AI TranscribeWhat is an SRT file?
An SRT file is a plain text file that holds subtitles and the times they appear. It is the oldest and most widely supported subtitle format, which is why almost every video editor, player and platform accepts one.
Short answer: SRT is a text file, readable in any text editor, containing numbered blocks of subtitle text with a start and end timestamp. The extension is .srt, short for SubRip Subtitle.
What is inside one
Open an SRT in a text editor and you see repeating blocks:
1
00:00:02,000 --> 00:00:05,400
The first line of speech appears here.
2
00:00:05,900 --> 00:00:09,100
And the second, once the first has gone.
Each block has three parts: a sequence number, the time range during which the text shows, and the text itself. Timestamps run hours, minutes, seconds, then milliseconds after a comma. A blank line separates blocks.
A basic SRT needs nothing beyond those numbered, timed blocks. The format has no positioning or font control of its own, though some players do recognise simple inline formatting tags inside the subtitle text.
SRT and VTT
VTT, properly WebVTT, is the newer format that browsers use for HTML video. The two look similar and the differences are small but real:
| SRT | VTT | |
|---|---|---|
| First line of the file | The number 1 | WEBVTT |
| Millisecond separator | Comma | Full stop |
| Styling and positioning | Not part of the format | Supported, with cue settings |
| Best support in | Editors, players, social platforms | Web browsers |
If you are handing a file to a video editor or uploading to a social platform, use SRT. If you are putting a <track> element on a web page, use VTT.
How to open or edit one
Any text editor opens an SRT. TextEdit on a Mac and Notepad on Windows both work. Editing is safe as long as you keep the structure intact: leave the blank lines between blocks, and do not change the arrow between the two timestamps.
The one thing that breaks files is a text editor that silently saves as rich text. In TextEdit, use Format, then Make Plain Text before saving.
Making one from a recording
Subtitles are a transcript with timings, so any transcription that keeps timestamps can produce one.
- Open AI Transcribe and import the audio or video.
- Once the transcript is ready, export it as Subtitles (SRT). On the Mac, VTT is offered alongside it.
- Read it through before publishing. The export writes one subtitle block per speaker turn, which is right for a transcript but sometimes long for a caption, so line lengths and timings are worth a pass.
- Then drop the file into your editor, or upload it next to the video.
Converting a video to text covers the import side, and transcripts with timestamps covers why the timings matter beyond subtitling.
Common questions
Why do my subtitles appear at the wrong time? The timings are offset, usually because the subtitle file was made from a different cut of the video. Most editors let you shift every block by a fixed amount.
Can an SRT hold two languages? Not properly. Use one file per language. Players expect to pick between separate tracks.
Does an SRT contain speaker names? Not as a field. Some people write names into the subtitle text itself, which works but is a convention rather than part of the format.