PrimeNoteWhat you can add
YouTube video to notes, next to the rest of your course
A forty-minute lesson on YouTube, an article your lecturer linked: paste the link and get notes from the YouTube video, with flashcards and a quiz, in the same notebook as your lectures.
Video lessons are easy to watch and easy to forget. You nod along, the explanation makes sense, and a week later you can't reconstruct it. Taking notes from YouTube videos by hand means pausing every minute, which breaks the flow that made the video useful in the first place.
Paste a YouTube link into PrimeNote and choose a notebook. PrimeNote works from the video's captions, so it supports videos that have captions; that includes most lessons from educational channels and many recorded university lectures. Live streams, Shorts and videos without captions can't be imported. The note sets out the lesson's main ideas in order, and the caption text is kept in its own tab.
Public web pages work the same way. Paste the link to an article, a documentation page or a blog post your course refers to, and PrimeNote reads the main content and writes the note. Pages behind a login, such as your university's learning platform, can't be read; save those as PDF instead.
Once the video is a note, it behaves like any other source. YouTube lecture notes sit in the course notebook next to your recordings and readings, with flashcards, a quiz, AI chat, a mind map and audio versions. The notebook summary then covers everything you watched along with everything you heard in class.
A practical routine for video-heavy courses: watch at normal speed without pausing, then read the note straight afterwards to fix the structure in your mind. Two days later, take the quiz without rewatching. If you score poorly, rewatch only the section the note shows you struggled with, rather than the full lesson.
How it works
Check for captions
Open the video and make sure captions are available. Without them, PrimeNote can't make a note.
Copy the link
Use the share button in YouTube or copy the address of the web page.
Paste it into a notebook
Choose add link in PrimeNote and pick the course notebook so the video lives with related material.
Watch with the note open
Read the note after watching, or skim it first so you know what to pay attention to.
Test yourself a day later
Take the quiz the next day. It tells you more than an immediate check while the video is still fresh.
A YouTube lesson on sorting algorithms
YouTube video with captions · Computer science lesson · 31 min (fictional example)
- Summary
- The lesson compares bubble sort, merge sort and quicksort by how their running time grows with input size.
- Key terms
- Big-O notation, divide and conquer, pivot, stable sort, in-place sort.
- Comparison
- Bubble sort is O(n²); merge sort is O(n log n) in all cases; quicksort is O(n log n) on average but O(n²) in the worst case.
- Flashcard
- Q: Why is merge sort not in-place? A: It needs extra memory to hold the merged halves.
What you get
Structured note
The lesson's main points in order, under headings.
Caption text
The video's captions kept in their own tab, so you can check how something was phrased.
Flashcards and quiz
Practice questions on the lesson, ready when the note is.
Mind map and infographic
A visual recap of the video for quick review.
Web page notes
The same structure for public articles, without the page clutter around them.
When it helps
By hand vs. with PrimeNote
| What you're doing | By hand | With PrimeNote |
|---|---|---|
| Taking notes on a video | Pause, type, rewind, repeat | Paste the link, read the note |
| Remembering it next week | Rewatch the whole video | Flashcards and a quiz from the lesson |
| Keeping videos with the course | Bookmarks in a browser | Notes in the course notebook |
| Web articles | Read with ads and sidebars | The main content as a structured note |
Good to know
- YouTube videos need captions. Live streams, Shorts and videos without captions are not supported.
- Notes are based on what is said, through the captions. Diagrams or code shown on screen but not spoken may be missing.
- Web pages must be public. Pages behind a login or paywall can't be read.
- Only YouTube and public web pages are supported as links; other video sites are not.
Questions
How do I take notes from a YouTube video?
Copy the video link and paste it into PrimeNote. If the video has captions, PrimeNote writes a structured note with flashcards and a quiz.
Which YouTube videos are supported?
Videos with captions enabled. Live streams, Shorts and videos without captions are not supported.
Can I make notes from YouTube lecture recordings?
Yes, as long as the lecture video has captions. Many recorded university lectures and course channels do.
Does PrimeNote watch the video?
It works from the video's captions, so the note reflects what is said. Content only shown on screen may not appear.
Can I add pages behind a login?
No. The page needs to be publicly accessible.
Can I use links from other video sites?
No. Links work for YouTube videos with captions and for public web pages.
Is the caption text saved?
Yes. The caption text is kept with the note in its own tab.
Keep exploring
Try it on your next lecture
PrimeNote is free to start on iPhone and Android.