How to turn text into an SRT file

Paste your script or transcript into the box, or drop a .txt file on it.
Choose how the subtitles should be timed (see below). The default works for most text.
Press Make subtitles, read through the result, and press Download.

You get a standard .srt file (or .vtt if you choose it) that YouTube Studio, Premiere Pro, DaVinci Resolve, CapCut, VLC and almost every other player or editor can open.

Three ways to time your subtitles

From timestamps in your text. If your text already has times in it, the tool uses them. This covers the transcript you copy from YouTube (open a video, click …more → Show transcript, select all lines and copy), where each time such as 0:05 sits on its own line above the words, and also transcripts written like [00:01:05] text or 1:05 text. Each timestamp becomes the start of a subtitle, and the subtitle ends just before the next timestamp. Long passages between two timestamps are split into several readable subtitles that share the time.

By reading speed. For a script without times, each subtitle stays on screen long enough to read it. The default of 15 characters per second is a comfortable speed for most viewers; professional subtitle guidelines usually allow 15 to 20 for adult viewers and less for children. No subtitle is shorter than one second or longer than seven.

Spread over the video length. If you know the narration fills the whole video, type the video length (for example 00:03:20) and the tool divides that time between the subtitles in proportion to their length. Longer lines get more time, short ones less.

Use First subtitle at when the speech starts after an intro, for example 00:00:04,500.

How the text is split

The tool starts a new subtitle at the end of each sentence. A sentence that would not fit in the chosen number of lines is split at a comma, semicolon or colon where possible, and only then between words. Lines never go over the Max characters per line you set: 42 is the usual limit for TV and streaming, 32 to 37 suits vertical videos such as Shorts, Reels and TikTok, where the screen is narrow.

Tips for better results

Put each spoken sentence in your script on its own line or end it with a full stop, question mark or exclamation

mark. Clear sentence ends make clear subtitles.

Reading-speed timing guesses how fast you speak. If you recorded a voice-over, it is worth checking the first and last

subtitle against the video and fixing the start time or the length.

Once you have an SRT, YouTube can also re-sync it for you: upload it in YouTube Studio under Subtitles and choose

Upload file → With timing.

FAQ

Does it work in other languages? Yes. Any language written with spaces between words works. Languages without spaces, such as Chinese or Japanese, will need manual line breaks.

Is my text sent anywhere? No. The conversion happens in your browser and nothing is uploaded.

Can I edit the result? Copy it into any text editor, or open the downloaded file in a subtitle editor. The format is plain text.