Convert YouTube SBV to SRT

SBV (SubViewer) is the caption format YouTube Studio has long offered for download. It's close to SRT, but players and editors rarely read it.

Updated 2026-10-26 · 3 min read

Format difference

SBV:

0:00:01.000,0:00:03.500
Hello and welcome.

SRT:

1
00:00:01,000 --> 00:00:03,500
Hello and welcome.

SBV has no cue numbers, uses a comma between start and end and a dot before milliseconds.

Convert

Drop the .sbv on Cuemend and save as SRT (or VTT). To upload captions to YouTube, SRT is accepted directly – you don't need SBV.

Fix the file once, for every player. Cuemend shifts, syncs (also automatically to the film's audio), converts and repairs subtitle files – SRT, VTT, ASS/SSA, SUB, SBV, TTML/DFXP – in your browser. The video and subtitles stay on your computer. Every single-file tool is free; a $7 lifetime license adds one-click auto-sync apply, batch work on many files and two-language subtitles.

Open Cuemend – free

Questions and answers

Where do I download captions from YouTube Studio?

Studio › Subtitles › your video › the language › ⋮ › Download – choose .srt if offered.

Can I convert auto-generated captions?

Download them, then remove repeated rolling lines with clean-up.

Sources and product names: YouTube Help: supported subtitle and closed caption files. VLC is a trademark of VideoLAN; YouTube is a trademark of Google; other names belong to their owners. Cuemend is independent and not affiliated with them.