Frequently Asked Questions

NoteLM.ai provides 6 free YouTube AI tools: (1) YouTube Channel Analytics - analyze any channel's stats, engagement & estimated revenue, (2) YouTube Video Summarizer - Chrome extension that generates AI summaries with clickable chapters and timestamps, (3) YouTube Transcript Generator - online tool to extract full transcripts with timestamps in TXT, SRT, VTT formats, (4) YouTube Comment Extractor - download all comments as JSON/CSV with filters, (5) YouTube Thumbnail Downloader - get HD thumbnails up to 1280×720 in JPG/WebP, and (6) YouTube Subtitle Downloader - one-click SRT downloads. All tools are 100% free with no signup required.

Yes, all NoteLM.ai tools are completely free with no hidden costs, no premium tiers, and no credit card required. The 5 online tools (channel analytics, transcript generator, comment extractor, thumbnail downloader, subtitle downloader) work instantly in your browser with zero configuration. For the Video Summarizer Chrome extension, you'll need a free Gemini API key from Google AI Studio, which provides 1,500 free requests per day — more than enough for heavy daily use.

No account, signup, or registration is required for any NoteLM.ai tool. Online tools work instantly in your browser without any personal information. Chrome extensions require only installation and (for the summarizer) a Gemini API key. We follow a privacy-first approach with zero data collection — we don't even have a user database.

NoteLM Chrome extensions work on Chrome, Microsoft Edge, Brave, Opera, Arc, and all Chromium-based browsers. Our online tools (transcript generator, comment extractor, thumbnail downloader) work on any modern browser including Safari, Firefox, Chrome, Edge, and mobile browsers on iOS and Android. Firefox extension support is planned for a future release.

For online tools: Visit the tool page (e.g., notelm.ai/youtube-transcript-generator), paste any YouTube URL, and click to generate results. For Chrome extensions: Install from GitHub, load unpacked in chrome://extensions/ with Developer Mode enabled. The Video Summarizer also needs a free Gemini API key from aistudio.google.com — takes under 2 minutes to set up.

Use our free YouTube Transcript Generator: (1) Copy any YouTube video URL, (2) Paste it at notelm.ai/youtube-transcript-generator, (3) Click "Generate Transcript" to extract the full text with timestamps, (4) Copy to clipboard or download as TXT, SRT, VTT, or Markdown format. Works with any video that has captions (auto-generated or manual). Supports 100+ languages including English, Spanish, Chinese, Japanese, German, French, and more.

Transcripts are the full text of a video in a readable document format — ideal for reading, studying, research, or SEO. Subtitles (SRT/VTT files) are formatted with precise timing codes for video players — used for adding captions to videos or video editing software. NoteLM offers both: the Transcript Generator exports readable text formats (TXT, Markdown) and subtitle formats (SRT, VTT, TTML). Choose based on your use case.

Our Transcript Generator includes timestamps by default. After generating a transcript, select "Markdown" or "SRT" format to keep timestamps, or choose "TXT (with timestamps)" option. Each segment shows when it appears in the video, like "0:00 - Introduction" or "[00:02:30] Key concept explained". Click any timestamp to jump to that moment in the YouTube video.

Yes! Our tools support 100+ languages. The Transcript Generator automatically detects available subtitle tracks and lets you choose the language. If a video has multiple tracks (e.g., English + Spanish), select your preferred one. For auto-translated subtitles, enable "Show auto-translated" to access YouTube's machine translations in 100+ languages.

We support 9 export formats: TXT (plain text), Markdown (with timestamps), SRT (SubRip - most compatible), VTT (WebVTT for HTML5), TTML (broadcast standard), JSON3 (YouTube native), and SRV1/SRV2/SRV3 (YouTube internal formats). SRT and VTT work with Premiere Pro, Final Cut Pro, DaVinci Resolve, VLC, and all major video editors.

