How to Get a Transcript of Any Podcast (Spotify, Apple Podcasts, and More)

Maybe you heard a stat you want to quote. Maybe you're a journalist chasing down exactly what a guest said. Maybe you just prefer reading to listening. Whatever the reason, "how do I get a transcript of this podcast" is one of the most common questions podcast listeners run into — and the answer depends entirely on where you're listening.

Here's how to find a transcript on the major platforms, what to do when a show doesn't have one, and a faster way to search across every episode you care about instead of hunting one at a time.

How to Get a Transcript of a Spotify Podcast

Spotify has rolled out automatically generated transcripts for a large share of podcasts on its platform. If a transcript is available for an episode:

1. Open the episode in the Spotify app.
2. Look for a transcript icon or a "Transcript" option in the episode's menu (usually near the description or below the play controls).
3. Tap it to open a scrolling, time-synced transcript that highlights the text as the episode plays.

A few things to know about how to see a transcript of a podcast on Spotify:

• Not every podcast has a transcript on Spotify. Coverage depends on the show, the host, and whether Spotify's system has processed that particular feed.
• Spotify's transcripts are usually view-only inside the app — there isn't always a clean "export" or "download" button, which is why people often end up copying text manually or looking for a third-party alternative.
• If you don't see a transcript option at all, the episode likely hasn't been transcribed by Spotify yet.
• On iPhone and Android, the steps are the same — the transcript icon sits in the same spot in the Spotify mobile app on both platforms.

How to Copy a Transcript From Apple Podcasts

Apple Podcasts also supports transcripts for many shows, generated automatically as episodes are processed.

1. Open the episode in the Apple Podcasts app.
2. Tap the transcript icon (usually represented by lines of text) near the episode player.
3. The transcript will scroll in sync with playback, and tapping any line will typically jump the audio to that point.
4. To copy text, tap and hold on a line to select it, then drag the selection handles to cover the section you want and choose Copy from the pop-up menu.

Limitations to expect when copying a transcript from Apple Podcasts:

• Transcript availability varies by show and by episode — older back-catalog episodes are less likely to have one than recent releases.
• Copying large sections of text out of the Apple Podcasts transcript view isn't always straightforward, and there's no built-in bulk export for research or reporting purposes — you're limited to whatever you can select and copy manually, a few lines at a time.
• Some users report the transcript toggle is missing entirely on certain episodes, even when the show generally has transcripts elsewhere.

What If the Podcast Doesn't Have a Transcript?

If a show doesn't offer a native transcript on Spotify or Apple Podcasts, you generally have three options:

• Check the show's website or show notes. Some podcasts (especially interview or business shows) publish transcripts manually as blog posts.
• Use a transcript generator tool. Upload the audio file or paste an episode link into a transcription tool and generate one yourself. This works fine for a single episode, but it means repeating the process every time you want a new one, and it won't help you search across a show's full back catalog.
• Use a platform that transcribes and indexes podcasts automatically so you're not doing this one episode at a time.

The Faster Way: Search Instead of Scrub

If you only ever need one transcript for one episode, the built-in Spotify or Apple Podcasts view — or a quick upload to a transcript generator — will usually get you there.

But if you're regularly looking for what was said on a show (or across many shows), that one-at-a-time process gets slow fast. That's the gap Subalytics is built to close: it automatically transcribes episodes from Spotify, Apple Podcasts, YouTube, and RSS feeds as they publish, and makes the entire archive searchable — so instead of opening episode by episode hoping a transcript exists, you can search a keyword, a guest name, or a topic and jump straight to the moment it was said, across every show you're tracking.

That's especially useful if you're monitoring what's being said about your brand or a competitor, doing research for an article, or building content off of podcast interviews — situations where you don't know in advance which episode has what you're looking for.

See how podcast transcript search works on Subalytics →

Frequently Asked Questions