YouTube Text Selector

Pause any YouTube video and select or copy the text shown in the frame, like selecting text in a document.

Ever paused a video to type out text from a slide, a code snippet, or a quote by hand? This extension makes the text on a paused YouTube video selectable — just drag over it and copy, exactly like selecting text in a document. HOW IT WORKS Click the "T" button in the YouTube player (or press Alt+T). The video pauses. Select the area which you want the text from and the extension reads the current frame using on-device text recognition (OCR). Every detected word becomes selectable right where it appears on the video. Drag to select, Ctrl+C to copy — or hit "Copy all" to grab everything on screen at once. Press Esc or click the button again to close the overlay and resume playback. GREAT FOR • Lecture slides and online courses — copy notes instead of retyping them • Programming tutorials — grab code snippets straight off the screen • Copying quotes, definitions, URLs, and on-screen captions • Recipes, instructions, and lists shown in videos PRIVATE BY DESIGN All text recognition runs locally in your browser. No screenshots, video frames, or recognized text ever leave your device. The extension makes no network requests, collects no data, and requires no account. NOTES • Currently recognizes English text; accuracy is best on clear, reasonably sized text • The first use after installing takes a few extra seconds while the recognition engine loads • Doesn't work on DRM-protected content (e.g., YouTube Movies), where Chrome blocks frame capture Keyboard shortcuts: Alt+T to toggle, Esc to close. This extension is not affiliated with or endorsed by YouTube or Google.