SRT to text: turn subtitles into a transcript

1. 1Add your .srt, .vtt, .sbv or .txt file, up to 2 MB. The tool works out the format from what is inside the file, not from its name.
2. 2Choose paragraphs or line by line, and whether each one starts with its time.
3. 3Read the preview, then download the .txt file or copy the text.

The transcript keeps the words and drops everything a reader does not need: the subtitle numbers, the times and formatting tags such as <i> for italics, {\an8} for position or <v Name> for a speaker. A subtitle on 2 lines becomes one line of text. The options change how the words are laid out:

• Paragraphs: the subtitles run together as sentences, and a new paragraph starts where the speaker pauses for longer than 2 seconds. Move the pause slider for longer or shorter paragraphs.
• Line by line: one subtitle per line, in the order they appear on screen.
• With times: each paragraph or line starts with the moment it is spoken, such as [00:01:05], so you can find it again in the video.

A subtitle file already holds every word of the video, so you do not have to type it out again. Paragraphs without times read like a first draft of a blog post or a newsletter, ready to cut down and edit.

For show notes on a podcast or a long YouTube video, turn on times and use paragraphs: each paragraph opens with when it starts, so you can list the topics and where to find them. To quote someone, search the line-by-line text for the words and take the time beside them.

YouTube’s automatic captions roll up the screen. Each subtitle shows the line just spoken on top and the new words underneath, and a very short subtitle between them holds only the finished line. Converted line for line, that file gives you every sentence 2 or 3 times.

The tool spots this pattern and keeps each line once, at the time it was first shown, then tells you how many repeats it removed. Captions that grow a word at a time are handled the same way: you get the full line once. It looks for the pattern across the whole file, so an ordinary subtitle file is left as it is and a line someone really says twice stays twice.

Automatic captions often have little or no punctuation, so each paragraph can come out as one long run of words. A shorter pause gives you shorter paragraphs that are easier to read.

Your browser reads the file and builds the text on your device. The file is not uploaded, there is no account to make, and it works in any browser. If the file was saved in an older encoding such as Windows-1252, the tool says so and still writes the .txt file as UTF-8, which any text editor opens.

This tool needs a subtitle file. If you only have the video, the ReelCaption studio transcribes it with Whisper, an open speech recognition model, and times every word. It exports .srt and .vtt files, so you can bring one back here for the text. Your first 2 clips of up to 60 seconds need no account, then you get 5 free minutes a month with Google sign-in, no card. The video stays on your device. Only the audio track, about 1 MB a minute, goes to Groq, which runs Whisper, and it is not stored.

If you want to keep the subtitles as subtitles, other free tools fit better:

Convert SRT to VTT, or VTT to SRT

Shift subtitle times earlier or later

Burn subtitles into a video

How do I convert SRT to text?

Add the .srt file to the tool at the top of this page, choose paragraphs or line by line, and download the .txt file. The numbers, times and tags are removed and the words stay.

Can I convert VTT or SBV to text?

Yes. The tool reads .vtt and YouTube .sbv files as well as .srt, and works out the format from the content, so a subtitle file saved as .txt works too.

Why does my YouTube transcript repeat every line?

Because YouTube’s automatic captions roll: each subtitle shows the previous line again above the new words. This tool spots the pattern and keeps each line once, at the time it was first shown.

Can I keep the timestamps?

Yes. Choose With times and each paragraph or line starts with its start time, such as [00:01:05]. Choose Without times for plain text.

Is my subtitle file uploaded?

No. Your browser reads the file and builds the text on your device, and there is no account to make.

Can I get a transcript from a video with no subtitle file?

No. This tool needs a subtitle file. The ReelCaption studio transcribes the video with Whisper and exports .srt and .vtt files. Your first 2 clips need no account.