Free tool
SRT translator
This free SRT translator translates the text of an .srt subtitle file and leaves the rest alone: the same subtitle numbers, the same timestamps, the same count, so the new file plays in step with your video.
- Free
- Timestamps unchanged
- Nothing is stored
Drop your subtitle file here, or Choose your subtitle file
SRT or VTT. Up to 30,000 characters of each file, about 30 minutes of speech, 3 free files a day.
Need SRT files from your own recordings first? NoteOwl transcribes them on your Mac with unlimited transcription and saves SRT files with each speaker’s name.
How it works
How do you translate an SRT file?
Drop the .srt file on the translator and choose the language to translate into. Only the subtitle text is translated, a few dozen subtitles at a time; the numbers and timestamps are copied across as they are. Then download the new .srt.
- 1
Drop in the .srt
From a video editor, a subtitle site or YouTube Studio. Old files saved in Windows encodings read fine too, and the timecodes are never touched.
- 2
Choose the language
The file’s own language is detected, or pick it under From. Then pick the language under Into.
- 3
Save the translated SRT
It keeps your file’s name with the new language code, such as Episode 1.es.srt.
What happens to each part of an SRT file?
Only the words change. Each block’s number and its “start --> end” line are copied from your file; the one or two lines of text are translated and broken into lines again; the blank line between blocks stays.
- Number
- In your file1
- In the translated file1
- Timestamps
- In your file00:00:00,150 --> 00:00:06,790
- In the translated file00:00:00,150 --> 00:00:06,790
- Text
- In your fileFür die besten Aussichten / auf Hongkong sollten
- In the translated fileFor the best views of Hong Kong / you should
- Italics, “Name:”
- In your file<i>…</i> around a line, a speaker’s name
- In the translated fileKept, the name not translated
| Part | In your file | In the translated file |
|---|---|---|
| Number | 1 | 1 |
| Timestamps | 00:00:00,150 --> 00:00:06,790 | 00:00:00,150 --> 00:00:06,790 |
| Text | Für die besten Aussichten / auf Hongkong sollten | For the best views of Hong Kong / you should |
| Italics, “Name:” | <i>…</i> around a line, a speaker’s name | Kept, the name not translated |
What about sentences that run across two subtitles?
They’re read together, and each half stays in its own subtitle. In a German test file, the verb German puts last spilled into the next subtitle; the English kept “you should” in the first and “leave the island” in the second, matching when each was said.
That works because consecutive subtitles go to the translator together, in order, and each comes back as its own line. Translating subtitles one at a time loses exactly this.
Will accents and other alphabets survive?
Yes. The translator reads files saved as UTF-8, UTF-16 or the older Windows Western encoding, so “é” and “ñ” in an old SRT come through, and it saves the translation as UTF-8, which holds Cyrillic, Greek, Hebrew, Devanagari, Chinese and every other script.
If a player shows odd characters in the translated file, set its subtitle encoding to UTF-8; most players use it by default.
How do you check an SRT translation before you publish it?
Download the bilingual SRT, bilingual subtitles with the original line above the translation, at the original times. Play it with the video and read the pairs, then fix any line in the translated SRT with a text editor.
Names and terms
Product names, places and jargon are the first things to check.
Long lines
A translation longer than the original fills its two lines; trim wordy ones.
Sync
Nothing to check: every timestamp is the original’s, to the millisecond.
Making the SRT from your own recording first?
NoteOwl saves SRT files from recordings it transcribes on your Mac, unlimited, with every speaker’s name at the start of their subtitles. Drop that file here to translate it. No SRT yet and only a video? The video translator does both steps.
FAQ
Questions about translating SRT files
Is the SRT translator free?
Yes. Translate 3 SRT files a day, up to 30,000 characters of subtitle text each, with no account. The translated SRT, a VTT copy and a bilingual SRT are all included.
Does translating change the timestamps?
No. Every start and end time is copied from your file to the millisecond, and no subtitle is merged, split or dropped, so a file that was in sync stays in sync.
Is my SRT file uploaded?
Your browser opens the file. Only the text of the subtitles is sent, a batch at a time, over a secure connection to a cloud AI translation service, which translates it and discards it. The new SRT is written in the page, and NoteOwl stores nothing.
Can I translate one SRT into several languages?
Yes, one language at a time: translate it, download it, then choose another language and translate again. Each language counts as one of the 3 files a day.
What if my SRT file is very long?
A file with more than 30,000 characters of subtitles, such as a feature film, is translated up to that point, and the page says how many subtitles it reached. That’s about 30 minutes of dialogue.
Can it translate an SRT with speaker names in it?
Yes. A name written before a line, such as “Anna: Where were you?”, stays in front of the translated line and isn’t translated, so the speakers are still labelled.
Keep exploring
More subtitle translator tools
- Subtitle translatorA free subtitle translator: drop in an SRT or VTT file and download it in another language, every subtitle keeping its number and times; SRT, VTT or bilingual SRT; nothing is stored
- VTT translatorTranslate a WebVTT caption file free in your browser, for web players and course platforms; same cues and times; nothing is stored
The same in other tools
Related
SRT files 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.
NoteOwl pricing: what’s free and what Pro adds
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