This error appears when the video has no captions. Reasons: (1) Creator hasn't uploaded captions, (2) YouTube hasn't auto-generated them yet (wait 24-48 hours for new uploads), (3) Video is music-only or has unclear audio, (4) Creator disabled captions, (5) Video is private/age-restricted. Try these solutions: (1) Play video for 10-15 seconds to trigger caption loading, (2) Check for CC icon in YouTube player, (3) Refresh and retry. Most YouTube videos (95%+) have auto-generated captions.

Auto-generated transcripts are typically 85-95% accurate for clear English speech. Accuracy depends on: audio quality, speaker accents, background noise, speaking speed, and technical terminology. Manual subtitles (uploaded by creators) are usually more accurate. Our tool labels "(auto)" vs manual subtitles so you know which type you're using. For best results, prefer videos with manual captions.

Yes! Our Transcript Generator includes built-in search functionality. Type any word or phrase in the search box, and matching segments are highlighted instantly. Click any result to jump to that exact moment in the YouTube video. Perfect for finding specific quotes, topics, or keywords in long videos, lectures, or podcasts.

Our AI Video Summarizer uses Google Gemini to analyze video transcripts and generate structured summaries. It creates: (1) Clickable chapters with timestamps — click to jump to that moment, (2) Key points and takeaways in bullet format, (3) Notable quotes with exact time ranges, (4) TL;DW (Too Long; Didn't Watch) summary, (5) Topic tags for quick reference. Summary depth automatically scales with video length — concise for shorts, detailed chapters for long lectures.

A YouTube video summarizer is an AI tool that automatically generates concise summaries from video content. Instead of watching a 2-hour lecture, get key points in 2 minutes. Use cases: (1) Preview content before committing time, (2) Study notes from educational videos, (3) Find specific topics in long videos using timestamps, (4) Meeting/webinar recaps, (5) Research and citation gathering. Our summarizer is free and produces clickable, navigable summaries.

To summarize any YouTube video: (1) Install our free Chrome extension from GitHub, (2) Get a free Gemini API key from aistudio.google.com (2 minutes, no credit card), (3) Open any YouTube video with captions, (4) Click the NoteLM button and select "Summarize", (5) Get instant chapters, key points, quotes, and TL;DW summary. Click any timestamp to jump to that moment.

The AI summarizer works best with: educational content, tutorials, lectures, podcasts, webinars, conference talks, interviews, documentaries, and any spoken-word video with clear audio. It requires videos to have captions (auto-generated works fine). Less suitable for: music videos, visual-only content, heavily edited videos with rapid cuts, or content with poor audio quality that produces inaccurate auto-captions.

Yes, NoteLM handles videos of any length. For very long videos (2+ hours), the AI intelligently processes the transcript in sections to stay within API token limits. Long educational videos, podcasts, and conference recordings work particularly well with our chapter-based summary format. For optimal results with very long content, the AI prioritizes key sections and maintains narrative coherence.

Yes! The Video Summarizer supports 70+ output languages. In the extension settings, select your preferred output language. The AI will analyze the video transcript and generate summaries in your chosen language, regardless of the original video language. Supported: English, Spanish, Chinese (Simplified/Traditional), Japanese, Korean, German, French, Portuguese, Italian, Arabic, Hindi, Russian, and 60+ more.

A YouTube transcript is a word-for-word text of everything said — complete but long. A summary condenses this into: structured chapters (not just timestamps), extracted key points (not every word), notable quotes (significant statements), actionable takeaways, and topic tags. Use transcripts for complete reference; use summaries when you need quick understanding or don't have time to watch the full video.

Yes! Our Video Summarizer generates structured summaries that you can easily copy to Notion, Obsidian, Roam Research, Logseq, or any note-taking app. The output includes: formatted chapters with timestamps, bullet-pointed key takeaways, notable quotes with time references, and topic tags. The markdown-friendly format works perfectly with most note apps — just copy and paste.

