1. Check the caption track
Look for the CC button and open Settings → Subtitles/CC. If no caption track is available, there may be no transcript for a viewer tool to read.
YouTube says automatic captions can be delayed or unavailable for reasons including unsupported language, poor audio, overlapping speech or processing. Refreshing an extension does not create a missing caption track.
2. Expand the video description
Open the full description and look for Show transcript. YouTube can change where controls appear, and desktop and mobile layouts differ. The official transcript instructions are linked below.
Test a second video known to have captions. If its transcript works, the issue is more likely specific to the first video than your whole browser.
3. Separate extension loading from source availability
If YouTube displays captions but TransParrot cannot load them, refresh the watch page once and reopen the panel. Check that the extension is enabled and has access to YouTube.
A temporary network error, rate limit or YouTube page change may interrupt loading. Avoid repeatedly hammering retry. Keep any displayed error or trace identifier when asking for help; never share a login token or recovery code.
4. Handle a video without captions
Try again after the video has finished processing, look for a creator-provided transcript, or ask the creator for captions. If you own the video, review YouTube’s caption creation options.
TransParrot currently depends on an existing caption track. A separate audio transcription service may be suitable for media you are authorized to process, but that is not the extension’s current workflow.
Questions, answered
Why are captions available but the translation is still missing?
The original captions and translated text can finish at different times. Keep the original view available and wait for the translation state to finish; use the shown error if processing fails.
Will reinstalling the extension restore all transcripts?
No. Reinstallation cannot fix an unavailable source caption track. Check the video and page first, and back up any guest recovery information before clearing extension data.