Turn a Video Into a Flowchart
You have a video of a process: a software walkthrough, a training session, a support call where someone fixes a problem step by step. Now you need it as a flowchart for a manual, an onboarding doc or a troubleshooting guide, and drawing it means watching the whole video again with your finger on pause.
ScreenApp watches the video for you and writes the process out as flowchart steps: what happens first, every decision point as a yes or no question, where each answer leads, and the timestamp of each step. It can also give you the same flow as Mermaid code, a plain-text format that diagram tools turn into a drawn flowchart.
To be clear about what this page does: ScreenApp writes the flowchart, and a diagram tool draws it. ScreenApp does not draw the boxes and arrows itself. You paste its output into a tool such as draw.io or the Mermaid Live Editor, and the diagram appears.
Steps in order
Every action in the process, from the first click to the last.
Decisions as branches
Each choice becomes a yes or no question with where each answer goes.
Mermaid code
Paste it into a diagram tool and the flowchart draws itself.
A timestamp per step
Check any step against the moment it happens in the video.
How It Works
Watches and writes
Transcribes the speech, reads what is on screen, and writes the steps, decisions and Mermaid code, each step linked to its moment in the video.
Draws
draw.io, the Mermaid Live Editor, GitHub or Notion turn the code into boxes and arrows you can move, style and export.
How to Turn a Video Into a Flowchart
- Add the video. Upload a file, or paste a link into the box at the top of this page. Supported links: YouTube, TikTok, Instagram, Facebook, Vimeo and Loom links, direct audio and video links, PDFs and web articles.
- Let ScreenApp read it. It transcribes the speech, and AI reads video frames, not just the audio, so steps that are only shown on screen count too.
- Ask for the flowchart. The button above asks for the steps, the decisions and Mermaid code in one go. You can also type your own request in the chat.
- Check it against the video. Each step comes with a timestamp. In ScreenApp, clicking a moment in the transcript jumps the player to that point in the recording.
- Paste it into a diagram tool. In draw.io, open Arrange, then Insert, then Advanced, then Mermaid, and paste the code. Or paste it into the Mermaid Live Editor to see the chart straight away.
Example Output
A short support video about resetting a password could come back like this:
| Step | What happens | Time |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Open the sign-in page and select “Forgot password” | 0:12 |
| 2 | Enter the account email | 0:25 |
| Decision | Did the reset email arrive? Yes: go to step 3. No: go to step 4 | 0:41 |
| 3 | Open the link in the email and set a new password | 0:55 |
| 4 | Check the spam folder, then request the email again | 1:20 |
flowchart TD
A[Open sign-in page] --> B[Select Forgot password]
B --> C[Enter account email]
C --> D{Reset email arrived?}
D -- Yes --> E[Open link and set new password]
D -- No --> F[Check spam, request email again]
F --> D
The video and the steps are made up for this example. Real results depend on the video you add and how clearly it shows the process.
Make the flowchart match the video
Check each decision
Jump to its timestamp and watch the choice.
Split long steps
Ask the chat to break any step with two actions.
Name the branches
Ask for short labels so the boxes stay readable.
The AI can miss a step the presenter skips past quickly, so the timestamps are there to check it.
Questions to Ask the Chat
The first answer is a starting point. Ask follow-ups in the same chat to shape the flowchart:
What You Can Use It For
Training and onboarding
Turn a recorded walkthrough into a flowchart new starters can follow.
Support troubleshooting
Map a fix from a support call into a decision tree for the help desk.
Process documentation
Document how a task is really done, from a screen recording of someone doing it.
Teaching and study
Turn a lecture on a method or algorithm into a flowchart to revise from.
Flowchart, SOP, Steps or Mind Map?
ScreenApp has a few pages that turn a video into structure. They answer different needs:
A diagram of the process
This page: steps, decisions and Mermaid code for a flowchart.
A written procedure
The SOP generator writes a standard operating procedure.
Click-by-click steps
The online step recorder records a process once and writes the steps.
Topics, not a process
The video to mind map page gives a topic outline.
What It Can and Cannot Do
Good at
- Writing steps and decisions from a process video
- Mermaid code you can paste into a diagram tool
- Reading on-screen actions, not just speech
- A timestamp for every step
Not built for
- Drawing the diagram: a diagram tool does that
- Exporting a PNG or Visio file of the chart
- Perfect results on unclear videos: check each step
- Private or DRM videos as links