Getting a free API key takes under 2 minutes: (1) Visit Google AI Studio at aistudio.google.com, (2) Sign in with your Google account, (3) Click "Get API key" in the left menu, (4) Click "Create API key in new project" or select existing project, (5) Copy the generated key. The free tier includes 1,500 requests per day and 15 requests per minute for Gemini 2.0 Flash — more than enough for daily use. No credit card is required, and the key works immediately.

The API key enables direct communication between your browser and Google's Gemini AI. This architecture provides key benefits: (1) Your data stays private — video content goes directly to Google, we never see it, (2) No subscription fees — use Google's generous free tier, (3) No usage limits from NoteLM — only Google's limits apply, (4) Better performance — direct API calls are faster than routing through our servers, (5) You control your key — delete or rotate it anytime.

Try these solutions in order: (1) Ensure no extra spaces before/after the key when copy-pasting, (2) Verify your key is active at aistudio.google.com/app/apikey, (3) Make sure you copied the full key (starts with "AI", is a long alphanumeric string), (4) Try creating a fresh API key if the issue persists, (5) Check that your Google account doesn't have API restrictions enabled, (6) Wait 1-2 minutes for new keys to propagate. Keys work immediately in most cases.

Google's free tier limits for Gemini 2.0 Flash: 1,500 requests per day, 15 requests per minute, 1,000,000 tokens per minute, 32,000 token context window. For Gemini 1.5 Pro: 50 requests per day, 2 requests per minute. These limits reset daily at midnight Pacific Time. Most users never hit these limits with normal usage. If you need more, Google offers paid tiers starting at $0.35 per million tokens.

Your Gemini API key is stored in Chrome's local storage on your device only. It never leaves your browser except when making direct API calls to Google's servers. NoteLM never has access to your key — it's never transmitted to our servers (we don't have servers that handle user data). You can view, change, or delete the key anytime from the extension settings. For extra security, you can also rotate your key in Google AI Studio.

Currently, NoteLM's Video Summarizer is optimized for Google Gemini. We chose Gemini because: (1) Generous free tier (1,500 requests/day vs OpenAI's limited free credits), (2) Long context window (32K tokens handles very long videos), (3) No credit card required for the free tier, (4) Excellent multilingual support. OpenAI integration is on our roadmap for a future release.

Common causes and fixes: (1) Daily limit reached — wait until midnight Pacific Time for reset, (2) Rate limit hit — wait 1 minute and retry, (3) Key was deleted/rotated in Google AI Studio — create a new one, (4) Google API service disruption — check status.cloud.google.com, (5) Browser extension needs update — check for latest version. Most issues resolve by waiting or regenerating the API key.

Our YouTube Thumbnail Downloader offers all 5 standard sizes: maxresdefault (1280×720 HD - highest quality), sddefault (640×480), hqdefault (480×360), mqdefault (320×180), and default (120×90). All sizes available in JPG format, with WebP option for smaller file sizes. Perfect for social media posts, blog featured images, video editing, presentations, and reference.

The recommended YouTube thumbnail size is 1280×720 pixels (HD) with a 16:9 aspect ratio — this is YouTube's official recommendation. Use our thumbnail downloader to analyze competitor thumbnails or download HD versions for reference. For custom thumbnails, keep file size under 2MB, use JPG, PNG, or GIF format, and ensure important elements aren't cropped on mobile (stay within center-safe zone).

To download HD thumbnails: (1) Go to notelm.ai/youtube-thumbnail-downloader, (2) Paste any YouTube video URL, (3) Click "Get Thumbnails", (4) All available sizes appear with preview, (5) Click the maxresdefault (1280×720) option for HD quality, (6) Choose JPG or WebP format, (7) Right-click and save, or click the download button. Works with any public YouTube video.

Using our YouTube Subtitle Downloader Chrome extension: (1) Install the extension, (2) Navigate to any YouTube video, (3) Play the video briefly to load captions, (4) Click the extension icon, (5) SRT file downloads automatically with the video title as filename. For more format options, use our Transcript Generator which exports SRT, VTT, TTML, and more.

