YouTube Subtitle Generator

Upload a video or audio file, get a clean .srt subtitle file, and add proper captions to your YouTube video. No account, no install.

Open the subtitle generator →

Why YouTube creators add subtitles

YouTube already auto-generates captions, but they are often inaccurate, badly timed, and missing punctuation. A clean, human-checked .srt file gives you full control over what your viewers read on screen.

Watch time. Captioned videos tend to hold attention longer, which is the main signal YouTube uses to recommend content.
Accessibility. Captions make your video usable for deaf and hard-of-hearing viewers, and for anyone watching on mute.
Search and discovery. YouTube reads your subtitle file. Accurate text gives the algorithm more context for your video.
Non-native speakers. A large share of YouTube's audience watches in a second language. Readable text helps comprehension.
Quality signal. Properly timed captions just look more polished than auto-generated ones.

How to generate YouTube subtitles

Export your video as MP4 (or extract the audio as MP3 / WAV / M4A).
Open the subtitle generator and drop the file in.
Pick the spoken language, or leave it on auto-detect.
Click Generate and wait for transcription to finish.
Click Download to save the .srt file.

How to upload an SRT to YouTube

Open YouTube Studio and select your video.
In the left menu, click Subtitles.
Next to your language, click Add → Upload file → With timing.
Choose the .srt file you downloaded.
Review the lines in the editor and click Publish.

If your video is too long or already published, you can still add or replace captions later from the same Subtitles panel.

Best practices

Use clean audio. Speech recognition works best with little background noise and one speaker at a time.
Review the text. Open the .srt in your editor or in YouTube's subtitle UI and fix proper nouns, brand names, and timings before publishing.
Keep lines short. Two short lines on screen are easier to read than one long one.
Mind reading speed. Aim for about 1–2 seconds per line for casual content, longer for technical material.

What about Shorts, TikTok, and Reels?

For short vertical video, most creators don't use a separate subtitle track — they burn the captions into the video itself. If that's what you need, our sister tool Captions AI animates captions directly onto your video for TikTok, Reels, and Shorts. The tool on this page is for traditional sidecar .srt subtitles.

Privacy

Your file is uploaded to our server only to generate subtitles. Once the .srt is returned, the source file and the generated subtitle file are deleted from the server. We recommend not uploading highly sensitive recordings. See the Privacy Policy for details.