SubToolbox

SBV to SRT Converter — YouTube Captions to SRT

Convert YouTube SBV subtitle files to SRT — minimal format, minimal friction, done locally in your browser.

Quick answer: Drop a .sbv file and download an .srt. SBV is YouTube's old minimal caption format — start and end on one comma-separated line, text below — and it converts one-to-one into SRT cues with identical timings.

Drop a subtitle file here, or browse — it stays on your device

Output: SRT (.srt)

Core facts
InputSBV (.sbv) — H:MM:SS.mmm,H:MM:SS.mmm lines
OutputSRT with sequential numbers
TimingsUnchanged
NoteSBV is plain text like SRT — nothing is lost
PrivacyRuns in the browser; no upload

What this tool does

SBV is the no-frills caption format from YouTube's early caption system: each cue is a line reading “0:00:01.000,0:00:03.500” followed by its text lines, then a blank line. There are no styles, no settings, no header — which makes it a two-step parse and a lossless conversion to SRT. This page reads the comma-separated timing pairs, renumbers the cues, writes standard SRT timestamps (comma milliseconds, an arrow between), and hands you a file any player or editor will take.

Common uses

  • Caption files exported from old YouTube workflows need modern SRT
  • A tool only accepts .sbv output — bring it back to SRT here
  • Mixed archives of SBV files being standardised

Frequently Asked Questions

Is anything lost converting SBV to SRT?
No. Both formats carry exactly cue times and plain text; the conversion is a reformatting of the timing line and the addition of cue numbers.
Can I go the other way — SRT to SBV?
Yes, the general converter on the home page writes SBV as an output format; this page focuses on the more common direction.
Why does YouTube have its own format?
SBV predates YouTube's TTML/VTT support and was kept for years in its caption download options. It is simpler than any standard — and still finds its way into people's archives today.

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