Selectext Review — Click to Copy Text Directly From YouTube Videos
Selectext solves a specific problem that educational and tutorial content creators hit constantly: you want to copy text shown in a video — code, slides, URLs, names — but there is no way to select it from the video frame. Selectext uses optical character recognition to make the text in any video frame selectable and copyable with a click. It supports over 50 languages and works on YouTube and most video platforms.
Install on Chrome Web Store →Key Features
Pausing a video and activating Selectext makes the text visible in that frame selectable — click on any word or drag to select a phrase, then copy it to your clipboard. What previously required manual retyping from a paused frame takes two seconds.
The OCR engine supports over 50 languages, including non-Latin scripts. Creators working with international reference content — Japanese tutorials, Chinese social media examples, Korean creator case studies — can extract text from video frames regardless of the script.
Selectext works on YouTube, Vimeo, Udemy, and most other platforms that embed HTML5 video players. It is not limited to YouTube, which matters for creators whose research spans multiple video platforms.
The text recognition handles different font styles, colours, and backgrounds with reasonable accuracy. Code samples on dark terminals, slide text on gradient backgrounds, and handwritten notes all return usable results in most cases.
Who Is It For
Educational creators, tutorial makers, and researchers who regularly reference video content with on-screen text. If you produce coding tutorials, software walkthroughs, or educational content that draws from other videos, Selectext removes a repetitive manual step from the research process.
Creators who don't work with text-heavy video content — vlog viewers, lifestyle creators, entertainment consumers — won't have frequent use for text extraction from video frames. The extension solves a specific research workflow problem rather than a general one.
Pros and Cons
- ✅ Solves a very specific problem that has no other simple solution
- ✅ 50+ language support including non-Latin scripts
- ✅ Works across multiple video platforms, not just YouTube
- ❌ Free tier limits the number of text extractions per month — heavy users need a paid plan
- ❌ OCR accuracy drops with unusual fonts, low video quality, or complex backgrounds
Pricing
The free plan includes a limited number of monthly text extractions — enough to evaluate the extension but likely insufficient for regular research use. Paid plans start at $3/month for increased extraction limits.
Summary
Worth installing for any creator who regularly references video content with on-screen text. The value is immediate — the first time you copy code from a tutorial video without retyping it, the extension has paid for itself in time saved. The free tier is enough to test whether the use case matches your workflow.