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How to Generate Subtitles From a Video (Free SRT and VTT)

Generate subtitles from any video for free: auto captions with a subtitle generator, YouTube Studio, CapCut, Premiere or Whisper, then add the SRT or VTT anywhere.

URLtoText Team17 min read

On this page
  1. 1. Generate subtitles with a free subtitle generator
  2. 2. Use YouTube Studio's automatic subtitles
  3. 3. Add auto captions in CapCut
  4. 4. Check and edit your SRT or VTT file
  5. 5. Add subtitles to your video or player
  6. 6. Generate subtitles in Premiere Pro, DaVinci Resolve or Final Cut Pro
  7. 7. Use Clipchamp, and what to do in iMovie
  8. 8. Generate subtitles offline with Whisper
  9. 9. Translate your subtitles
  10. Captions and accessibility
  11. Frequently asked questions
  12. Which method should you use?

The quickest way to generate subtitles from a video is to upload it (or paste its link) into a free subtitle generator and download the SRT or VTT file it makes. If you already edit in YouTube Studio, CapCut, Premiere Pro or DaVinci Resolve, each has auto captions built in, and Whisper does it offline for free. This guide covers every method step by step, then how to check the file and add it to YouTube, Facebook, LinkedIn, Vimeo or VLC.

Method Output Cost Effort
1Subtitle Generator SRT, VTT, text Free Upload or paste a link
2YouTube Studio Captions on YouTube, SRT download Free Your own uploads
3CapCut Burned-in captions, SRT on desktop Free with limits, Pro Mobile or desktop
4Edit the file A clean SRT or VTT Free Any text editor
5Add subtitles to a video Sidecar or burned in Free Upload or one command
6Premiere, Resolve, Final Cut Caption tracks, SRT Paid apps Built into the editor
7Clipchamp and iMovie SRT download Free Browser or Windows
8Whisper on your computer SRT, VTT and more Free Command line
9Translate subtitles Subtitles in other languages Free Paste a link

1Generate subtitles with a free subtitle generator

The URL to Text Subtitle Generator makes SRT and VTT subtitles from a video file or a link. It's free and you don't need an account.

  1. Open urltotext.com/subtitle-generator.
  2. Choose Paste a link and paste a TikTok, Instagram, Facebook, X, Vimeo, Loom or YouTube link, or choose Upload a file and pick your video.
  3. Click Generate subtitles (for uploads it starts as soon as you choose the file).
  4. Switch between the SRT, VTT and Text tabs to see each format. Fix any words right in the box.
  5. Click Download .srt (or Download .vtt) to save the file.

How it works: speech recognition (Whisper) writes the words and times every line, then the captions are split into at most two lines of 42 characters each, the standard most broadcasters and streaming services use. For YouTube links, it uses the video's existing captions instead, which is faster.

Limits: videos up to 15 minutes without an account, or 60 minutes with a free account; 5 runs an hour without an account, 30 signed in. Uploads can be up to 95 MB in MP4, MOV, MKV, WebM, AVI, M4A, MP3, WAV and most other formats. For a big video file, upload an audio-only export instead, since it's far smaller and gives the same subtitles. Most languages are detected automatically. Files are deleted as soon as they're processed.

Tip: if you edit text in the box, download before switching tabs, since each tab shows the freshly generated version.

2Use YouTube Studio's automatic subtitles

YouTube automatically captions most videos you upload, in a growing list of languages. You can fix them, adjust the timing, and download them as an SRT.

Edit the automatic captions

  1. Sign in to YouTube Studio and click Subtitles in the left menu.
  2. Click the video.
  3. Find the row marked (Automatic) and click Duplicate and edit. Auto captions can take a while to appear after upload, especially for long videos.
  4. Fix the text in each caption box. To change when lines appear, click Edit timings and drag the caption edges on the timeline under the video.
  5. Click Publish. Your edited track replaces the automatic one for viewers.

Download the subtitles

On the video's Subtitles page, point at the published track, click the Options menu (three dots), choose Download, and pick .srt, .vtt or .sbv. Now you can reuse the same subtitles on other platforms.

