What the checker tells you
Paste a link and the checker asks YouTube whether the video has a readable caption track. If it does, you see the video title and how many caption tracks (languages) are available, with a button to open the full transcript. If it doesn’t, you know before spending time on it.
Common reasons a video has no captions
- The creator turned captions off, or never uploaded any, and YouTube didn’t generate them.
- The video has little or no speech: music, gameplay, or ambient footage.
- The video is new and automatic captions are still processing. Try again later.
- The spoken language isn’t one YouTube generates automatic captions for.
- The video is private, removed, region-blocked, or restricted (for example age-restricted or members-only).
Auto-generated vs. uploaded captions
Tracks the creator uploaded are usually accurate and punctuated. Auto-generated tracks (labeled “auto-generated” in the language list) come from speech recognition. They are good for search and skimming, but check names, numbers, and technical terms before you quote them.