SRT (SubRip): Most universal format, works with VLC, Premiere Pro, Final Cut, DaVinci Resolve, and 99% of players. VTT (WebVTT): HTML5 native format, supports styling and positioning, ideal for web video players. TTML (Timed Text Markup Language): Broadcast/streaming standard, used by Netflix and TV. For most uses, choose SRT — it's the safest, most compatible option.

Yes! Our Thumbnail Downloader works with YouTube Shorts. Paste the Shorts URL (youtube.com/shorts/VIDEO_ID or youtu.be/VIDEO_ID) and all available thumbnail sizes appear. Note that Shorts thumbnails are vertical (9:16 ratio) unlike standard 16:9 thumbnails, so they may have different dimensions.

Use our YouTube Comment Extractor: (1) Go to notelm.ai/youtube-comment-extractor, (2) Paste any video URL, (3) Choose export format (JSON or CSV), (4) Apply optional filters (date range, keyword search, minimum likes), (5) Click "Extract Comments", (6) Download the file. Exports include: comment text, author name, author channel, like count, reply count, publish date, and timestamps.

Each exported comment includes: comment text (full content), author display name, author channel URL, like count, reply count, publish date/time, whether it's a reply or top-level comment, and parent comment ID (for replies). CSV format is ideal for Excel/Google Sheets analysis; JSON format is better for programmatic processing or import into databases.

Yes! Our Comment Extractor includes powerful filters: (1) Date range — export comments from specific periods, (2) Minimum likes — only include comments with X+ likes, (3) Keyword search — find comments containing specific words, (4) Top-level only — exclude replies, (5) Include/exclude author replies — filter by video owner's responses. Combine filters for precise extraction.

Our tool extracts all available comments on a video. However, YouTube's API has pagination limits, so very popular videos with 100,000+ comments may take longer to fully extract. For videos with comments disabled or limited, the tool will extract whatever is publicly available. No artificial limits from NoteLM — we extract everything YouTube provides.

Common use cases: (1) Sentiment analysis — understand audience reaction, (2) Market research — gather feedback on products/topics, (3) Content ideas — find questions your audience asks, (4) Community management — export for CRM import, (5) Academic research — analyze discourse patterns, (6) Competitive analysis — study competitor engagement, (7) Testimonial collection — find positive comments for marketing.

Yes, we follow a strict privacy-first approach: (1) Your API key is stored locally in your browser — never sent to our servers, (2) Online tools process data in your browser using client-side JavaScript — we don't store video content, transcripts, or comments, (3) We have no user accounts = no personal data collection, (4) No analytics, no tracking, no telemetry in our extensions, (5) No cookies beyond essential functionality. Your usage is completely private.

No. We don't collect names, emails, usage data, browsing history, or any personal information. Our Chrome extensions are fully offline-capable for non-AI features. Our website uses minimal, privacy-respecting analytics (anonymous page views only, no personal data, no tracking across sites). We believe privacy is a fundamental right, not a feature to compromise for monetization.

When using the Video Summarizer: only the video transcript (text) is sent directly from your browser to Google's Gemini API — not the video itself, not your browsing data, not any personal information. NoteLM never sees or stores this data. On Google's free API tier, they may use anonymized data to improve their models; paid API tiers have stricter data handling. See Google's AI Studio terms for details.

No. Our Chrome extensions only have permission to run on YouTube.com pages. We cannot access other websites, your browsing history, bookmarks, passwords, or any other browser data. The extension activates only when you visit YouTube. You can verify our permissions in chrome://extensions/ — we request minimal permissions needed for functionality.

Yes! Our extensions are open source and available on GitHub (github.com/NoteLMai). You can inspect the source code, verify there's no hidden data collection, and even contribute improvements. Transparency is core to our privacy-first philosophy. We encourage security researchers to audit our code.

