What is an SRT file?
Updated November 2026
An SRT file (SubRip Subtitle, .srt) is a plain-text file that holds a video’s subtitles: what to show and exactly when to show it.
The SRT format
Each subtitle is a block of three parts followed by a blank line:
1
00:00:00,750 --> 00:00:05,310
However, due to the slow
communication channels,
2
00:00:05,310 --> 00:00:08,830
styles in the West could lag behind- A number, counting up from 1.
- A time range: start
-->end, written as hours:minutes:seconds,milliseconds. The milliseconds follow a comma. - The text, on one or two lines.
That is the whole format. There is no header and no styling section, which is why almost every player, editor and platform reads it.
How to open an SRT file
Any text editor opens it — Notepad, TextEdit, VS Code. To see the subtitles on the video, give the file the same name as the video (talk.mp4 and talk.srt) in the same folder and open the video in VLC or another player.
How to create an SRT file
- Automatically: upload the video to the SRT generator; it writes the text and the timings from the audio and you download the .srt.
- By hand: type the blocks in a text editor and save with the .srt extension in UTF-8. This works for a few lines and becomes slow beyond that, since every time range has to be found by ear.
SRT compared with other subtitle formats
| Format | Used for | Differences from SRT |
|---|---|---|
| WebVTT (.vtt) | HTML5 video, web players | Starts with WEBVTT, uses a dot before milliseconds, supports positioning |
| ASS / SSA (.ass) | Styled subtitles, anime, karaoke | Fonts, colours, positions and effects |
| SBV (.sbv) | YouTube’s own format | No numbers; start and end separated by a comma |
Convert between them with the free tools: SRT to VTT, VTT to SRT, ASS to SRT.
Common SRT file problems
- Strange characters instead of accents: the file isn’t saved as UTF-8.
- Subtitles early or late: shift every line with the time shift tool.
- A platform rejects the file: run it through the subtitle checker to find overlaps and timing errors.
SRT file FAQ
What does SRT stand for?+
SRT stands for SubRip Subtitle, named after SubRip, the program that first wrote this format when extracting subtitles from DVDs.
How do I open an SRT file?+
An SRT file opens in any text editor, such as Notepad, TextEdit or VS Code. To watch the subtitles, give the SRT file the same name as the video, keep both in one folder, and open the video in VLC or another player.
How do I create an SRT file?+
An SRT file is created automatically by uploading a video to the SRT generator, which writes the text and timings from the audio. A short SRT file can also be typed by hand in a text editor and saved with the .srt extension in UTF-8.
Can an SRT file contain formatting?+
Some players honour simple tags such as <i> for italics in an SRT file, but positions, fonts and colours are not part of the SRT format.
Do SRT files work on YouTube?+
SRT files work on YouTube: upload the file in YouTube Studio under Subtitles and choose “With timing”.
How do I convert an SRT file to plain text or VTT?+
An SRT file converts to plain text with the free SRT to TXT converter and to WebVTT with the SRT to VTT converter.
Tools for SRT files
SRT generator
Free SRT generator: upload a video or audio file, get automatic subtitles with timing, fix any line, and download a clean .srt file for YouTube or your editor.
SRT to VTT
Free SRT to VTT converter: convert SRT subtitles to WebVTT for HTML5 video and web players in one step. Runs in your browser — the file is never uploaded.
Subtitle checker
Free subtitle checker: find overlaps, wrong order, empty or too-brief captions, long lines and fast reading speed in a subtitle file, then fix timing.