How to open an SRT file?

Hei Chan

12 October, 2023

Learn more about SRT Subtitle file

Adding subtitles to a video can enhance the overall experience for audiences by providing them with more information and content. Among all the subtitle file formats available on the market, one of the most common formats is the SRT subtitle file.

What is SRT?

SRT stands for "SubRip subtitle file." It is a universal file format widely used across the globe. SRT is a plain text file that contains dialogue text from a video along with corresponding timecodes, indicating the starting and ending time of your text to ensure your subtitles appear and disappear at the right time.

Each subtitle line in an SRT file consists of several parts, including:

  1. Line number
  2. Timestamps
  3. Subtitle text
  4. An empty line in between

The sequence number indicates the position of the subtitle in the sequence, while the timestamp indicates where the subtitle line should appear in the video. The dialogue text is the textual content to be displayed in front of the audience.

SRT files are supported by various media players and video editing software, such as YouTube, VLC, Windows Media Player, Adobe Premiere, and more. If you are looking for a simple yet functional subtitle format for your video content, SRT would be the right choice!

How to open an SRT file?

Using a text editor:

Since SRT files are plain text files, you can open them with any default text editor that is already pre-installed in your OS, such as Notepad, TextEdit, etc. By using the text editors mentioned above, you can view and edit your subtitle content with just a few clicks.

Using subtitle editing software:

SRT is supported by numerous free and paid subtitle editing software, such as Subanana / Subper, Subtitle Edit, Aegisub, and more. These software options usually offer additional features like subtitle synchronization and timeline adjustment assisting tools.

Using media players:

SRT is supported by most media players, such as VLC and Windows Media Player, which can open SRT files and display subtitles. You can place the SRT file in the same folder as the video file and use the media player to open the video file, and it will automatically show the SRT subtitles.

SRT is a simple yet powerful plain text subtitle file that you can open with text editors, subtitle editing software, or media players. If you need to edit subtitles for your videos, it is recommended to use subtitle editing software, as they provide more functionalities and tools to facilitate easier editing of your subtitle content.