Uninstalling removes all locally stored data including your API key and preferences. No data persists because we don't store anything on our servers. There's no account to delete, no data request to make — simply uninstall and all traces are gone. You can reinstall anytime and start fresh.

Try these steps in order: (1) Ensure you're on a YouTube watch page (youtube.com/watch?v=...), not homepage or search, (2) Check that the extension is enabled in chrome://extensions/, (3) Click the puzzle icon in Chrome toolbar and pin NoteLM, (4) Hard refresh the YouTube page (Ctrl+Shift+R or Cmd+Shift+R), (5) Try disabling and re-enabling the extension, (6) Clear browser cache and restart Chrome, (7) Reinstall the extension if problem persists. Extension only activates on YouTube video pages.

Summary time depends on video length: 5-10 min videos take 10-20 seconds, 30-60 min videos take 30-60 seconds, 2+ hour videos may take 1-2 minutes. If taking much longer: (1) Check your internet connection, (2) Google API may have high load — wait and retry, (3) Very long transcripts may hit processing limits — try shorter videos, (4) Clear extension cache in settings. If consistently slow, your API key might be hitting rate limits — wait for reset.

Summary quality depends on caption quality. To improve: (1) Choose videos with manual captions over auto-generated (manual = higher accuracy), (2) Videos with clear audio and single speaker work best, (3) Educational/spoken content summarizes better than heavily edited videos, (4) Try videos in their original language rather than auto-translated, (5) For technical content, the AI may miss domain-specific nuances — verify key claims. The AI accurately summarizes what's in the transcript.

Rate limit errors mean you've hit Google's API limits. Solutions: (1) Minute limits — wait 60 seconds and retry, (2) Daily limits — wait until midnight Pacific Time for reset, (3) Check your usage at aistudio.google.com, (4) Space out requests when summarizing many videos, (5) Consider upgrading to a paid Google API plan for higher limits. Free tier is 1,500 requests/day — sufficient for most users.

Sometimes captions need to load: (1) Play the video for 15-30 seconds to trigger caption loading, (2) Ensure you're clicking the CC button and captions actually appear on YouTube, (3) Some videos have region-restricted captions, (4) Private/age-restricted videos may not expose captions to extensions, (5) Live streams don't have captions until archived, (6) Refresh the page and try again. If CC shows in YouTube but our tool fails, report the issue with video URL.

This usually indicates auto-caption issues, not our tool: (1) YouTube's auto-captions have 85-95% accuracy — errors are from YouTube's speech recognition, (2) Heavy accents, fast speech, technical jargon, or background noise reduce accuracy, (3) Check if manual captions are available (higher quality), (4) Music and sound effects may be transcribed incorrectly, (5) We extract exactly what YouTube provides. For critical accuracy, manually verify against the video.

Rare but possible fixes: (1) Update to latest extension version, (2) Disable other YouTube-related extensions (conflicts possible), (3) Clear browser cache and extension data, (4) Check if issue occurs in Incognito mode (isolates the problem), (5) Update Chrome to latest version, (6) Try reinstalling the extension, (7) Check available RAM — close unnecessary tabs. If problem persists, report with your Chrome version and system info.

We welcome feedback: (1) GitHub Issues — best for bugs with technical details (github.com/NoteLMai), (2) Email — general feedback to hello@notelm.ai, (3) Include: video URL that caused issues, Chrome/browser version, error messages or screenshots, steps to reproduce. Feature requests are tracked in GitHub Discussions. We actively monitor and respond to all reports.

Online tools (transcript generator, comment extractor, thumbnail downloader) work fully on mobile browsers — just visit notelm.ai on your phone. Chrome extensions require a desktop browser. For mobile: (1) Use Safari on iOS or Chrome on Android, (2) All web tools are mobile-optimized, (3) Copy results to mobile note apps, (4) Download files work on mobile. Dedicated mobile apps are being explored for the future.

