How do you take notes when learning from a video?

Question

I’ve been thinking about this a lot lately because I keep finding myself in the same situation. I’m watching a YouTube video—could be a podcast, an inspiring talk, or something educational—and then... I hear this one sentence or idea that really hits me. I want to save it, write it down, remember it later.

So I either:

Rewind and try to catch the start of the sentence (probably missing it and doing it all over again xD),

Or I go digging through the transcript to find the exact wording.

Both options totally kill the flow for me.

Does anyone know of a simple way to just grab those key sentences or ideas at the moment you hear them, and come back to them later.

Does anyone else deal with this problem? Have you found a solution that works? I think something like this is a total game-changer (ugh, I know, we all hate that word… but you get what I mean!) for anyone who loves learning from videos but hates stopping every 5 minutes to take notes.

I’d love to hear all of your thoughts and what’s worked for you!!

Accepted Answer

I’ve been in the same boat! Here's what works for me:

Use Timestamped Notes: I use apps like Notion or Google Docs and quickly note down the idea with a timestamp from the video. That way, I can go back to it later without interrupting the flow.
Speech-to-Text Tools: Some tools like Otter.ai can transcribe videos in real-time, making it easier to grab key points without rewinding.
Browser Extensions: Some extensions let you bookmark video moments directly (e.g., Glasp or YouTube’s built-in feature), so you can revisit them later.

Timothy Bramlett · Answer

I don't TBH. But I really should

Nigel Yong · Answer

create this app!

Edna Philippa O'Callaghan · Answer

Glasp Web Highlighter: PDF & Web Highlight https://glasp.co/youtube-summary Glasp YouTube Summary with ChatGPT & Claude is a free Chrome Extension that lets you quickly access the summary of both YouTube videos and web articles. Can use multiple AI models - Choose from ChatGPT, Anthropic Claude, and Mistal AI to summarize video transcripts How to Use Glasp: ### Adding Glasp to Chrome - Click “Add to Chrome” - Log in to Glasp from the extension menu ### Using Glasp in Chrome - Select the text you want to highlight using your mouse or trackpad - Select the highlight color from the Glasp pop-up highlighter tool ### Using Your Highlights - View you highlights on your Glasp Profile Page - Tag your highlights, make notes, summarize your highlights with a page comment, and share your highlights and notes by creating links or directly copy and pasting into other apps. It’s that easy. To see a tutorial of how to use the Glasp Chrome Extension, please click the link to see a demonstration video on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Tgbszoeokv4 ### Pro Tips / Troubleshooting: - Adding tags to saved content will help you organize your interests. - If you can’t highlight on a web page, try switching tabs or refreshing the page. - For more details, please check out the FAQs page ;) https://blog.glasp.co/faqs/ Occasionally takes two tries to get the transcript summary (ChatGPT & Gemini): 1. Open a youtube video. 2. Click "Summarize Video (new tab)" 3. IF new chat tab opens, but no prompt submitted, i.e. no results... 4. Go back to youtube video (still open) 5. Click "Summarize Video (new tab)" a second time. 6. Another new tab opens, prompt is submitted and result produced.

Janak Patel · Answer

I take notes by focusing on key points, summarizing in my own words, and using bullet points for clarity.

Dimitri · Answer

@niyong Well, I might just have to... since no solution that satisfies me exists... So watch as I make the top 1 ranking chrome extension for "Take notes on YouTube" search 😎. Challenge accepted!

Prince Virani · Answer

write it down all the step one by one with the key information

Rahul Parmar · Answer

I take notes from videos by jotting down key points, summarizing concepts in my own words, and using timestamps to reference important sections for later review.

Dimitri · Answer

@prince36 😩

Dimitri · Answer

@xeasonchan That's exactly the problem! I don’t need Ai summarizers because they often change the wording or ideas, and most of the time they miss the specific notes I want to capture! 😂

Edna Philippa O'Callaghan · Answer

@dmtrh As long you have installed any LLM and the Glasp chrome extension, it only takes 1 click to download the video transcript, just try it, you can easily remove the Glasp extension if you don't like it

William Joseph Parker · Answer

I use Glasp to highlight key points while watching educational YouTube videos. It generates a summary using AI, and I can access all my highlights on my Glasp profile page to review later. Super handy for taking notes from videos without disrupting my viewing. The Chrome extension is free and easy to use.

Ethan Samuel Bennett · Answer

Definitely use Notion! Their bookmark feature is super helpful for saving key moments in videos to revisit later. Plus you can add your own notes right alongside the video link. Game changer for sure 🙌

Andrew chan · Answer

I would recommend Mapify Chrome Extension, you could just click the "summarize" button in the video and get the real time summarize without leaving the flow

Answer

I totally relate! Pausing videos constantly can really break the flow. What’s helped me is using voice notes or a simple notepad app to quickly jot down key points as I hear them. Then, I go back later to organize those notes. It’s not perfect, but it keeps me in the moment without too many interruptions!

How do you take notes when learning from a video?

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