Subtitle Converter (SRT ↔ VTT)

Convert SRT and WebVTT subtitles in seconds

SRT and WebVTT are the two most common subtitle formats, and you’ll often need one when you have the other. Video editors and download sites usually produce SRT files, while HTML5 video players on websites require WebVTT. Some platforms and learning systems accept only one of the two. This converter switches between them instantly in your browser, keeping every cue’s timing and text intact.

How to convert subtitles

1. Open your .srt or .vtt file, or paste the subtitle text into the box.
2. The input format is detected automatically and the cue count is shown.
3. The output is converted to the other format — or choose the target format yourself.
4. Check any warnings about lines that couldn’t be read.
5. Download the converted file or copy its text.

SRT vs WebVTT: what’s different

An SRT (SubRip) file is a list of numbered blocks. Each block has a number, a timing line such as 00:01:02,500 --> 00:01:05,000 and one or more lines of text, separated from the next block by a blank line. Formatting is limited to simple tags like <i> and <b>.

A WebVTT file must start with the word WEBVTT, uses a dot instead of a comma before the milliseconds, and doesn’t need cue numbers — though it allows named cue identifiers. It also supports features SRT lacks: cue settings for position and alignment, STYLE blocks with CSS, NOTE comments, and voice tags such as <v Sarah> that identify speakers.

What happens during conversion

• SRT → VTT: adds the WEBVTT header, switches commas to dots in timestamps, and keeps your text and basic tags.
• VTT → SRT: numbers the cues, switches dots to commas, and removes features SRT can’t represent — cue settings, STYLE and NOTE blocks, and class tags. Speaker names from voice tags are kept as “Name:”.
• Windows line endings and byte-order marks are cleaned up, and the output is always UTF-8.

Adding WebVTT subtitles to a website

Upload the .vtt file next to your video and add a <track> element inside the <video> tag, for example <track kind="subtitles" src="captions.vtt" srclang="en" label="English" default>. The file must be served from the same site, or with the right CORS headers, for the browser to load it.

Subtitle tips

• Keep lines under about 42 characters and use no more than two lines per cue for readability.
• Save files as UTF-8 so accented letters and non-Latin scripts display correctly.
• Captions help viewers who watch without sound and make videos accessible to people who are deaf or hard of hearing.

Subtitles out of sync? Fix the timing with the Subtitle Time Shifter. Need the video in a more compatible format too? Try Video to MP4, and convert edit timecodes with the Timecode Calculator.