Partially. The Transcript Generator supports batch processing up to 10 videos from a playlist — paste the playlist URL to extract transcripts from multiple videos as a ZIP file. Other tools currently work on individual videos. For playlists, you can also: (1) Open multiple browser tabs to process videos in parallel, (2) Use playlist URL to get video list, then process individually. Full playlist batch processing is on our roadmap.

Yes! All NoteLM tools work with YouTube Shorts. For Shorts: (1) Transcript Generator — extracts full text from Shorts with captions, (2) Thumbnail Downloader — gets Shorts thumbnails (vertical 9:16 format), (3) Video Summarizer — works but summaries are brief given the short length (60 seconds max), (4) Comment Extractor — works normally. Use full Shorts URL (youtube.com/shorts/VIDEO_ID) or share link.

Partially. Unlisted videos — yes, if you have the link and the video has captions enabled. Private videos — only if you're logged into the correct YouTube account that has access AND the video has captions. The extension captures captions from whatever video is currently playing in your browser. Age-restricted videos may have limitations with caption access.

After generating a summary: (1) "Copy Chapters" button — gets timestamped chapter list in YouTube description format, perfect for video SEO, (2) "Copy Summary" — full analysis with all sections, (3) "Copy Key Points" — just main takeaways without timestamps, (4) Individual section copy — click copy icon on any section. All timestamps use YouTube-compatible format (0:00, 1:30, 1:15:00) ready to paste.

Yes, in extension settings: (1) Output language — choose from 70+ languages, (2) Summary depth — concise, standard, or detailed mode, (3) Chapter density — how many chapters to generate for video length, (4) Include/exclude sections — toggle quotes, takeaways, topic tags. The AI automatically adapts based on video length, but these settings let you fine-tune output.

Transcripts: 100+ languages including all YouTube-supported languages. Summaries: 70+ output languages. The video can be in any language with captions, and you can output summaries in your preferred language. Full support for: English, Spanish, Chinese (Simplified/Traditional), Japanese, Korean, German, French, Portuguese, Italian, Dutch, Russian, Arabic, Hindi, Thai, Vietnamese, and many more.

Yes, 100% free with no catch. Here's why: (1) We don't have server costs for AI — you use your own free Gemini API key, (2) No user data = no database costs, (3) Static website hosting is nearly free, (4) We're a small team passionate about making AI tools accessible. There's no "freemium" upsell — all 6 tools are fully featured for everyone. We may add optional premium features in the future, but core tools stay free forever.

All 6 current YouTube AI tools will remain free forever. We may introduce optional premium features (e.g., batch processing, cloud sync) or entirely new products in the future, but the core tools — Channel Analytics, Transcript Generator, Video Summarizer, Comment Extractor, Thumbnail Downloader, and Subtitle Downloader — will always be free. Our commitment is accessibility.

Key differences: Otter.ai ($16.99/mo) — focused on meetings, not YouTube. Fireflies ($18/mo) — meeting transcription, per-seat pricing. Notion AI ($10/mo) — general-purpose, not video-focused. NoteLM: (1) Free forever, (2) YouTube-specialized, (3) Privacy-first (no data collection), (4) No signup required, (5) 70+ languages. We're not a meeting tool competitor — we're purpose-built for YouTube content.

Gemini free tier includes: 1,500 requests/day, 15 requests/minute, 1M tokens/minute — sufficient for most users. If you need more: Gemini Pro paid tier starts at $0.35 per million input tokens (very affordable). For context: summarizing a 2-hour video uses roughly 50K-100K tokens, costing about $0.02-$0.04 on paid tier. Most users never need to pay.

Online tools (Transcript Generator, Comment Extractor, Thumbnail Downloader): No limits — use as much as you want. Subtitle Downloader extension: No limits. Video Summarizer extension: Limited only by your Gemini API quota (1,500/day free). We impose no artificial caps, no daily limits, no "credits" system. Use freely.