# I was tired of manually copying YouTube transcripts, so I built a 15KB Firefox extension

> Source: <https://dev.to/pawanhirumina/i-was-tired-of-manually-copying-youtube-transcripts-so-i-built-a-15kb-firefox-extension-o96>
> Published: 2026-09-19 08:23:33+00:00

If you use YouTube for learning, research, or building AI tools, you know this pain:

Open transcript panel -> Scroll -> Select all -> Try not to copy the whole page -> Paste into notes -> Fix formatting.

I do this 10 times a day. So I built **yt-transcript-yoinker**.

It's a tiny Firefox add-on that adds a single "Copy Transcript" button right into the YouTube UI. One click, entire transcript in your clipboard. No account, no external API, no data leaving your machine.

**GitHub: [https://github.com/pawanhirumina/yt-transcript-yoinker](https://github.com/pawanhirumina/yt-transcript-yoinker)**

**Install from AMO: [https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/yt-transcript-yoinker/](https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/yt-transcript-yoinker/)**

I needed transcripts for:

Every existing tool either:

I wanted something that just works, locally.

Super simple, no magic.

`yt-navigate-finish`)` navigator.clipboard.writeText()`
No background server. The whole thing is ~100 lines of JS.

Stack: HTML, CSS, Vanilla JavaScript (WebExtension APIs)

I live in Firefox. And Mozilla's review process for add-ons is actually strict about privacy, which I like for a tool like this. Chrome version is on the roadmap - if you want to help port it, PRs are welcome!

**For users:**

**For devs:**

```
bash
git clone https://github.com/pawanhirumina/yt-transcript-yoinker.git
# Then in Firefox: about:debugging#/runtime/this-firefox -> Load Temporary Add-on -> manifest.json
```