An SRT file has four parts: a cue number, start and end timecodes, subtitle text, and a blank line separating cues.
The .srt extension comes from SubRip, the format's original name; both names refer to this subtitle file.
SRT file format
For people writing timestamps by hand: inspect a valid cue, compare four broken inputs we ran through CueConvert's SRT parser, and download the field table.
Download the tested field and error table (.csv) ↓The four parts in one cue
1 00:00:01,000 --> 00:00:02,500 Hello. 2 00:00:03,000 --> 00:00:04,000 Next line.
The number is followed by a start and end time on one line, then text. Leave an empty line before the next number. The first cue above passed our SRT parser as one candidate and one output cue with no warning.
Four broken inputs, observed with our SRT tool
These examples are authored test inputs, not advice to copy into a finished subtitle file. We passed each through the same parser used by CueConvert's SRT to VTT tool. The quoted messages below are the parser's actual results. Its handling is not a universal rule for every subtitle player.
| Problem | Bad cue line or content | Observed result |
|---|---|---|
| Missing timing arrow | 00:00:01,000 00:00:02,500 | No SRT cues were found. The file needs timestamp lines such as 00:00:01,000 --> 00:00:02,500. |
| Period instead of comma | 00:00:01.000 --> 00:00:02.500 | Cue 1 has invalid timing or no text and was skipped. |
| End before start | 00:00:02,500 --> 00:00:01,000 | Cue 1 has invalid timing or no text and was skipped. |
| Empty subtitle text | Valid timecode, followed by no text | Cue 1 has invalid timing or no text and was skipped. |
The CSV includes the exact input strings, expected field structure, and observed parser response so you can inspect them offline. A warning means our tool did not produce a usable output cue; fix your source and test it against the video.
SubRip and the SRT file format
SubRip is this format's original name; SRT is the name most people use for the .srt file today. If you saw “SubRip” in another app, use the downloadable field and tested-error table above to check its cue number, timecode, text, and blank-line layout before saving your own file.
Questions for hand-written SRT
Do I type the video length into the SRT?
No. Each cue needs its own start and end time. The final cue's end is not automatically the video's duration.
Can I use a period for milliseconds?
Not in the SRT input accepted by this tool. The tested period-millisecond cue was skipped; use a comma, as in 00:00:01,000.
Does a numbered cue count if its text is empty?
Our tested empty-text cue was skipped. Check the output count before saving a converted file.
Writing WebVTT instead? See the VTT timing and field examples.
Have a subtitle file to process rather than write by hand? Start at the SRT, VTT and TXT tool homepage to choose an output format.