Whisper on Google Colaboratory

Easily transcribe YouTube videos, MP4, and MP3 files to text using Whisper on Google Colab.

Features

• No local setup required — runs entirely on Google Colab
• Supports YouTube URLs, MP4, and MP3 files
• Outputs transcribed text in .txt format

Table of Contents

1. Basic Setup
2. Choose Data Type & Download Transcribed Text
   • YouTube Video ➔ Text File
   • MP4 ➔ Text File
   • MP3 ➔ Text File

I. Basic Setup

1. Search for google colab on Google and press Enter.
2. Select the first search result or directly click this link: Google Colaboratory.
3. On the Colaboratory page, click the File option at the top left.
4. From the dropdown menu, select Upload Notebook.
5. Drag and drop Whisper.ipynb into the Open a notebook page.
6. After uploading, click the Runtime option at the top.
7. From the dropdown, select Change runtime type.
8. In the pop-up window, choose Python 3 (this should be the default).
9. Set the hardware accelerator to T4 GPU (default is usually CPU).
10. Click the Save button at the bottom left.
11. Click the Runtime menu again.
12. Select Run all (or press Ctrl + F9) or manually run code blocks 1 through 4 to avoid errors.

Note

It’s normal to see errors at this point if you decided to Run all, since no file type or file path has been selected yet.

II. Choose Data Type & Download Transcribed Text

1. YouTube Video ➔ Text File

1. Select YouTube from the dropdown menu.
2. Click the Confirm button.
   • Example selection:
3. Run Code Block 5 and paste the YouTube video URL when prompted. Press Enter and wait for the transcription.
4. Run Code Block 6 and wait until it outputs Your Transcript is here: YOUR_FILE_NAME.mp3.txt.
5. In the right panel, click Refresh if the .txt file isn't visible.
6. Right-click on YOUR_FILE_NAME.mp3.txt.
7. Click Download to get your text file.

2. MP4 ➔ Text File

1. Select MP4 from the dropdown.
2. Click the Confirm button.
   • Example of selected result:
3. Drag and drop <YOUR_FILE_NAME>.mp4 into the Files panel.

Tip

Click the Files icon on the right if the panel isn't open.

4. Right-click on the file.
5. Select Copy path.
6. Run Code Block 5 and paste the file path into the input prompt. Press Enter to start conversion.
7. Run Code Block 6 and wait for the message: Your Transcript is here: YOUR_FILE_NAME.mp3.txt.
8. Click Refresh (skip if the TXT file already appears).
9. Then, right-click on YOUR_FILE_NAME.mp3.txt.
10. Click Download to get your text file.

3. MP3 ➔ Text File

1. Select MP3 from the dropdown menu.
2. Click the Confirm button.
   • Screenshot of selected result:
3. Drag and drop <YOUR_FILE_NAME>.mp3 into the Files panel.

Tip

Click the Files icon on the right if the panel isn't open.

4. Right-click on the file.
5. And select Copy path.
6. Run Code Block 5 and paste the file path into the input textbar.
7. Run Code Block 6 and wait for the message: Your Transcript is here: YOUR_FILE_NAME.mp3.txt.
8. Click Refresh (if needed).
9. Then, right-click on YOUR_FILE_NAME.mp3.txt.
10. Finally, click Download to get your text file.

Notes

• Ensure stable internet connectivity for smooth transcription.
• For large files, transcriptions may take longer.
• If you encounter errors, try restarting the runtime (Runtime > Restart runtime).

Happy Transcribing!