The Complete Guide to Taking Notes on Bilibili Videos
No transcripts? No problem. HoverNotes watches the video directly and turns Bilibili lectures into structured notes — watch in any language and get your notes in the language you want.
Add to Chrome — it's freeWhat you'll learn
- No-transcript note-taking using visual AI
- Watching in one language, getting notes in another
- Code and visual capture from programming tutorials
- Organizing Bilibili's multi-part series
Bilibili has some of the best educational content anywhere — programming, science, design, language learning — but taking notes on it is genuinely hard. Most videos have no transcript, much of the content is in Chinese, and the parts worth keeping (the code on screen, the diagram, the worked example) are exactly what a transcript would miss anyway.
What if the language and the missing transcript simply did not matter? You watch a Chinese programming tutorial and get clean, structured notes — code captured as timestamped screenshots, concepts organized, your own annotations added as you go. That is what becomes possible when the AI watches the video itself instead of relying on captions.
This guide walks through five ways to take notes on Bilibili, compares the tools honestly, and shows the AI-assisted approach that works without a transcript and across languages.
Why note-taking on Bilibili matters
Bilibili is one of the largest repositories of educational video in the world, with deep tutorials, university lectures, and expert explanations — much of it unavailable anywhere else.
The catch: most of it has no transcript, and traditional note tools that depend on captions simply do not work here. You end up pausing constantly, trying to understand and type at the same time, and missing the visual content that carries most of the value.
What you lose without a system
- Hours of unique, free tutorials you can't reference later
- Code and diagrams that a transcript never captures
- Insights from Chinese-language video locked behind the language barrier
- Scattered, half-finished notes you never return to
The challenges
The unique challenges of Bilibili notes
No transcripts available
The challenge: Unlike YouTube, most Bilibili videos have no transcript, so transcript-based note tools are useless here.
The fix: HoverNotes watches the video directly, reading the on-screen content and listening to the audio to generate notes without needing a transcript.
Any language, in and out
The challenge: Much of the best content is in Mandarin, and even if you follow spoken Chinese you may want your notes in another language.
The fix: The AI watches the screen and hears the audio in any spoken language, then writes your notes in the language you choose — watch in Chinese, keep your notes in English.
Visual-heavy tutorials
The challenge: Bilibili tutorials lean hard on code, diagrams, and on-screen text — exactly what plain text notes miss.
The fix: Timestamped screenshot capture preserves the exact code and diagrams, linked back to the moment they were explained.
Long multi-part series
The challenge: Content is often organized into long series of 10–100+ videos, and notes need to connect across episodes.
The fix: Series-aware organization with cross-links between episodes builds one coherent knowledge base for the whole topic.
The methods
5 ways to take notes on Bilibili
Manual notes with translation
Pause often, use a translation tool for unfamiliar terms, and type notes by hand. The traditional route for language learners.
Pros
- Builds your Chinese skills
- Deep engagement
- Works offline
Cons
- Extremely slow (5–10× video length)
- Exhausting on long content
- You miss visuals while translating
Best for: Chinese learners who want the language practice, on very short videos.
Screenshot-heavy documentation
Screenshot everything important — code, diagrams, key slides — and add minimal annotations. Visual-first.
Pros
- Captures exact visual content
- Fast, low interruption
- No Chinese needed
Cons
- Images aren't searchable
- No context on their own
- Spoken content is lost
Best for: Programming tutorials where the value is on screen and you don't need the narration.
AI visual notes
RecommendedHoverNotes watches the video directly — no transcript required. It reads the on-screen content and the spoken audio, then writes structured, timestamped notes you can keep.
Pros
- Works without a transcript
- Any language in, your language out
- Captures visuals + audio together
- Automatic timestamps, saved to Obsidian
Cons
- Needs the browser extension
- AI minutes beyond the free tier
- Quick review of AI output
Best for: Almost all Bilibili content — especially when you don't speak Chinese or want clean notes fast.
Danmaku (弹幕) mining
Use Bilibili's bullet comments as crowd-sourced notes — viewers often flag key moments and add context.
