Turn a YouTube video into an SRT subtitle file
Paste a link, pick SRT from the download menu, drop the file into your editor. WebVTT too, if that's what you need.
Works with youtube.com/watch, youtu.be, Shorts, Live and embed links — or a bare video ID.
How to get the SRT
- Paste the video URL above and press Get transcript.
- If the video offers several languages, choose the one you want from the picker.
- Open Download and choose SRT.
The file is named after the video, so a folder of them stays legible later. Nothing is uploaded anywhere and you don't need an account.
What the file looks like
SRT is deliberately dull, which is why it works everywhere. Each block is a number, a timecode range, and the text:
1
00:00:04,220 --> 00:00:05,400
This is a 3.
2
00:00:06,060 --> 00:00:10,713
It's sloppily written and rendered at an
extremely low resolution of 28x28 pixels,Note the comma before the milliseconds — that's SRT. WebVTT uses a full stop and adds aWEBVTT header. Getting this wrong is the usual reason an editor rejects a file.
Using it in your editor
| Software | Where to bring it in |
|---|---|
| Premiere Pro | File → Import, then drag onto the timeline as a caption track |
| DaVinci Resolve | File → Import → Subtitle, on the Edit page |
| Final Cut Pro | File → Import → Captions |
| CapCut | Captions panel → Import captions |
| VLC / MPV | Keep the .srt beside the video with a matching filename |
| Re-uploading to YouTube | Subtitles → Add language → Upload file → With timing |
A caveat worth knowing
Auto-generated captions have no punctuation and no speaker labels, and they guess at names and jargon. That is usually fine as a starting point for a subtitle pass, but it is not a finished subtitle track — expect to spend time cleaning it up. Where a creator has uploaded their own captions, the quality is generally much better, and the language picker marks which is which.
Common questions
What is an SRT file?
A plain text file listing numbered subtitle blocks, each with a start and end timecode and the line of text. Almost every video editor, player and social platform accepts it, which is why it has outlasted flashier formats.
SRT or VTT — which do I need?
SRT for video editing software and for uploading subtitles back to a platform. VTT (WebVTT) for HTML5 video on the web. They carry the same information; VTT allows styling and positioning that SRT does not. Both are offered here.
Will the timings line up with my edit?
They line up with the original YouTube video. If you have cut or re-timed the footage, the timecodes will drift and you will need to re-sync in your editor — most will let you drag the subtitle track to match.
Can I edit the file afterwards?
Yes. SRT is plain text, so any text editor will open it. Just keep the block structure intact: number, timecode line, text, blank line.