Guide

Turn a YouTube video into notes

Sumvid turns a YouTube video into ready-made notes: paste the link, and it writes a title, a one-sentence summary, and 3–7 key takeaways with timestamps from the video's captions. Then copy it as Markdown or plain text, copy it as an Obsidian note, or download a .md file, and paste it into whatever notes app you use.

How it works

Three steps

  1. 1. Summarize the video. Paste the YouTube URL into Sumvid and sign in. The summary is ready in about a minute.
  2. 2. Open the share menu. Choose Copy markdown, Copy plain text, Copy for Obsidian, or Download markdown.
  3. 3. Paste into your notes. Headings and bullets survive the paste in Notion, Obsidian, and other Markdown-aware apps.

Example note

What lands in your notes

A representative note in Markdown. Obsidian users get the same body with YAML frontmatter; see YouTube to Obsidian.

## How Memory Works
A lecture on how the brain encodes, stores, and retrieves memories, and why spaced practice beats cramming.

## Key Takeaways
- [3:12] Encoding is stronger when new material is linked to something you already know.
- [18:40] Sleep consolidates the day's memories; all-nighters undo much of the studying.
- [31:05] Testing yourself (retrieval practice) beats re-reading for long-term recall.

## Suggested Category Tags
psychology, memory, study skills

When you want the full text

A summary is a condensed note, not a word-for-word record. If you need quotes or every detail, start from the transcript instead; see how to get a YouTube transcript.

Try it on a video you meant to take notes on.

New accounts get 5 free credits. Packs start at $5 for 100. Summaries in the library are free to read and copy. More on summarizing YouTube videos and lectures.

FAQ

Common questions

Which note formats can I export?
From the share menu on a finished summary: Copy markdown, Copy plain text, Copy for Obsidian (Markdown with YAML frontmatter), and Download markdown as a .md file. Markdown pastes cleanly into Notion, Obsidian, Logseq, Bear, and most note apps.
Do the timestamps still work after I paste the note?
In the Obsidian export and the in-app summary, every [m:ss] timestamp is a link that opens the video at that second. Timestamps appear when the video's captions carry timing, which is most of them.
How much does it cost?
One credit per video up to an hour long. New accounts get 5 free credits, packs start at $5 for 100 credits, and reading a video someone already summarized costs nothing.