An SRT file contains numbered text cues and their start and end times. It contains no video or sound. Open it in a plain-text editor to inspect the contents, or load it beside the matching video in a subtitle-capable player. Keep an original copy before changing words, timing or encoding.
What is inside an SRT file?
Each cue has a number, a start and end time, its text and a blank line before the next cue. SRT times use hours, minutes, seconds and milliseconds, with a comma before milliseconds. Here is a short sample you can inspect or download; its timings are illustrative.
1
00:00:01,000 --> 00:00:03,500
The interview starts here.
2
00:00:04,000 --> 00:00:06,000
Please check the guest’s name.
Should I open it as text or play it?
A text editor shows the file structure; a player shows captions over a video. In VLC for Windows or Linux, open the matching video and choose Subtitle > Add Subtitle File. Play the first cue, a middle passage and the ending. Loading the SRT for playback does not create a new video file.
How do I edit it without breaking the file?
Work on a copy in a plain-text editor. Keep the cue numbers, timing arrows and blank lines intact, and make every end time later than its start. Save as UTF-8 so names and accented letters survive. For captions created in Transcribe Audio to Text, edit words and cue times in Captions and export again; existing standalone SRT files are edited outside this app.
Why are the captions wrong after an edit?
If you cut an introduction or rearranged the video, the old times may no longer match. If every cue is late by the same amount, check the start-time offset. If the error grows or begins after a cut, compare the cues with the final edit. A player’s temporary delay setting does not save corrected timecodes in the SRT. For broken names or accents, check that the file was saved as UTF-8. Keep the original video while making repairs.
Questions you may have
Can an SRT file play the audio itself?
No. It contains words and times. You need the matching audio or video to hear the recording.
Can I rename a normal TXT file to SRT?
Only changing the extension adds no timing structure. A plain transcript needs real cue times and proper formatting to work as captions.
Can I open SRT in Transcribe Audio to Text?
The app creates captions from imported audio or video. It does not import standalone SRT files.
Why do my changes disappear when I reopen the file?
Check that you saved the edited copy as plain text with the .srt extension and then opened that same file. A video player’s temporary subtitle delay is separate from changes saved in the SRT.