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SBV converter

A .sbv file is a SubViewer-style caption document used by YouTube's caption editor: each cue is a single line of start,end timings followed by the caption text on the next lines, separated by a blank line. It carries the same timed dialogue as SubRip but divides the two timestamps with a comma instead of an arrow.

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Drop SBV files here

Batch files can each use a different output. Nothing uploads for local conversions.

Working inputs include camera RAW, browser-local audio/video, PDF, CBZ/CBR comics, office documents, ebooks, markup, 3D models, structured text, images, and archives.

Where SBV comes from

The .sbv layout descends from the SubViewer subtitle tools of the early 2000s and became widely encountered once Google adopted a SubViewer-derived format for captions downloaded from YouTube. Because the platform exported and imported .sbv for years, the extension spread far beyond its desktop origins as the practical way to move captions in and out of YouTube.

How SBV works

  • Each cue is a timing line H:MM:SS.mmm,H:MM:SS.mmm followed by one or more text lines and a blank separator.
  • Timestamps use a period for the millisecond fraction and a comma to divide the start and end times.
  • There is no cue index number and no styling, voice, or positioning syntax — caption text only.
  • Files are plain UTF-8 text with no binary container.

When to use SBV

  • Downloading and re-uploading captions through YouTube's caption editor
  • Moving timed dialogue between YouTube and desktop subtitle tools
  • Hand-editing caption timing in a plain text editor
  • Archiving speech transcripts with simple start and end times

Strengths and limitations

Strengths

  • Accepted directly by YouTube's caption workflow
  • Simpler than SubRip, with no index numbers to renumber after edits
  • Human-readable, diff-friendly plain text

Limitations

  • Almost no desktop or browser player plays .sbv directly, so conversion is usually required
  • No support for styling, positioning, voices, or regions

Compatibility

YouTube's caption tools import and export .sbv directly, but most desktop and browser players expect SubRip or WebVTT, so .sbv is typically converted to .srt or .vtt for playback. Any text editor can open and edit it.

Convert SBV to another format

Convert other formats to SBV