SRT and VTT to Text Converter
Turn a subtitle file or a transcript copied from YouTube into clean, readable text. Open an .srt, .vtt or .sbv file or paste the text: caption numbers, timestamps, formatting tags and sound labels like [Music] are removed, the repeated lines of YouTube's automatic captions are dropped, and the rest is joined into paragraphs. Copy it or download a .txt. Nothing leaves your browser.
How to get a YouTube transcript as text
On a computer, open the video, click …more under the title to expand the description, then Show transcript. The transcript opens next to the video. Select all of it, copy it and paste it into the box above: the times and the "2 seconds" style labels that come along are removed. Only videos with captions (their own or automatic) have a transcript. For your own videos, YouTube Studio can download the captions as a file (Subtitles → the video → the language → Options → Download), which you can open here.
What the converter cleans up
- Numbers and timestamps: the caption number and the
00:00:01,000 --> 00:00:03,200line of every SRT caption, the WEBVTT header, NOTE and STYLE blocks, cue settings likealign:start position:0%, and SBV time lines. - Tags: <i>, <b>, <c>, voice tags like <v Ana>, the word-by-word times inside automatic captions, and {\an8} position codes. HTML entities such as & become the character.
- Repeated lines: YouTube's automatic captions roll, so each caption repeats the line before it. Exported as VTT, every sentence shows up two or three times. "Remove repeated lines" keeps each line once. Turn it off if your text really repeats a line on purpose.
- Sound labels: [Music], [Applause], [Laughter] and ♪ are removed when the box is ticked.
- Speaker changes: captions mark a new speaker with
>>. The converter starts a new paragraph there and removes the marks.
Paragraphs: a new one starts at a speaker change, or at the first sentence end after about 45 seconds of speech. Where there is no punctuation, as in many automatic captions, a paragraph ends after about a minute. Tick "Keep a time per paragraph" to put [1:05] in front of each one, which helps when you quote a video.
SRT, VTT and SBV
All three list captions with a start and an end time. SRT (SubRip) numbers each caption and writes times with a comma: 00:01:02,500. WebVTT (.vtt) starts with the word WEBVTT, writes times with a period (00:01:02.500, hours optional) and can carry positions and styling. SBV (SubViewer), one of the formats YouTube accepts, puts both times on one line: 0:01:02.500,0:01:05.000. The converter detects the format on its own and also takes plain text, where it keeps your paragraphs.
FAQ
Is my file uploaded anywhere?
No. The file is read and converted by JavaScript in your browser; nothing is sent to a server.
Can I turn text back into an SRT file?
Not here: text has no timings, so they would have to be made up. Keep the original subtitle file if you need the timings, or tick "Keep a time per paragraph" for rough markers.
How long will the transcript take to read?
The converter counts the words and estimates reading time at about 238 words a minute, a common average for adults reading English. Speech runs at roughly 150 words a minute, so reading a transcript is faster than watching the video.
Does it work with other languages?
Yes. It only removes timings and markup, so any language works, including right-to-left scripts and Chinese or Japanese captions.