Upload your own SRT instead

Click Add language and choose the language, then under Subtitles click Add›Upload file, choose With timing, click Continue, pick your SRT or VTT file and click Save. If you only have a plain transcript, choose Without timing (or Auto-sync) and YouTube times it for you.

Limitations: this only works on videos on your own channel, and auto captions struggle with music, crosstalk and poor audio. For someone else's video, paste its link into the Subtitle Generator.

3Add auto captions in CapCut

CapCut is the go-to editor for TikTok, Reels and Shorts, and its captions are burned into the video with animated styles.

On your phone:

  1. Open CapCut, tap New project, and add your video.
  2. Tap Text (or Captions) in the bottom toolbar, then Auto captions.
  3. Choose the spoken language and tap Generate.
  4. Tap a caption to edit its words, or Batch edit to fix several at once, then choose a style.
  5. Tap Export to save the video with captions burned in.

On a computer:

  1. Import your video and drag it to the timeline.
  2. Open Text (or Captions) at the top and click Auto captions.
  3. Pick the spoken language and click Create (or Generate).
  4. Edit the words in the captions panel on the right.
  5. Click Export. The desktop app can also export captions as a separate SRT or TXT file.

Free or paid? CapCut moved several features to its paid Pro plan in 2025, and auto captions have been affected. CapCut's own pages contradict each other, and users report a small free allowance before an upgrade prompt, with SRT export locked to Pro. It varies by region and version, so try it in your copy. If you hit the paywall, generate an SRT with the Subtitle Generator and import it in CapCut desktop.

4Check and edit your SRT or VTT file

Every method here gives you an SRT or VTT file. Both are plain text, so you can open and fix them in Notepad, TextEdit or VS Code. Save as UTF-8 so accented letters display correctly. (In TextEdit, choose Format›Make Plain Text first.)

SRT format

SRT (SubRip) is the most widely supported subtitle format: YouTube, Facebook, LinkedIn, Premiere, Resolve, Final Cut and VLC all read it.

1
00:00:01,000 --> 00:00:04,200
Welcome back to the channel.
Today we're making sourdough.

2
00:00:04,500 --> 00:00:07,800
You only need flour, water and salt.

Each caption has a number, a start and end time (hours:minutes:seconds,milliseconds), one or two lines of text, and a blank line.

VTT format

WebVTT is the format for web video (the HTML5 <track> element) and is preferred by Vimeo. It's nearly identical:

WEBVTT

00:00:01.000 --> 00:00:04.200
Welcome back to the channel.
Today we're making sourdough.

00:00:04.500 --> 00:00:07.800
You only need flour, water and salt.

The differences: the file starts with WEBVTT, times use a period instead of a comma, and cue numbers are optional. VTT can also position and style captions, which SRT can't.

Good subtitle style rules

These rules come from broadcast and streaming guidelines, like those used by Netflix and the BBC:

  • Up to 42 characters per line and 2 lines at most.
  • Each caption on screen for about 1 to 7 seconds. Shorter flashes by, longer feels stuck.
  • Reading speed around 15 to 20 characters per second. If a line is faster, split or shorten it.
  • Break lines at natural pauses: after punctuation, before "and" or "but", and never between a first and last name.
  • Add sound cues for captions (as opposed to subtitles): [music], [laughter], and speaker names when it isn't clear who's talking.
  • Leave a tiny gap between captions (a couple of frames) so viewers notice the change.

Fix timing with a subtitle editor

To shift every caption at once (for example, if you trimmed the intro), use free Subtitle Edit on Windows or Linux, or Aegisub. In Subtitle Edit, open Synchronization›Adjust all times and enter the offset.

5Add subtitles to your video or player

There are two ways to deliver subtitles:

  • Sidecar (soft) subtitles: a separate SRT or VTT file that viewers can turn on and off, change the size of, and that search engines can read. Best for YouTube, Vimeo, websites and accessibility.
  • Burned-in (open) captions: the text is part of the picture. Best for TikTok, Reels and Shorts, where most people watch muted and you can't upload a caption file.

VLC (Windows, Mac, Linux)

  1. Open the video in VLC.
  2. Choose Subtitle›Add Subtitle File (on Mac, Subtitles›Add Subtitle File).
  3. Pick your .srt or .vtt file.

