SRT to TXT Converter

How to turn subtitles into a readable transcript

A subtitle file is already almost a transcript: every spoken sentence is in it, cut into pieces of one or two lines, each with a number and a timecode. Converting SRT to TXT removes the numbers, timecodes and formatting tags and joins the pieces in the layout you need. People use the result for study notes from recorded lectures, for quoting an interview, for translating the dialogue, for proofreading in a word processor or simply for searching through what was said.

The layout decides how readable the text is. One line per subtitle keeps the original structure and works best together with timestamps, for example to find a quote again in the video. Paragraphs joins the subtitles into flowing text and starts a new paragraph whenever the speaker pauses for longer than the number of seconds you set. One continuous block is the right choice when the text is only going to be counted or pasted into another program.

Subtitles for the deaf and hard of hearing contain sound descriptions such as [door slams] and music lines marked with ♪; both can be removed to get the dialogue alone. Auto-generated YouTube captions have a different problem: each line is shown and then repeated together with the next one, so a plain export contains most sentences two or three times. The option to remove repeated lines keeps every sentence once. Formatting tags such as italics are always removed.

Which layout for which purpose?

Tips

• Edited the text and want subtitles again? TXT to SRT turns a transcript back into timed subtitles and recognises timestamps such as 0:12 at the start of a line.
• To remove ads and credit lines before exporting, run the file through the SRT Formatter first.
• Need figures per subtitle rather than the text? The Subtitle Character Counter lists characters, words and lines for every subtitle.
• Short start timestamps are handy for video notes: a line such as 1:02 Introduction is easy to find again in any player.