YouTube to Notes — AI study notes from any video
Paste a video URL and Scholarly's AI turns it into organized, structured study notes — key concepts, definitions, and takeaways, ready for exam review.
Free to start · No credit card required
Updated June 2026
Need a quick summary instead? Try our YouTube Summarizer for a shorter overview.
Enter YouTube Video URL
Paste the URL of the YouTube video you want to convert into study notes. You will be redirected to register to access your full notes.
Video transcripts are processed securely by Scholarly's AI.
From video URL to study notes in three steps
Paste a link, let the AI do the work, and study from notes that are ready to go.
Step 1: Paste URL
Paste the URL of any YouTube video — lectures, tutorials, documentaries, or educational content.
Step 2: AI Creates Notes
Our AI analyzes the video transcript and creates structured study notes with headings, key concepts, and definitions.
Step 3: Study & Export
Review your notes on Scholarly, generate flashcards from them, or export as PDF for offline study.
How does YouTube to Notes work?
Scholarly analyzes the video's transcript and creates structured study notes — not just a summary or raw transcript dump. The AI identifies the main topics covered in the video, organizes them under clear headings with timestamps, and extracts key definitions, concepts, examples, and takeaways. The result reads like notes you'd take yourself, but more thorough and better organized.
This is different from a YouTube summarizer (which gives you a brief overview) or a transcript extractor (which gives you raw text). YouTube to Notes gives you study-ready material that you can review before an exam, add to your existing notes, or use to create flashcards. The whole flow takes four steps:
- 1Paste the YouTube link — no downloading the video or copying the transcript by hand.
- 2Scholarly pulls the video's transcript (auto-generated captions work fine).
- 3The AI groups the content by topic and writes structured notes: headings with timestamps, definitions, examples, and takeaways.
- 4The video becomes a source in your workspace — generate flashcards or a quiz from it, or ask questions and get answers that cite the video.
YouTube to Notes vs. YouTube Summarizer: which one do I need?
A YouTube summarizer gives you a quick overview — a few paragraphs highlighting the main points. YouTube to Notes goes deeper. You get comprehensive, structured notes with headings, subheadings, key terms highlighted, and detailed explanations for each topic covered in the video.
Use the summarizer when you need to quickly decide if a video is worth watching. Use YouTube to Notes when you've found a valuable lecture and want to extract everything from it for studying.
Does it work for lecture videos?
YouTube to Notes is designed for educational content: recorded university lectures, Khan Academy tutorials, Crash Course episodes, MIT OpenCourseWare, and any other educational video on YouTube. The AI understands academic content and structures your notes accordingly — with proper topic organization, term definitions, and logical flow.
If your professor posts AI Meeting Notes on YouTube, this tool saves you from having to take notes while watching. Let the AI generate the notes, then spend your time actually learning the material instead of transcribing it.
Can I turn the notes into flashcards?
After generating notes from a YouTube video, you can convert them into flashcards with one click. The AI extracts the key concepts from your notes and creates question-and-answer flashcards ready for spaced repetition study. You can also export your notes as a PDF or share them with classmates.
Does it work with any YouTube video?
Any public YouTube video with available captions or subtitles works — auto-generated captions included. The AI handles videos in multiple languages and produces notes in the video's original language. Long lectures (1+ hours) and short tutorials (5 minutes) both work. The length of your generated notes scales with the video content.
What do the notes from a real lecture video look like?
Here's the shape of the notes Scholarly generates from a typical 49-minute recorded university lecture on human memory.
Intro Psychology — Lecture 12: Human Memory
49:21 · YouTube AI Meeting Notes · notes generated by Scholarly
Encoding: getting information in03:15
- Levels of processing (Craik & Lockhart): deep, meaning-based encoding produces far better recall than shallow rehearsal of sounds or spelling.
- Elaboration example from the lecture: connecting a new term to something you already know beats repeating it ten times.
- Practical takeaway: rewriting a definition in your own words is an encoding strategy, not busywork.
Working memory and its limits17:40
- Baddeley's model: a central executive coordinating the phonological loop and visuospatial sketchpad — they can work in parallel.
- Capacity is roughly four chunks, not seven — chunking (grouping digits into a date) is how experts stretch it.
Retrieval cues and forgetting33:05
- Encoding specificity (Tulving): recall improves when the retrieval context matches the encoding context.
- The testing effect: actively retrieving material strengthens memory more than rereading it — the professor's argument for practice questions over highlighting.
Each heading keeps a timestamp back to the video, so you can jump to the original explanation when you need the full version. One click turns these notes into flashcards or a practice quiz.
Frequently Asked Questions
How do I convert a YouTube video to notes?
Paste the YouTube video URL and Scholarly's AI analyzes the transcript to create structured study notes with headings, key concepts, definitions, and takeaways. The notes are ready for studying immediately.
Is YouTube to Notes free?
Yes. The Free plan includes 1 lifetime AI creation. Premium includes 10 AI creations each week, along with unlimited uploads and higher study limits.
How is this different from a YouTube summarizer?
A summarizer gives you a brief overview. YouTube to Notes creates comprehensive, structured study notes with headings, key terms, definitions, and detailed explanations — the kind of notes you'd take yourself in class.
Does it work with any YouTube video?
Yes, it works with any public YouTube video that has captions or subtitles (including auto-generated). The AI handles videos in multiple languages and works with both short tutorials and long lectures.
Can I generate flashcards from the notes?
Yes. After generating notes, you can convert them into flashcards with one click. The AI creates question-and-answer cards covering the key concepts for spaced repetition study or export to Anki.
Can I export the notes as a PDF?
Yes. You can export your generated notes as a PDF for offline study, print them, or share them with classmates directly from Scholarly.
What kind of videos work best?
Educational videos produce the best notes: AI Meeting Notes sources, tutorials, documentaries, Crash Course, Khan Academy, MIT OpenCourseWare, and similar educational content. Entertainment videos with minimal educational content produce less useful notes.
How long does it take to generate notes?
Note generation typically takes 30–60 seconds depending on the video length. Longer videos take slightly more time but still complete in under a few minutes.
Can I share notes with classmates?
Yes. You can share your generated notes with classmates or study groups directly from Scholarly. Everyone can view the notes, generate their own flashcards, and use AI chat to ask questions.
Do the notes include timestamps?
Yes. Topic headings in the notes keep timestamps that map back to the video, so when you need the full explanation you can jump straight to the right moment instead of rewatching the whole video.
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What customers say
Scholarly has enhanced the quality of notes and questions I administer to my tutees. Insightful, to the point.
TD Georgas
Tutor
I have very good experience with Scholarly it summarize me scientific text in hovel academic level with citation. I use this for any therapeutic area . It is great and useful tool.
Diana
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Scholarly has been a valuable tool for my studies. The AI-generated flashcards and intuitive features make organizing and retaining information much easier.
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This app is great for studying for big test. Drop your PDF's in the system and it'll do the trick. You can organize it specifically for your needs.
Kelvin
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