Clean up an automatic transcript
Speech recognition gets names, brands and jargon wrong. Search for the misspelling, fix each hit, and save a corrected file.
Fix subtitle files
Edit lines and timing without a desktop app
Open an SRT, VTT or SBV in the browser, change words and times line by line, move every line at once with Shift all, and save it in the format you need. The video is optional.
Related use cases
The quick answer
Open the Subtitle Editor on Auto Caption, drop your file and choose Edit without video, or add the video to hear each line. Make your changes, then save from Export as SRT, VTT, SBV or TXT.
4 steps
How to edit a subtitle file
- 01
Open the file
Drop an SRT, VTT or SBV. Choose "Edit without video" to work on the file alone, or add the video to watch each line as you fix it.
- 02
Fix the text
Click a line and type. Split a line at the cursor, merge it with the next one, or delete it. Search finds a word in every line.
- 03
Fix the timing
Each line has start and end time fields. To move the whole file, enter seconds in Shift all; a negative number moves everything earlier.
- 04
Save it
Download SRT, VTT, SBV or TXT. With the video loaded you can also render an MP4 with the subtitles burned in.
Common fixes
What people open a subtitle file to fix
Re-sync after a trim
Cut four seconds off the start of a video and every subtitle is now late. Shift all by -4 and they line up again.
Tidy choppy or crowded lines
Merge two fragments that belong together, or split a long sentence into two lines that are easier to read.
Save in another format
Open an SBV, save an SRT. For a straight format change with line breaks kept exactly, the Subtitle Converter is quicker.
The subtitle editor runs on Auto Caption, our free caption site. Your file stays in your browser the whole time.
Edit an SRT file with or without the video
Drop a subtitle file on its own and the tool asks for its video. You don't have to give it one. "Edit without video" opens the file straight away, with a timeline that runs to the last subtitle. That's enough for spelling fixes, timing changes and format changes.
Adding the video helps when you need to hear the words. Click any line and playback jumps there; the line being spoken stays highlighted as the video plays. You also get the Style and Export panels, so the same session can end with a burned-in MP4 instead of a file. See Burn Subtitles into Video for that route.
How to shift subtitles and sync them to the picture
When every line is off by the same amount, you only need one number. Play the video, note when the first line is actually spoken, and compare it with the start time shown under that line. If the speech starts at 0:12.40 and the subtitle says 0:10.90, type 1.5 into Shift all. If the subtitles are early instead, use a negative number.
Lines pushed before zero are removed, and a line that crosses zero is trimmed to start there. For a single line that's off, edit its start and end fields directly; times are shown to a hundredth of a second. If the offset grows over the length of the video, a single shift won't fix it. That kind of drift is faster to solve by making new subtitles from the current cut with the Subtitle Generator, which costs 20 free minutes a day at most and handles files up to 30 minutes.
Check the file before you publish
Editing makes it easy to leave a gap or an overlap behind. Before you upload, run the saved SRT through Caption QA. It flags overlapping times, lines that go by too fast to read, rows that run too long and empty subtitles. Fix what it finds in the editor, save again, and you're done.
If the file is going to become narration, SRT to Speech reads each line in one of our voices at the time it appears, and Subtitle Converter handles any last format change.
Free on Auto Caption
Ready to try it on your own video?
Open the free editor on Auto Caption, drop your file, and download the result in a few minutes.
Edit a subtitle file
Opens auto-caption.app
FAQ
Subtitle Editor FAQs
01 Is the subtitle editor free?
Yes, with no limit. Opening, editing and saving subtitle files never uses transcription minutes. Minutes only apply if you ask the tool to transcribe a video or audio file.
02 Is my subtitle file uploaded?
No. The file is read and edited in your browser. So is the video, if you add one.
03 Can I edit an SRT file without the video?
Yes. After you drop the file, choose "Edit without video". You get the full line editor, timing fields and Shift all, and you save SRT, VTT, SBV or TXT. Styling and MP4 export need the video.
04 What happens to italics and line breaks?
Tags like <i> and <b> and VTT position settings are removed when the file opens. Two-line subtitles are joined into one line of text, and the line wraps on its own when shown on video. If you need the original line breaks kept, use the Subtitle Converter instead.
05 How do I undo a mistake?
Use the Undo button or Ctrl+Z (Cmd+Z on a Mac). Redo is Ctrl+Y or Shift+Cmd+Z. Deleting a line, merging and Shift all can all be undone.
06 My subtitles drift further out of sync as the video goes on. Can Shift all fix that?
No. Shift all moves every line by the same amount. Drift that grows over time usually comes from a different frame rate or a re-edited video, and it needs the timing fixed line by line, or new subtitles made from the current video.
Still wondering? Get in touch →
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Hear your subtitles read aloud
Drop the edited SRT into SRT to Speech and get narration timed to every line, in 54 natural voices.
