Munvi.

How to find a video by what was said in it

2 min readUpdated

Quick answer

Search Google for the line in quotes: quotes ask for exactly those words. If nothing comes up, drop the quotes and use two or three concrete words about the subject, plus the creator’s name if you remember it. Found a YouTube video? In the description, Show transcript takes you to the moment.

convection

Thin and Chewy Rippled Chocolate Chip Cookies

@davespizzaoven · Instagram

Said at 0:44“Into a 350-degree oven on the convection setting for about 8 to 10 minutes.”

A real search in the Munvi app, on a demo account.

Who it’s for: Anyone who remembers what someone said in a video — a tip, a name, an ingredient — but not the title or who posted it.

In this guide

Step by step

  1. 1

    Search the line in quotes

    On Google, type the line you remember in quotes, like “on the convection setting”. Quotes ask for those words, in that order.

  2. 2

    Nothing? Switch to words about the subject

    Drop the quotes and use two or three words likely to be in the title or caption: “chocolate chip cookies convection”. Add the creator’s name if you remember it.

  3. 3

    Found it? Jump to the moment

    On YouTube, open the video’s description and tap Show transcript: each line takes you to the moment it was said.

Why the line alone doesn’t always work

What you remember was spoken, and search looks at what is written: title, caption, description. If nobody wrote the line down, it only shows up where the speech was transcribed.

It’s also rare to remember the exact words. If the quoted search finds nothing, the same idea without quotes usually finds more.

If it’s a video you saved

  • Instagram. Saves are under Profile → ☰ → Saved. The export of your saves includes each post’s caption, and you can search it with Ctrl+F.
  • TikTok. Saved videos are on the Favorites tab of your profile.
  • YouTube. In My Activity → YouTube History → Manage history, there is a search across the videos you watched.

Next time, what was said is searchable

Munvi writes down what is said in every video you save, from Instagram, TikTok or YouTube. Later, search finds the video by any word spoken in it and shows the line, like the example above.

Coming soon to Google PlayHow Munvi works

Questions

Do automatic transcripts get things wrong?

They do, mostly names, numbers and accented words. Listen to the moment before you use an amount or an address.

What if nobody speaks in the video?

Then there is nothing to transcribe: search the caption or the text shown on screen.

Does this work for Reels and TikToks?

Quotes on Google find whatever is written on the video’s page. Show transcript is YouTube’s. In Munvi, what is said in Reels, TikToks and YouTube videos goes into search.

Sources

Menus change with app updates. Seeing something different on your screen? Write to oi@munvi.app and we’ll fix the guide. How we write the guides

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