Download YouTube Subtitles as SRT Files
YouTube lets you watch subtitles, but it gives you no way to save them. To download YouTube subtitles as an actual file you can use elsewhere, paste the video link above — the extractor pulls the caption track directly and saves it as a properly formatted SRT file in a few seconds.
That SRT is ready for real work: import it into Premiere Pro or CapCut, load it in VLC, or use it to caption clips you repurpose for other platforms. No screen-scraping the transcript panel, no reformatting by hand.
Free, no sign-up — paste a YouTube link and get the script in seconds.
Open the extractorHow to download subtitles from a YouTube video
Copy the video's URL — from the address bar, the Share button, or the share sheet on mobile — and paste it into the input box on the homepage. Click Extract Script, wait a few seconds, then hit the Download SRT button. The file saves to your device immediately.
The tool accepts any link shape: watch-page URLs, youtu.be short links, Shorts, embeds, and live replays. If the video has creator-uploaded subtitles or auto-generated captions, in any language, you get the SRT. If it has none, the tool says so clearly instead of handing you an empty file.
What an SRT file actually is
SRT (SubRip) is the oldest and most widely supported subtitle format. It is a plain-text file where each subtitle gets a sequence number, a start and end time down to the millisecond, and one or two lines of text. Because it is just text, you can open and edit it in any editor, translate it line by line, or compare two versions.
That simplicity is why nearly every video editor, media player, and hosting platform accepts SRT. The extractor writes standard-compliant files, so they import cleanly without conversion.
Putting downloaded subtitles to work
In editing software, drag the SRT onto your timeline: Premiere Pro and DaVinci Resolve treat it as a caption track, and CapCut imports SRT files for its caption overlays. VLC and most other players load the file automatically when it sits next to the video with the same name.
SRT files are especially useful when repurposing content. Cutting a YouTube video into vertical clips? Import the SRT to keep captions on every clip without re-transcribing. Translating a video for another audience? Hand the SRT to a translator and you get timed subtitles back, ready to upload.
SRT vs VTT: why this tool gives you SRT
YouTube stores captions internally as WebVTT, the web-native subtitle format. VTT and SRT look similar, but SRT has broader support outside the browser — editors, players, and subtitle tools almost all read it, while VTT support is patchier.
If you ever do need VTT, converting is trivial since both are plain text with near-identical timing syntax. But for downloading subtitles to use elsewhere, SRT is the format that just works.