Pros
- Crowd-sourced insight
- Highlights important moments
- Cultural context
Cons
- Needs Chinese reading ability
- Unstructured and noisy
- Quality varies wildly
Best for: Popular videos with active communities, as a supplement to real notes.
Flashcard extraction
Turn key concepts into Anki flashcards for spaced-repetition learning, prioritizing recall over comprehensive notes.
Pros
- Excellent retention
- Works with Anki
- Great for terminology
Cons
- Slow to build cards
- Poor for procedural knowledge
- Misses visual context
Best for: Language learning, technical terms, and exam prep.
Tools compared
What actually works for Bilibili
| Tool / approach | No transcript | Chinese video | Visual capture | Verdict |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Manual typing | Yes | Slow | No | Too slow, misses visuals |
| Transcript-based AI | No | — | No | Doesn't work on Bilibili |
| Screenshot tools | Yes | — | Yes | No context, not searchable |
| Translation extensions | Partly | Manual | No | Word-by-word, no structure |
| HoverNotes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Built for it |
Why HoverNotes
Why HoverNotes works best for Bilibili
Vision-based AI
Watches the video directly, so it works on Bilibili even though there's no transcript to lean on.
Any language in, your language out
Watches and listens in any spoken language, then writes your notes in the language you choose — a Chinese lecture becomes clean English notes.
Captures the visuals
Timestamped screenshots of the code and diagrams that carry most of a tutorial's value.
Local-first and private
Everything saves as Markdown to your own Obsidian vault on your machine — nothing stored in the cloud.
Build the system
Build your Bilibili knowledge system
Organize by topic, not uploader
Group notes by subject so material from multiple creators on the same topic lives together and stays searchable.
📁 Bilibili Learning/
📁 Programming/
- python-01-intro.md
- python-02-variables.md
📁 Language-Learning/
📁 Creative/
📁 _Topic-Index.mdLink series and concepts
Connect videos within a series and across topics with [[links]] and #tags, so related ideas are one click apart.
Capture the visuals
Screenshot code and diagrams with timestamps, and add your own translation of on-screen Chinese where it helps.
Review and apply
Revisit notes at the end of each series, and reference them while you build — notes you never review are just files.
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Questions
Bilibili note-taking — common questions
How do I take notes on Bilibili without transcripts?+
Use HoverNotes, which watches the video directly instead of relying on a transcript. The AI reads the on-screen content and the audio to generate structured notes, so it works on any Bilibili video whether or not a transcript exists.
Can I take notes on Chinese-language Bilibili videos?+
Yes — in any language, both directions. The AI watches the screen and listens to the audio in any spoken language, then writes your notes in the language you want. Watch a Chinese-language Bilibili lecture and get clean, organized notes in English (or any language), with on-screen Chinese text, slides, and code captured along the way.
What's the best way to take notes on Bilibili tutorials?+
AI visual notes work best on Bilibili. Since most videos lack transcripts, an AI that watches the video directly is essential. HoverNotes captures timestamps, code, and on-screen visuals automatically while you add your own annotations.
Does it work for programming tutorials?+
Yes. HoverNotes captures code as timestamped screenshots exactly as it appears on screen, so it's especially useful for Bilibili's large library of programming tutorials.
How do I organize notes from a Bilibili series?+
Create folders by topic or series, with one note per video, and link related videos together. Since Bilibili content is often serialized, organizing by topic rather than uploader builds a more coherent knowledge base.
Where are my notes saved?+
Locally and privately. HoverNotes saves your notes and timestamped screenshots as plain Markdown directly to your Obsidian vault on your computer. Nothing is stored in the cloud.
Keep going
Related resources
Bilibili Note-Taker
The tool itself — take AI notes on any Bilibili video, including Chinese-language content.
Read moreYouTube Video Notes Guide
The complete guide to building a knowledge library from YouTube.
Read moreVideo to Notes
Turn any video — on any platform or a local file — into notes you keep.
Read moreUnlock Bilibili's educational content
No transcripts, no Chinese fluency required. HoverNotes watches the video directly and turns it into notes you keep, saved to your Obsidian vault. Works on Bilibili, YouTube, Udemy, Coursera, and 20+ sites.
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