Convert VTT to SRT
Turn a WebVTT .vtt file into an .srt subtitle file for an editor or a desktop player, on this device.
- Nothing is uploaded
- Works offline after first visit
- Open source
- No watermark, no sign-up. Subtitle files are plain text and convert in an instant
Converts a WebVTT subtitle file to SRT, the format that video editors and most desktop players take, and keeps every caption’s words and timing. It is free, needs no account and adds no watermark, and your file is not uploaded: it is plain text, read and rewritten by code in this tab. SRT has no place for WebVTT’s position settings, notes and styles, so those are left out.
Done
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Open the network tab. Your files never appear in it.
Add files and run the tool to see every request this tab makes.
Your files are processed on this device and never sent to a server. Reload the page to clear everything from memory.
Worked example. You saved film.vtt from a web player, and your editor wants an SRT. The file has a header, a note, a cue name and a position setting, and its first time has no hours:
WEBVTT NOTE checked against the script intro 00:02.000 --> 00:04.500 line:10% align:start Good evening, and welcome. 00:05.000 --> 00:08.000 Tonight we look at three cities.
Drop it and press Convert to SRT. You get film.srt:
1 00:00:02,000 --> 00:00:04,500 Good evening, and welcome. 2 00:00:05,000 --> 00:00:08,000 Tonight we look at three cities.
The header, the note and the cue name are gone, and so is the line:10% align:start setting, because SRT has nowhere to keep them. The captions are numbered from 1, the full stop before the milliseconds is a comma, and the missing hours are written as 00. The words and the times are the same.
This page is set up for VTT to SRT. Under Convert to you can pick WebVTT or plain text instead, so SRT to VTT is the same tool. Both directions together are at Subtitle converter.
How it works
- Drop one or more .vtt files, or tap to pick them.
- Press Convert to SRT.
- Download the .srt file, or a zip if you dropped several.
In your browser, not on a server
The page reads the text of your file with the browser’s file reader and finds each caption: the line with the two times, and the words under it. Numbers, the WEBVTT header, notes, style blocks, cue names, position settings and tags inside the words are dropped. The captions are then written out again in time order, as SRT with a comma before the milliseconds and numbers from 1, or as WebVTT with a full stop and a WEBVTT line, or as plain text. No library is used, and the file is never uploaded.
Compared with upload-based tools: Online converters ask you to upload the subtitle file, which can be the transcript of a private meeting. Here the file is read and rewritten by code in this tab, and the new file is made in your device’s memory.
Verify it yourself. Give the page a short while after one visit to save itself for offline use, then turn off Wi-Fi or switch to airplane mode and run the tool again. Or open your browser's developer tools (F12, or Cmd-Option-I on a Mac), pick the Network tab, and watch it while you convert. The panel above does the same count for you.
Questions
How do I convert VTT to SRT?
Drop the .vtt file on this page and press Convert to SRT. The WEBVTT header is removed, each caption is numbered from 1, and the times use a comma before the milliseconds. The result is a .srt file you can open in a video editor or a desktop player.
What is lost when I convert VTT to SRT?
The words and the timing carry over. SRT has nowhere to keep a WebVTT caption’s position and alignment settings, or its notes, style blocks, region blocks and cue names, so those are left out. If a VTT file places captions at the top of the frame, the SRT will not. Tags inside a caption, such as italics or a speaker name in a voice tag, are also removed; the words stay.
My VTT times have no hours. Will it still work?
Yes. WebVTT lets a time such as 01:02.500 leave out the hours, and the page reads it as 1 minute 2.5 seconds. The SRT is written with all three parts, 00:01:02,500, because SRT needs them.
Why do video editors want SRT and not VTT?
SRT is the plain, older format that video editors and most desktop players take. WebVTT is the one the HTML track element on a web page reads. A file made for a web page has to be converted before an editor will import it as captions.
Can I convert VTT to SRT without uploading the file?
Yes. The page opens your file with the browser’s file reader, rewrites the text in memory and hands the new file back to you. A caption file can be the transcript of a private meeting or a client video, so it matters that it goes nowhere. Open the network tab while you convert and the file is not among the requests. After one visit and a short wait the page works offline.
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