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TXT to SRT Converter

Turn a plain text script or transcript into an SRT subtitle file. Paste the text or open a .txt, give the length of the video or use the timestamps already in your transcript, and download subtitles that are split into readable lines. Free, no account, and the text is not uploaded.

or drop it on the text box0 of 200,000 characters

Timing and layout

How to time the subtitles

Longer subtitles get more time, in proportion to their characters. An estimate: fine-tune in a caption editor.

h:mm:ss, m:ss or seconds

h:mm:ss, m:ss or seconds

0 for back to back.

10 to 100. 42 is the Netflix English guide's limit.

Flags subtitles faster than this. The Netflix English guide allows up to 20 for adults.

Paste or open some text to turn into subtitles.

The text is converted in your browser and is not uploaded.

How to convert TXT to SRT

The subtitles update as you type or change an option, so you can try a few settings and watch the preview.

  1. 1

    Add your text

    Paste the script or transcript, or open a .txt file. If lines start with times such as [00:01:23] or 1:23, the converter finds them and times the subtitles from them.

  2. 2

    Set the timing and layout

    Enter the video's length to spread the subtitles over it, or a fixed number of seconds each. Choose how to split the text and how many characters fit on a line.

  3. 3

    Download the SRT

    Check the preview and the reading speed notes, then download the .srt file or copy it. Switch the output to WebVTT if your player wants a .vtt file.

Getting the timing right

A plain text file has words but no times, so the converter has to work them out. With the video's length, it shares the time out in proportion to each subtitle's characters: a subtitle twice as long stays on screen twice as long. That is an estimate. People pause, speed up and leave silences, so treat the result as a first draft and nudge the times in a caption editor or your video editor.

Timestamps in the text give a much closer result. Each one starts a new part, and the subtitles in that part share the time until the next timestamp. Use Start at when the speech begins after an intro (for example 0:05), and a small gap between subtitles if your player runs them together.

Same length for every subtitle is useful for slides, lyrics or on-screen notes where the pace is even, or when you only need placeholders to time by hand.

Line length and reading speed

There is no single rule for subtitle length. The converter's defaults follow the Netflix style guides, and every value is a setting you can change for the platform you deliver to.

Netflix guideIn this converter
Characters per line42 (English, German, Spanish)42 by default, 10 to 100
Lines per subtitleTwo at mostUp to 2 or 1
Reading speed, adult programsUp to 20 characters a second (English); 17 (German, Spanish)A check you set; slower subtitles are not flagged
Shortest subtitle5/6 of a secondFlagged when shorter
Longest subtitle7 secondsFlagged when longer
Source: Netflix Timed Text Style Guides (English USA, German, Spanish and General Requirements), read October 2026. Other platforms set their own limits.

Transcripts with timestamps

Many transcripts mark the time at the start of each paragraph or speaker turn. The converter reads a time at the very start of a line, in brackets or not, with or without hours: [00:01:23], (01:23), 00:01:23 -, 1:23 or 1:23.5. A line that holds only a time also counts. It needs at least two times that mostly go forward, so a script that happens to start a line with 3:16 is left alone.

The times are removed from the subtitle text in every mode. Speaker names stay as they are; delete them in the text box first if you do not want them on screen. Text before the first time starts at 0:00.

[00:00:00] Welcome back to the show.
[00:00:06] My guest has spent twelve years on the road.
[00:00:13] What do you prepare the night before?

What an SRT file looks like

SRT (SubRip) is plain text. Each subtitle is a number, a line with the start and end time separated by -->, one or two lines of text, and a blank line. Times are written hours:minutes:seconds,milliseconds, with a comma before the milliseconds.

The Library of Congress describes SRT as a very simple text format that is not well standardized, so if a program rejects a file, look at its own instructions first. WebVTT, the format for web players, is almost the same with a WEBVTT header and a full stop before the milliseconds.

1
00:00:00,000 --> 00:00:02,927
Welcome back to the show.

2
00:00:02,927 --> 00:00:06,000
Today we are talking about field sales.

Already have subtitles? The SRT to VTT Converter switches a file between the two formats, and the VTT and SRT to Text Converter goes the other way, from subtitles back to plain text.

Sources

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

Subtitles start from a transcript

The hard part of subtitles is the transcript. ParrotNotes records on your phone and gives you the transcript and a summary of the recording, free for 100 minutes of recording a month. Paste the transcript here to turn it into subtitles.

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Related tools

TXT to SRT FAQ