Why will my TV or media player not open a VTT file?

WebVTT was designed for browsers, and most set-top boxes, smart TVs and older desktop players never added support for it. They look for an .srt sitting next to the video file. Converting gives you the format hardware players have understood for two decades.

What is actually lost going from VTT to SRT?

Cue settings — the positioning, alignment and line placement WebVTT can attach to each cue — and any style blocks the file carried. SRT has no equivalent for them. The text, the timings and basic italic or bold markup all come across intact.

Do the cue numbers get added automatically?

Yes. WebVTT usually omits the sequence numbers SRT expects before each block, so every cue is renumbered from one. This matters because some strict players refuse a file whose blocks are not numbered consecutively, and a hand-edited file often is not.

What happens to the WEBVTT header line?

It is removed, along with NOTE comments and any STYLE or REGION blocks. SRT has no place for them, and leaving the header in is exactly what makes a hand-renamed file fail — the first cue gets parsed as text rather than as a sequence number.

Are the timestamps converted correctly?

Yes. WebVTT writes fractions of a second after a dot and may omit the hours field when a video runs under an hour; SRT requires a comma and always wants hours. Both differences are handled, so a cue at 00:04.500 becomes 00:00:04,500.

Can I use the result for burning subtitles into a video?

Yes. SRT is what most encoding tools take for both external and burned-in subtitles — ffmpeg, HandBrake and desktop editors all read it. It is generally the safer input when a workflow does not explicitly state that it supports WebVTT.

Will the file open in a subtitle editor?

Yes. SRT is the most widely supported subtitle format there is: Subtitle Edit, Aegisub, Jubler and even a plain text editor will open it. That makes it a practical target when you need to shift timings or fix wording after downloading subtitles.

Convert VTT to SRT Online

Take subtitles saved out of a browser and turn them into the SRT that TVs, media players and video editors expect.

or drag & drop them here · images, video, audio, documents and subtitles · up to 2 GB

How to convert VTT to SRT

Click "Choose Files" and select your VTT file, or drag & drop it onto the page.
Make sure SRT is selected as the target format.
Click "Convert" and wait a few seconds.
Download your new SRT file.

Why Converters.live?

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Frequently asked questions

Why will my TV or media player not open a VTT file?: WebVTT was designed for browsers, and most set-top boxes, smart TVs and older desktop players never added support for it. They look for an .srt sitting next to the video file. Converting gives you the format hardware players have understood for two decades.
What is actually lost going from VTT to SRT?: Cue settings — the positioning, alignment and line placement WebVTT can attach to each cue — and any style blocks the file carried. SRT has no equivalent for them. The text, the timings and basic italic or bold markup all come across intact.
Do the cue numbers get added automatically?: Yes. WebVTT usually omits the sequence numbers SRT expects before each block, so every cue is renumbered from one. This matters because some strict players refuse a file whose blocks are not numbered consecutively, and a hand-edited file often is not.
What happens to the WEBVTT header line?: It is removed, along with NOTE comments and any STYLE or REGION blocks. SRT has no place for them, and leaving the header in is exactly what makes a hand-renamed file fail — the first cue gets parsed as text rather than as a sequence number.
Are the timestamps converted correctly?: Yes. WebVTT writes fractions of a second after a dot and may omit the hours field when a video runs under an hour; SRT requires a comma and always wants hours. Both differences are handled, so a cue at 00:04.500 becomes 00:00:04,500.
Can I use the result for burning subtitles into a video?: Yes. SRT is what most encoding tools take for both external and burned-in subtitles — ffmpeg, HandBrake and desktop editors all read it. It is generally the safer input when a workflow does not explicitly state that it supports WebVTT.
Will the file open in a subtitle editor?: Yes. SRT is the most widely supported subtitle format there is: Subtitle Edit, Aegisub, Jubler and even a plain text editor will open it. That makes it a practical target when you need to shift timings or fix wording after downloading subtitles.

Related conversions

ASS→SRT SRT→VTT SRT→ASS