Free tool
ASS to SRT converter
Drop an .ass or .ssa file here to convert ASS to SRT: each dialogue line becomes a numbered SRT caption with its times, italics and line breaks, while fonts, colours, positions and drawings are left behind.
- Free
- No sign-up
- Nothing is uploaded
Nothing is uploaded: your browser reads the file.
Subtitling videos you recorded yourself? NoteOwl transcribes them on your Mac, unlimited, and saves SRT files you can style here as ASS.
How it works
How do you convert ASS to SRT?
Open the .ass or .ssa file and keep SRT selected. The converter reads the script’s styles and dialogue lines, removes the override tags SRT can’t use, and writes the captions in time order. Choose whether to keep positioned signs, then download.
- 1
Open the subtitle script
Drop the .ass or .ssa file, choose it, or paste the script with its [Events] section.
- 2
Choose what to keep
Signs placed with \pos can stay or go. Names from the Name field stay off unless you tick them.
- 3
Download the SRT
Save the .srt beside your video. Most players and editors load it automatically.
What does an ASS script look like as SRT?
This is a short ASS script with three styles, a comment, an override tag for italics, a forced line break and a sign placed at the top of the screen. Below it, the SRT this page writes with the sign kept.
[Script Info]
Title: Episode 3
ScriptType: v4.00+
PlayResX: 1920
PlayResY: 1080
[V4+ Styles]
Format: Name, Fontname, Fontsize, PrimaryColour, SecondaryColour, OutlineColour, BackColour, Bold, Italic, Underline, StrikeOut, ScaleX, ScaleY, Spacing, Angle, BorderStyle, Outline, Shadow, Alignment, MarginL, MarginR, MarginV, Encoding
Style: Default,Arial,72,&H00FFFFFF,&H000000FF,&H00000000,&H80000000,0,0,0,0,100,100,0,0,1,3,1,2,60,60,50,1
Style: Thoughts,Arial,72,&H00FFFFFF,&H000000FF,&H00000000,&H80000000,0,-1,0,0,100,100,0,0,1,3,1,2,60,60,50,1
Style: Sign,Arial,56,&H00FFFFFF,&H000000FF,&H00000000,&H80000000,-1,0,0,0,100,100,0,0,1,3,1,8,60,60,50,1
[Events]
Format: Layer, Start, End, Style, Name, MarginL, MarginR, MarginV, Effect, Text
Comment: 0,0:00:00.00,0:00:05.00,Default,,0,0,0,,Check the shop name with the editor
Dialogue: 0,0:00:01.20,0:00:04.00,Default,Haru,0,0,0,,We're going to miss the last train.
Dialogue: 0,0:00:04.30,0:00:07.10,Default,Rin,0,0,0,,Not if we run.\NCome on, {\i1}now{\i0}!
Dialogue: 1,0:00:05.00,0:00:08.00,Sign,,0,0,0,,{\pos(960,140)\fad(200,200)}MIDNIGHT BAKERY
Dialogue: 0,0:00:07.40,0:00:10.00,Thoughts,Haru,0,0,0,,She always says that.1 00:00:01,200 --> 00:00:04,000 We're going to miss the last train. 2 00:00:04,300 --> 00:00:07,100 Not if we run. Come on, <i>now</i>! 3 00:00:05,000 --> 00:00:08,000 <b>MIDNIGHT BAKERY</b> 4 00:00:07,400 --> 00:00:10,000 <i>She always says that.</i>
What survives the move from ASS to SRT?
The words, the times and the simple formatting. Italics, bold and underline carry over as <i>, <b> and <u>, whether they came from a style such as Thoughts or from tags like {\i1}. Line breaks written \N become real ones.
- Dialogue lines
- In the .srtNumbered captions, in time order
- Comment lines
- In the .srtLeft out: they are never shown
- Italic or bold styles, {\i1}, {\b1}
- In the .srt<i>, <b>
- \N, \h
- In the .srtA line break, a space
- Fonts, sizes, colours, outlines
- In the .srtDropped: SRT has no styles
- {\pos}, {\an8}, fades, karaoke
- In the .srtDropped; the words stay
- Drawings ({\p1} m 0 0 l …)
- In the .srtLeft out: shapes, not words
- Times such as 0:00:04.30
- In the .srt00:00:04,300
| In the .ass | In the .srt |
|---|---|
| Dialogue lines | Numbered captions, in time order |
| Comment lines | Left out: they are never shown |
| Italic or bold styles, {\i1}, {\b1} | <i>, <b> |
| \N, \h | A line break, a space |
| Fonts, sizes, colours, outlines | Dropped: SRT has no styles |
| {\pos}, {\an8}, fades, karaoke | Dropped; the words stay |
| Drawings ({\p1} m 0 0 l …) | Left out: shapes, not words |
| Times such as 0:00:04.30 | 00:00:04,300 |
What are signs, and should you keep them?