Shortcut: give the subtitle file the same name as the video (trip.mp4 and trip.srt) in the same folder, and VLC loads it automatically. If the timing is off, press H and G to shift the subtitles earlier or later.

YouTube

In YouTube Studio: Subtitles > your video > Add language, then Add›Upload file›With timing (steps in section 2).

Facebook

Facebook reads SRT files, and the file name tells it the language: filename.en_US.srt for US English, filename.es_ES.srt for Spanish. Open the video in Meta Business Suite or the video's edit screen, go to Subtitles & captions, and upload the file.

LinkedIn

On desktop, start a post, add your video, click the Edit (pencil) icon on the video preview, and use Select caption to attach the SRT. LinkedIn accepts SRT only.

Vimeo

Open the video in your Vimeo library, select the Languages button beside the player, click +, upload your SRT or VTT, set the language and whether it's subtitles or captions, then turn it on. Vimeo recommends VTT.

Burn subtitles in with ffmpeg

The free ffmpeg command line tool burns an SRT file into the picture:

ffmpeg -i video.mp4 -vf subtitles=video.srt -c:a copy video-captioned.mp4

To change the look, add a style: -vf "subtitles=video.srt:force_style='FontSize=24,Outline=2'". To add a soft track to an MP4 instead (no re-encoding), use:

ffmpeg -i video.mp4 -i video.srt -c copy -c:s mov_text video-with-subs.mp4

Don't want the command line? Import the SRT into CapCut desktop, Premiere Pro or DaVinci Resolve and export with captions burned in, or use HandBrake (Subtitles›Import Subtitle, then tick Burn In).

6Generate subtitles in Premiere Pro, DaVinci Resolve or Final Cut Pro

If you already edit in a professional app, its built-in transcription saves you a round trip.

Adobe Premiere Pro

Speech to Text is included with Premiere Pro.

  1. Open your sequence and choose Window›Text.
  2. On the Transcript tab, click Transcribe (Premiere can also transcribe clips automatically on import).
  3. Switch to the Captions tab and click Create captions (from the transcript). Set the maximum characters per line, minimum duration and Single or Double lines.
  4. Fix words in the Text panel; adjust timing by dragging captions on the caption track.
  5. Export the file with File›Export›Captions (choose SubRip .srt), or burn them in with Burn Captions Into Video in export settings.

DaVinci Resolve

Automatic subtitles need DaVinci Resolve Studio, the paid version (a one-time license). The free version can import and edit SRT files but can't create subtitles from audio.

  1. Open your timeline and choose Timeline›AI Tools›Create Subtitles from Audio (older versions: Timeline›Create Subtitles from Audio).
  2. Pick the language, a caption preset, characters per line and number of lines, then click Create.
  3. Edit the subtitle track, then export with File›Export›Subtitle, or set subtitles in the Deliver page to burn them in or export them as a separate file.

On the free version, generate the SRT elsewhere and import it with File›Import›Subtitle.

Final Cut Pro

Select your clips and choose Edit›Captions›Transcribe to Captions. Edit them in the captions inspector, then export with File›Export Captions as SRT.

7Use Clipchamp, and what to do in iMovie

Clipchamp (Windows and web)

Microsoft Clipchamp has free autocaptions:

  1. Add your video to the timeline.
  2. Click the Captions tab in the property panel on the right (or the captions icon on the preview) and click Turn on autocaptions.
  3. Choose the spoken language and click Transcribe media.
  4. Fix any words in the transcript (double-click a word to rewrite it).
  5. Click the download captions button to save an SRT file, or export the video with captions shown.

Clipchamp handles one language per video and needs an internet connection, since transcription runs in Microsoft's cloud.

iMovie

iMovie has no automatic captions and can't import SRT files. Your options:

  • Type captions by hand with Titles (fine for a short clip).
  • Generate an SRT with the Subtitle Generator, then burn it in with ffmpeg or HandBrake (section 5), or deliver it as a sidecar file.
  • Move up to Final Cut Pro, which has Transcribe to Captions.

8Generate subtitles offline with Whisper

Whisper is OpenAI's open-source speech recognition model. It runs on your own computer, free, with no upload and no length limit. It needs Python and ffmpeg.

