Convert WebVTT subtitles to SRT

Upload your .vtt file and get an .srt file compatible with video editors, players and upload forms.

  1. 1File
  2. 2Conversion
  3. 3Download

About this tool

Browsers use WebVTT. The rest of the software world — Premiere, DaVinci, VLC, the subtitle field on most platforms — requires SRT and returns a vague error when it receives a VTT file. The conversion isn't as simple as swapping dots for commas: WebVTT supports elements that SRT can't represent.

We're referring to time-linked positioning settings, NOTE and STYLE blocks, the name a cue can carry, and speaker tags. Each is handled correctly; speaker tags, for example, become «Marta:» at the start of the line, the way an SRT represents that same information.

Features

  • NOTE, STYLE and REGION blocks are removed: they aren't part of the subtitle content.
  • Positioning settings (line, align, position) are discarded, since an SRT can't represent them.
  • Speaker tags <v Marta> become «Marta:» to preserve that information.
  • Timestamps with no hours (01:23.400), valid in VTT but not in SRT, are completed correctly.

How it works

  1. 1

    Upload the .vtt file

    Or paste it directly. The header, notes and styles are removed during processing.

  2. 2

    Review the result

    Numbered from one, with commas in the milliseconds, and no elements an SRT can't support.

  3. 3

    Download the .srt file

    Ready for your editor, player or upload form.

In detail

What an SRT file can't represent

A WebVTT file can include elements an SRT has no equivalent for. Positioning settings tied to the timestamp (line, align, position) can't be translated and are removed. NOTE and STYLE blocks aren't part of the subtitle content and aren't included in the final text either.

A particular case is speaker tags. A VTT identifies who's speaking with a tag wrapping the line; an SRT has no such mechanism. Rather than discarding that information, it's converted into the name followed by a colon at the start of the line, the usual way dialogue is represented in subtitles.

The software that doesn't support WebVTT

Premiere, DaVinci Resolve, Final Cut, VLC, and the upload field on most platforms other than a browser. None of them adopted WebVTT: SRT has worked since the nineties and covers their needs.

The symptom is always the same: loading the file triggers a vague error about an unrecognised format. There's nothing wrong with the VTT file; that software simply doesn't support it.

Frequently asked questions

Need to transcribe a video?

Upload it and get the text with timestamps, each voice identified and a summary. No account needed to start.