Signs are subtitles placed over on-screen text, such as a shop name or a letter, usually positioned with {\pos}. In SRT they lose their place and show at the bottom with the dialogue. Keep them if the viewer needs those words; tick Leave out positioned signs for dialogue alone.
What happens when two lines are on screen at once?
Both are kept, with their own times. ASS scripts often show a sign and a line of dialogue together, or two speakers talking over each other. The SRT lists them in order of their start times and players show them together, one above the other.
To check the result caption by caption, open the SRT in the subtitle editor, which marks each overlap. If the script was timed to a different release of the video, fix it with the subtitle shifter, which also works on the original .ass file.
Why convert ASS to SRT at all?
Because far fewer places read ASS. YouTube’s list of the caption files it accepts has SRT but no ASS or SSA, and plenty of TVs, editors and upload forms take SRT but not ASS. Players built on libass show ASS with all its styling: keep the original for those.
How do you start subtitles from your own recordings?
With a transcript timed from the audio. NoteOwl imports a video on your Mac, transcribes it with on-device AI models and saves SRT subtitles; the SRT to ASS converter then gives them a font and position. How NoteOwl makes SRT files.
FAQ
Questions about converting ASS to SRT
Can I convert SSA files to SRT too?
Yes. SSA to SRT works the same way: SSA, the older SubStation Alpha v4 format, converts just like ASS. The converter reads its [V4 Styles] section and its Marked field, and writes an ordinary SRT file.
Will my subtitle styling be kept in SRT?
Only italics, bold and underline. SRT has no fonts, sizes, colours, outlines or positions, so those are dropped and the player’s own subtitle style is used instead.
Why are some lines from my ASS file missing?
They were comments or drawings. Comment lines are never shown on screen, and drawings are vector shapes, not words, so neither belongs in an SRT. Every Dialogue line with words in it is converted.
Does the Name field become part of the subtitles?
Not unless you tick Keep speaker names. ASS players never show the Name field, so it stays out of the SRT by default; ticked, each caption starts with that name.
Are ASS times accurate in SRT?
Yes. ASS stores times to the hundredth of a second and SRT to the thousandth, so 0:00:04.30 becomes exactly 00:00:04,300 and nothing is rounded.
Is my subtitle file uploaded?
No. The ASS to SRT converter reads and converts the script in your browser, so the file never leaves your device.
Keep exploring
More subtitle converters
- Subtitle converterConvert subtitles between SRT, VTT, SBV and ASS, or to plain text, in your browser; SSA scripts and meeting transcripts work too
- SRT to VTT converterConvert SRT to VTT, VTT to SRT, or either to clean text with each speaker’s lines merged, in your browser; Zoom and Teams transcripts work
- SRT to ASS converterConvert SRT to ASS with your choice of font, size and position, ready for Aegisub or burning into a video
- SRT to Word converterTurn an SRT subtitle file into a Word document in your browser: a table of captions with start and end times, or a clean transcript
- VTT to Word converterTurn a VTT file, such as a Teams or Zoom transcript, into a Word document in your browser: a transcript by speaker, or a table with times
Related
- Subtitle shifterMove every caption in an SRT, VTT, SBV or ASS file earlier or later, or re-sync it from two points; only the times change
- Online subtitle editorEdit an SRT or VTT file in your browser: change text and times, add and delete captions, catch overlaps and over-fast captions, download
- What is an SRT fileWhat an SRT file is, what SRT stands for, the format of each cue with an example, and how to make one from a recording
Subtitles from your own recordings, on your Mac
Free to download. Runs entirely on your Mac.
macOS 26 or later · Apple Silicon (M1 or newer) · 16 GB memory minimum, 24 GB recommended
About NoteOwl
NoteOwl is private AI meeting notes and memory for the Mac. It captures meetings without a bot joining the call, labels every speaker, writes summaries and action items, and builds a memory of every conversation that you can chat with — fully offline, because the speech recognition and the AI run on the Mac itself. Dictation into any app is free; Pro is a one-time purchase.
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