  1. Install it:

    pip install -U openai-whisper

  2. Generate an SRT:

    whisper video.mp4 --model turbo --output_format srt

    The file is saved next to your video as video.srt. Use --output_format vtt for VTT, or all for both plus plain text.

  3. Useful options:

    • --language en skips language detection and avoids mistakes on short clips.
    • --task translate writes English subtitles from speech in another language.
    • --word_timestamps True --max_line_width 42 --max_line_count 2 keeps lines to subtitle length.

Speed: turbo is fast on a recent GPU or Apple Silicon Mac, and slow on an older laptop CPU. Smaller models (base, small) are faster but less accurate.

Faster and friendlier options

  • faster-whisper reimplements Whisper to run several times faster with less memory. The whisper-ctranslate2 command uses it with the same options as above.
  • Subtitle Edit (free, Windows) runs Whisper for you: choose Video›Audio to text (Whisper), pick an engine and model, and click Generate. It downloads everything it needs and gives you an editable subtitle file.

9Translate your subtitles

To make subtitles in another language:

  • From a link or file: the Video Transcript Translator transcribes the video and translates it into any of 33 languages.
  • An existing SRT: paste it into ChatGPT, Claude or Gemini with: "Translate this SRT into Spanish. Keep every number and timestamp exactly the same and only translate the text lines." Check that the caption count matches.
  • On YouTube: YouTube can auto-translate captions for viewers, or you can add another language in YouTube Studio›Subtitles›Add language and upload your translated SRT.
  • In Whisper: --task translate creates English subtitles directly.

Translated lines often run longer, so check the 42-character limit and reading speed again.

Captions and accessibility

Captions aren't just for engagement. They're how deaf and hard-of-hearing viewers follow your video. WCAG, the main web accessibility standard, requires captions for prerecorded video with audio at its most basic level (A), and US public bodies must meet WCAG 2.1 AA under the ADA Title II rule. The Department of Justice moved the first compliance deadline from April 2026 to April 2027. Auto captions are a good start, but for compliance they need to be accurate, so review and correct them before publishing.

Frequently asked questions

How do I generate subtitles from a video for free?

Upload the video or paste its link into the Subtitle Generator, click Generate subtitles, and download the SRT or VTT. It's free for videos up to 15 minutes without an account, or 60 minutes with a free account. Whisper is also free if you're comfortable with the command line.

What's the difference between SRT and VTT?

Both are plain-text subtitle files with timestamps. SRT numbers each caption and uses commas in times (00:00:01,000); VTT starts with WEBVTT, uses periods, and supports styling and positioning. Use SRT for most platforms and editors, VTT for websites and Vimeo.

What's the difference between captions and subtitles?

Subtitles show the spoken words, often for viewers who don't speak the language. Captions also include sounds and speaker names, like [music] or [door slams], for viewers who can't hear the audio. Auto captions usually include only the words.

Can I add an SRT file to TikTok or Instagram?

No. TikTok and Instagram don't accept caption files. Use their built-in auto captions, or burn your subtitles into the video with CapCut, ffmpeg or your editor before posting.

How do I make auto captions more accurate?

Use clean audio with a close microphone, little background music and one person speaking at a time. Set the spoken language instead of relying on detection, and always read through for names, numbers and brand terms.

Are CapCut auto captions free?

Partly. CapCut moved auto captions toward its Pro plan in 2025, and free accounts get limited use. Exporting an SRT file is reported to need Pro. A free subtitle generator makes an SRT you can import instead.

How do I burn subtitles into a video?

Run ffmpeg -i video.mp4 -vf subtitles=video.srt -c:a copy out.mp4, or import the SRT into HandBrake, CapCut, Premiere Pro or DaVinci Resolve and export with captions burned in.

Which method should you use?

  • Any video, fastest: the free Subtitle Generator.
  • Your YouTube videos: YouTube Studio's automatic captions, edited with Duplicate and edit.
  • Short videos for TikTok and Reels: CapCut, or an SRT burned in with ffmpeg.
  • Already editing in Premiere, Resolve Studio or Final Cut: use the built-in transcription.
  • Long videos, offline or private: Whisper on your own computer.
  • Other languages: the Video Transcript Translator.

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