How to summarize YouTube videos with AI

1. Open the video on YouTube.
2. Below the video, click Share and then Copy, or just copy the address from the browser bar.
3. A link looks like this: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=...

With that you can go to the fast method (Step 2). If you prefer the transcript method, jump to Step 3.

Google Gemini can read the video link and summarize it directly. It’s the fastest for videos under 20 or 30 minutes.

1. Go to https://gemini.google.com and sign in with your Google account.
2. Paste the video link into the text box.
3. Type what you want, for example: “Summarize this video in 5 key points and tell me the main idea”.
4. Hit send. In seconds you have the summary.

If Gemini doesn’t take the link (it happens with very long or private videos), use the transcript method in Step 3.

This method works with any video, even long ones, and gives you more control. The key is giving the AI the text of the video.

1. On YouTube, below the video click …more and then Show transcript (it appears to the right or below).
2. Select all the transcript text and copy it.
3. Open ChatGPT (https://chatgpt.com) or Claude (https://claude.ai).
4. Paste the transcript and write your instruction above or below the text:

Summarize this transcript of a YouTube video.
Give me: 1) the main idea in one sentence, 2) the 5 most
important points as bullets, 3) a practical takeaway.

5. Send and you’re done. You can keep asking: “explain point 3 in more detail” or “make me 5 review questions”.

For very long transcripts, Claude usually handles more text at once. If it’s too long, first ask for an outline and then the detail per section.

If you’re going to study a topic with several videos, NotebookLM (by Google) is ideal: you gather all the sources in one notebook and ask across them at once.

1. Go to https://notebooklm.google.com and sign in.
2. Create a new notebook and under Sources choose YouTube; paste the video link (you can add several).
3. Ask for a summary, a study script or questions: “Give me a summary and a study guide with the most important points”.
4. Each answer includes citations to the part of the video it came from, so you verify easily.

We cover this in depth in the tutorial on how to build your second brain with NotebookLM.

Copy this prompt and use it with the link (Gemini) or with the transcript (ChatGPT/Claude). Change what you need:

Act as an assistant that summarizes videos.
Give me: main idea (1 sentence), 5 to 8 key points as bullets,
the tools or data mentioned, and one concrete action I can apply
today. In English, clear and with no filler.

Tip: if you want the timestamps, add “include the approximate timestamp of each point”.

Problem	Fix
Gemini won’t read the link	Use the transcript method (Step 3)
No “Show transcript” option	The creator disabled it; use Gemini or auto-captions
The summary skipped something important	Ask it: “review the part about X and expand it”
The transcript is huge	Use Claude, or first ask for the outline and then each section

One last tip: AI gives you the draft of the summary in seconds, but for anything important (an exam, a decision) verify the key points in the video. And if you work a lot with video, also check how to caption and translate videos with AI and how to summarize long texts with AI.