to other apps I've tested) of 98.86%. 

• Simply select the template that best fits your needs, and watch as Notta transforms your raw notes into polished, concise summaries.

Cons

• You'll need a Notta account to summarize YouTube videos. 

How to Summarize YouTube Videos with Chrome Extension 

If you don't want to go ahead with ChatGPT or the Notta Web App, I've another YouTube video summarizer for you — and, that is, a Chrome extension. While there are many Chrome extensions out there, the Notta Chrome extension is my absolute favorite. 

What draws me to the Notta Chrome extension is how effortlessly it can record and transcribe audio from any web page (including YouTube). It's pretty easy to use and can summarize any YouTube video you want. Here's how to use this YouTube video summarizer online. 

Step 1: To get started, install the Notta Chrome extension from the Chrome Web Store. Once it's installed, the next step is to open the YouTube video you want to summarize. 

Step 2: Click on the Notta Chrome extension icon at the top right corner of the page — and then select 'Start Recording.' 

The AI tool will start recording and transcribing the audio from the YouTube video — which is successfully saved on the Notta Web App.

Step 3: If you want to summarize the YouTube video transcript, all you need to do is open the recently transcribed file and select the 'AI Summary Generator' icon. 

Pros & Cons of Using Notta Chrome Extension 

Every so often, I find myself on a YouTube video that needs to be transcribed, summarized, and saved for later reference. Notta Chrome extension is like having an AI assistant that stays right at the top of your screen. With just a click, the Notta Chrome extension can transcribe any audio from the web page. 

Pros 

• Unlike ChatGPT, the Notta Chrome extension can automatically transcribe and summarize audio from YouTube videos. 

• It's relatively easy to install and use. 

• All the transcriptions and summaries are saved on the Notta Web App so you can refer to them later. 

Cons 

• You'll need a Notta account to access the saved transcripts and summaries. 

Bouns: Free YouTube Video Summarizer Tool

Notta's user-friendly YouTube Video Summarizer tool not only transcribes the audio from your YouTube videos but also generates concise summaries, making it easier to grasp the main points of the content. It's a great resource for quickly accessing the essence of videos without watching them in their entirety. Give it a try for an efficient and streamlined experience!

Step 1: Find a video on YouTube that you would like to summarize and paste the URL into the field above.

Step 2: Select the language you want to summarize and click “Summarize” to continue.

Step 3: Wait for a while and you’ll see a summary of the video with a transcript that you can share with your friends or followers easily.

FAQs 

How do You Turn a Video into a Summary? 

There are two ways to create a video from the summary — manual method and AI tools. There are many AI video summarizers that can help you summarize any video into text — in a few minutes. 

If you don't want to test each of the AI summarizers and then pick the one that suits your needs, I'd recommend you check the Notta Web App. 

It's an easy-to-use tool: just import the video you want to summarize and watch Notta generate a transcript in minutes.

Once you've your transcript ready, click the 'AI Summary Generator' to generate a short yet meaningful summary. 

Can You Get the Full Transcript of a YouTube Video? 

Yes, you can get the full transcript of a YouTube video in a quick and easy way. YouTube comes with a built-in 'Show Transcript' feature that can convert the voice to text. Here's how to transcribe the YouTube video without any third-party tools. 

1. Open the YouTube video and click the three dots available in the video description.

2. There, you'll find the 'Show Transcript' option that can transcribe the voice-to-text on the right side of the video. 

Remember, not all YouTube videos have a 'Show Transcript' option, which makes it hard to transcribe them. Thankfully, there's a solution: AI YouTube video summarizers like Notta Web App or Notta Chrome extension. 

Key Takeaways 

Everyone is using ChatGPT for many tasks — like creating content or summarizing articles — but it comes with certain limitations that cannot be completely ignored. One of them is that you cannot directly summarize YouTube videos with the popular ChatGPT. Thankfully, that's where other AI tools or YouTube video summarizers come into play. 

If you're someone like me who spends 20-30% of their day summarizing YouTube videos, this 'How to summarize a YouTube video' guide has got your back. Just pick the AI video summarizer like Notta Web App or Notta Chrome extension and see if it can help you save time and boost productivity.