Transcribe TikTok Videos to Text: A 2025 Guide!

On TikTok, every second matters. With more viewers watching videos on mute—whether during their commute, in busy public spaces, or even at home—captions and transcriptions are essential for grabbing attention and getting your message across. This silent viewing trend is changing the way creators and marketers design their content, making it crucial to ensure every word is accessible, even without sound.

Transcribing your TikTok videos into text not only caters to viewers who rely on captions but also increases accessibility for those with hearing impairments and for non-native speakers. Converting spoken content into text ensures your narrative is available to a global audience, boosting engagement and understanding across diverse viewer groups. This approach helps maintain the impact of your content, regardless of where or how it is viewed.

This guide dives into the latest tools and techniques for transcribing TikTok videos—from links and uploads to effective text. We will explore practical methods and advanced solutions that streamline transcription, making your content inclusive and compelling.

Why Every TikTok Creator Needs to Transcribe?

By adding text to their videos, creators can enhance accessibility, boost engagement, and unlock new opportunities for audience growth. Here's why every TikTok creator should prioritize transcribing their content:

Breaking Barriers to Accessibility

Millions worldwide experience hearing loss, making video captions essential for inclusivity. According to the World Health Organization, over 430 million people have severe hearing loss, which is projected to grow. Adding transcriptions ensures everyone can engage with your content regardless of hearing ability.

Supercharging Engagement and Watch Time

Attention spans are shrinking, and users are more likely to scroll past videos that require them to increase their volume. A study from Verizon shows that 80% of viewers are more likely to finish a video when captions are available. Captions allow viewers to understand your content even in silence, leading to higher engagement, increased watch time, and a greater chance of appearing on TikTok's For You Page.

Boosting SEO and Discoverability

While TikTok is primarily a video platform, search engines index transcriptions from embedded captions or external transcripts. Transcribing your videos increases their chances of appearing in Google search results. More visibility means more followers, shares, and engagement, helping your content reach a wider audience beyond TikTok.

Repurposing Content Across Platforms

With the help of transcriptions, a single TikTok video can be turned into multiple content pieces. Creators can transform their TikTok scripts into blog posts, Instagram captions, YouTube subtitles, or LinkedIn articles. This saves time while ensuring a consistent content strategy across different platforms.

Expanding Global Reach with Translation and Dubbing

In 2024, TikTok stood at a global user base of around two billion, reaching nearly 90% of all internet users in countries like Vietnam, Chile, and Thailand. While transcribing ensures clarity, translating and dubbing videos significantly amplify reach. Tools like Murf AI's voice dubbing allow creators to generate high-quality voiceovers in different languages, enabling them to cater to international audiences effortlessly.

A Step-by-Step Guide to Transcribing TikTok Videos

Automated transcription tools make transcribing your TikTok videos easier than ever. Follow these steps to generate high-quality transcripts:

Step 1: Upload the Video or Paste the Link

Choose a transcription tool that fits your needs. Popular options include:

1.   Rev – Offers both AI-generated and human-edited transcripts.

2.   Otter – Provides real-time automatic transcription with editing options.

3.   CapCut – TikTok's built-in editing tool featuring speech recognition.

Note: For the purpose of this blog, we are using Rev to demonstrate how to transcribe TikTok video to text from link.

Most transcription platforms let you upload the video file directly or paste the TikTok URL for quick processing. If you're working with multiple videos, some tools even offer batch uploads, saving time and effort.

Step 2: Generate the Transcript

After uploading the video or pasting the link, the transcription tool will process the audio and create an initial transcript. Depending on the video's length, it typically takes anywhere from a few seconds to a few minutes. AI-powered transcription tools use machine learning to detect different speakers, apply punctuation, and improve readability. While the generated text is usually accurate, background noise, accents, or fast speech may cause minor errors.

Step 3: Review and Edit the Transcript

No AI tool is perfect—there might be errors with names, accents, or slang. Reviewing and editing the transcript ensures accuracy. Some platforms highlight words with lower confidence, making it easier to identify potential mistakes. Adjusting timestamps and correcting errors enhances the transcript's readability and effectiveness.

Step 4: Download or Copy the Final Transcript

Once the transcript is refined, download or copy it for further use. At this stage, consider using Murf AI's voice dubbing tool as a video translator to translate and dub your TikTok videos into multiple languages, increasing accessibility for a global audience. It also allows video content to be repurposed with the text transcript.

Common Pitfalls to Avoid in TikTok Transcription

The process may seem straightforward when you're transcribing and translating TikTok videos, but there are a few bumps in the road that can trip you up. Here's what to watch out for:

Relying Too Heavily on Automatic Tools

AI transcription tools have come a long way but are still imperfect. Depending on audio quality, accents, and speech clarity, they can produce errors that compromise your message. Always double-check the results to catch misheard words, awkward phrasing, or technical terms that don't make sense.

Skipping the Proofreading Step

Even after you have transcribed or translated your TikTok videos, it's tempting to skip the final review and publish immediately. But transcription errors can often go unnoticed until after they've been posted, especially if they're subtle. Make sure you proofread or have someone else take a look before your captions go live. A few minutes of editing can save your content from looking unprofessional.

Not Considering Video Context

Transcriptions should align with the video's tone and intent. If you share a funny moment, but your captions come off too formal, the vibe of your video could shift. Tailoring the transcription to fit the video's mood ensures you don't lose the essence of the content.

Overloading the Screen with Text

While captions are great, too much text can overwhelm the viewer. TikTok is a visual platform; the focus should remain on the video. Keep captions concise, and break up longer text into easy-to-read sections. Remember: you want your audience to focus on the content, not just the words flashing on the screen.

The Future of TikTok Transcription

As AI-powered transcription and translation tools advance, converting TikTok videos to text is becoming essential to content creation. According to Straits Research, the global market for AI in media and entertainment was valued at $15.11 billion in 2023 and is predicted to reach $121.99 billion by 2032, with an annual growth rate of 26.12% from 2024 to 2032. This impressive growth reflects the rising influence of technologies that support real-time captions, automated voiceovers, and language conversion features—capabilities that TikTok is beginning to integrate.

On TikTok, where many viewers choose to watch without sound, research from Instapage shows that videos with captions see up to a 16% increase in reach and a 17% boost in reactions. For instance, educational platforms like Coursera and Duolingo have demonstrated the benefits of real-time subtitle translation by supporting more than 40 languages. Similarly, AI-driven e-learning solutions have reduced localization turnaround times by 50%, proving that effective text conversion is achievable.

For content creators, converting TikTok videos to text is not merely an extra feature but a vital step toward ensuring that content is accessible and compelling. As these transcription tools continue to evolve, we can expect even more precise and timely text conversion to become a standard feature on social platforms.