SBV to SRT
Captions you wrote or corrected in YouTube Studio can be downloaded as .sbv, a format almost nothing outside YouTube reads. Convert the file to SRT and the same captions work on social video uploads and in desktop editors.
Subtitle Converter
or drop SRT, VTT, ASS … files here ·
Max 95 MB per file· Up to 20 files· Deleted after 30 minutes
Files are processed on our servers and deleted after 30 minutes.
Moves every subtitle by this many seconds. Use a positive number if subtitles appear too early, negative if too late (e.g. -1.5).
Set this and the target rate when subtitles drift further out of sync over the film, a sign they were timed for a different video release.
Frame rate of the video you will play the subtitles with. A 23.976 → 25 conversion fixes most PAL/NTSC drift.
Only used for plain TXT input, which has no times: each line is shown for this long, one after another. Adjust times afterwards in a subtitle editor if needed.
Auto-detect handles most files. Pick the encoding manually if accented, Cyrillic or Arabic letters come out as question marks. The output is always UTF-8.
Font used by the default ASS style. The viewer's computer must have it installed; Arial is the safest choice.
Size relative to a 1080-pixel-tall video. 48 is a typical size for films.
How to use this tool
- 1
Upload the .sbv file
Add the caption file downloaded from YouTube Studio, or several languages at once, up to 20 files of 95 MB each.
- 2
Keep the defaults
Input encoding is set to UTF-8, which is what YouTube writes. If the captions should start later or earlier on a trimmed re-upload, set Shift timing under Advanced settings.
- 3
Convert to SRT
Press Convert to SRT and download the numbered SubRip file. Your files are removed from our server after 30 minutes.
What is the quickest way to change SBV to SRT?
Upload the .sbv and press Convert to SRT. The converter numbers each caption, rewrites the times in SubRip style and keeps every line of text, so the result plays in any player or editor.
What an SBV file is
SBV is YouTube's own caption format and one of the download options in YouTube Studio's Subtitles section. It is about as simple as a timed text format can be: a line with start and end time separated by a comma, such as 0:00:01.000,0:00:04.000, then the caption text, then a blank line. There are no cue numbers, no header and no styling.
That simplicity is also its limit. Desktop players such as VLC, video editors and other social platforms expect SRT, which has the same information arranged differently: a counter above each cue, two-digit hours, a comma before the milliseconds and an arrow between the times. Facebook and LinkedIn take SRT files for uploaded videos, and Premiere Pro and DaVinci Resolve import SRT as a caption track.
If you are reposting a YouTube video elsewhere, the video file often needs work too: platforms cap upload sizes, and the guide on compressing video for Discord and email covers that side. For captions YouTube gave you as WebVTT instead, use VTT to SRT.
SBV timing line
0:00:01.000,0:00:04.000
No cue number above it
SRT timing line
00:00:01,000 --> 00:00:04,000
Preceded by the cue number 1
SBV
YouTube SBV captions
SBV is a simple plain-text caption format used by YouTube, often downloaded from YouTube Studio. Each caption lists a start and end time on one line followed by the caption text, with no numbering or styling. Outside YouTube, few players or editors recognise SBV files.
- Compression
- –
- Transparency
- –
- Animation
- –
- Introduced
- YouTube
SRT
SubRip subtitles
SRT is the subtitle format of SubRip, a free Windows program that extracted subtitles from video around 2000. Each entry is a plain-text block with a number, a start and end time, and the caption text. It is the most widely supported subtitle format, accepted by VLC, YouTube, Facebook, video editors and smart TVs. SRT has only basic formatting and no positioning or styling standard.
- Compression
- –
- Transparency
- –
- Animation
- –
- Introduced
- SubRip
SBV is read almost only by YouTube; SRT carries the same timed captions to Facebook, LinkedIn, video editors and desktop players.
Moving YouTube captions to Facebook, LinkedIn or an editor
Download from Studio
Subtitles, then the language track menu, then download as .sbv.
Convert here
Press Convert to SRT; add a Shift timing value if the new cut starts at a different point.
Upload with the video
Attach the SRT on Facebook or LinkedIn, or import it as a caption track in your editor.
Where the SBV format comes from
SBV to SRT questions
How do I download captions from YouTube Studio?
Open the video in YouTube Studio, go to Subtitles, open the menu next to the language track and choose to download it. Studio offers .vtt, .srt and .sbv. If you already have an .sbv from an earlier download or a caption vendor, convert it here instead of downloading again.
Why does Facebook reject my caption file?
Facebook takes captions only as SRT, and the file name has to end with a language and country code, for example launch-video.en_US.srt. Convert the SBV here, then rename the result before you upload it.
Does LinkedIn accept SBV captions?
No. LinkedIn's video upload accepts a separate caption file in SRT format. Convert the SBV, attach the SRT in the upload dialog, and the captions show for viewers who watch with sound off.
Is anything lost when SBV becomes SRT?
Nothing, because SBV holds only times and text. The conversion adds cue numbers and rewrites the timestamps; every line of text stays as it is.
My video was trimmed after captioning. Can I fix the offset?
Yes. If you cut 4 seconds from the start, enter −4 in Shift timing and every caption moves forward by the same amount. Check the first and last line in your player afterwards.
Can I get a plain transcript from the same captions?
Convert the SRT, or the SBV directly, with SRT to TXT. That gives you text for a video description, a blog post or show notes.
| VTT to SRT | TXT to SRT | SRT to VTT |
| ASS to SRT | SRT to TXT | MP4 to MP3 |