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SRT to VTT Converter

Convert SRT subtitles to WebVTT for a web player, or VTT to SRT for an editor or platform. Add several files, keep italics and bold, shift the timing if it is off, and download each file. Free, no account, and the files are not uploaded.

Drop SRT or VTT files here or click to browse

.srt, .vtt or .txt; up to 20 files, each up to 5 MB and 20,000 cues.

Options

Moves every cue. Use a minus sign to show subtitles earlier, for example -1.5.

SRT to VTT only. WebVTT does not need them; some players and editors use them.

VTT to SRT only: <v Name> becomes “Name: ” at the start of the line.

Off by default. Some older Windows players need it to show accents.

The files are converted in your browser and are not uploaded.

How to convert SRT to VTT

Each file converts as soon as you add it, and changes to the options apply to every file in the list.

  1. 1

    Add your subtitle files

    Drop .srt or .vtt files on the box, pick them, or paste the text. Up to 20 files at once. The converter reads each file's format and encoding by itself.

  2. 2

    Check the options

    By default every file becomes the other format: SRT to VTT, VTT to SRT. Set a time shift if the subtitles run early or late, and pick Windows line endings if an older program needs them.

  3. 3

    Download or copy

    Each file shows what was changed or removed and a preview. Download it with the same name and the new extension, or copy the text to paste into a caption editor.

How to convert VTT to SRT

Drop the .vtt file here and the converter writes an SRT: the WEBVTT header goes, cues are numbered from 1, and the full stop before the milliseconds becomes a comma (00:00:01.000 becomes 00:00:01,000). Italics, bold and underline stay as <i>, <b> and <u>.

WebVTT can carry things SRT has no place for: NOTE comments, STYLE blocks with CSS, REGION blocks, cue settings such as align: and position:, voice tags with speaker names, class and language spans, ruby text and timestamps inside a cue. The converter removes them, keeps the words, and lists what it removed under each file. Switch on Keep speaker names to turn <v Dana> into “Dana: ” at the start of the line, which helps with Microsoft Teams transcripts.

Need the words, not a subtitle file? The VTT and SRT to Text Converter removes the timestamps and turns a caption or transcript file into clean paragraphs.

What changes between SRT and VTT

Both are plain text: a list of cues, each with a start time, an end time and the words on screen. These are the differences the converter takes care of.

SRT (SubRip)WebVTT (.vtt)
First lineThe first cue's numberWEBVTT, required
Cue numbersA number before every cueAn optional identifier (any text)
Timestamps00:00:01,000 (comma)00:00:01.000 (full stop); hours optional
PositionNo standard; some files use {\an8} codesCue settings: line, position, align, size, vertical, region
StylingBasic tags such as <i>, <b>, <u>; support depends on the player<i>, <b>, <u>, class spans, voice tags, STYLE blocks with CSS
CommentsNoneNOTE blocks
EncodingNo standard: UTF-8, UTF-16 or an older Windows code pageUTF-8
WebVTT is a W3C specification. SRT has no formal specification; the Library of Congress describes it as a very simple text format that is not well standardized.

Fixing timing, encoding and line endings

The usual reasons a converted subtitle file still looks wrong, and the option that fixes each one.

  • Subtitles early or late

    Enter a time shift in seconds: 2 moves every cue 2 seconds later, -1.5 moves them earlier. A cue that would start before 0:00 starts at 0:00, and one that would end before it is removed and counted.

  • Accents that turn into symbols

    SRT has no encoding standard, and the Library of Congress notes that SubRip's default output is Windows-1252. The converter reads UTF-8, UTF-16 and Windows-1252 and always writes UTF-8, which WebVTT requires.

  • Programs that want Windows line endings

    Line endings stay as they were in the file. Pick CRLF for older Windows programs, or LF for the web and Mac and Linux tools.

  • A player that still shows the wrong characters

    Some older Windows players only read UTF-8 correctly when the file starts with a byte order mark. Switch on Add a UTF-8 BOM and download again; WebVTT allows the BOM too.

Sources

For captions and transcripts of your recordings: podcast transcription, verbatim transcription, tools for freelance journalists.

Captions start from a transcript

Every subtitle file begins as a transcript of the recording. ParrotNotes records on your phone and gives you that transcript and a summary, free for 100 minutes of recording a month.

Get ParrotNotes free

Related tools

SRT to VTT FAQ