The direct answer
To turn a Reel into text, open the Instagram Transcript tool and paste a public Reel URL, or upload a saved MP4, MOV or WebM file. It recognizes spoken audio in your browser and provides timestamped text plus TXT and SRT downloads.
- Choose Paste URL for a public Reel, or Upload File for a saved copy.
- Let the media load and the browser speech model finish.
- Check the timestamps, then copy the text or download TXT/SRT.
Scope: this is a speech transcript. It does not extract captions, comments, hashtags, or words printed inside the video frames.
Public Reel URL or saved file?
Use a public URL when it opens without a login and its media is reachable. Use a saved file for private, deleted, region-limited, or login-gated Reels. A link can still fail if its media address expired or the video has no audio; a silent file has no speech to recognize.
Timestamped output
[00:00] Open the Reel transcript tool
[00:04] paste a public link or select the saved file
[00:10] review the words before you publish them
TXT is useful for searching and editing. SRT adds numbered start/end cues for subtitle editors and players. It is generated from recognized speech, not Instagram's original caption track.
Processing boundary
Uploaded media is decoded and transcribed on your device. A public URL is fetched first, then the browser handles speech recognition. The first run can be slower while the model downloads; later runs may use its cache.
Measured browser timings
| Audio length | Wall-clock time | Model state |
|---|
| 11 s | 16.89 s | first run, model load included |
| 11 s | 6.49 s | cached |
| 30 s | 8.98 s | cached |
| 60 s | 16.06 s | cached |
| 120 s | 28.58 s | cached |
Single WASM observations on one laptop; URL fetch time is not included. See the raw benchmark for method and limits.
Review before publishing
Music, effects, accents, names, numbers, fast speech, and overlapping speakers can change the result. Replay important timestamps. Non-English speech is a draft with the current English-focused browser model.
FAQ
Can I use a private Reel URL?
No. Upload a saved copy you have permission to process.
Does it read words shown on screen?
No. It recognizes spoken audio; use OCR for text in the frames.
Which download should I choose?
Choose TXT for plain text and SRT for timestamped subtitles.
Is InstaScript affiliated with Instagram?
No. InstaScript is independent of Instagram and Meta.