What is a VTT file?

By the Potok teamUpdated ~1 min read

What is a VTT file? It is a subtitle file format for web video that begins with the line WEBVTT and holds timed text cues. Each cue has a start time, an end time and the text to show. Browsers read it through the video element on a web page.

Transcribe a recording

Send your voice message, audio or video to @potok_now_bot on Telegram and the text comes back in the chat.

Open @potok_now_bot in Telegram

Files up to 2 GB · export to TXT, MD, DOCX, PDF, SRT and VTT · speaker labels and timestamps · about 30 languages

Key facts

  • Times are written with a period before the milliseconds, as in 00:00:01.000, which is the main visible difference from SRT.
  • Cue numbers are optional in VTT, and a cue may have a name line before the times that serves as an identifier.
  • VTT can carry extra data that SRT cannot, such as positioning, styling and notes, and it is the standard track format for HTML5 video.
  • The file must be saved as UTF-8 text, otherwise accented letters and non-Latin scripts appear broken.
  • A missing header line makes browsers ignore the whole track, so a file without WEBVTT on line one will not load.

What it looks like

WEBVTT

00:00:01.000 --> 00:00:03.500
Let us start the meeting.

00:00:04.000 --> 00:00:07.200
First, last week's results.

// SRT would write the first time as 00:00:01,000

More

See the full list of languages, the tools and the glossary.

Frequently asked questions

How do I open a VTT file?

In any text editor. It is plain text. A web page or a player that supports WebVTT reads it as a subtitle track beside the video.

What is the difference between VTT and SRT?

VTT starts with WEBVTT and uses a period in times. SRT has numbered cues and a comma. SRT is accepted by more desktop editors.

Can I make a VTT file from audio?

Yes. Transcribe the recording with timestamps and export it as VTT. The Potok bot exports VTT and SRT besides TXT, MD, DOCX and PDF.

Why will my subtitles not load in the browser?

Common causes are a missing WEBVTT header, a comma in the times or a file not saved as UTF-8. Check those three first.

Can VTT show speaker names?

Yes. A cue can start with a voice tag or a plain label. Speaker labels from a transcript can be placed at the start of each cue.

Sources

Each source was opened by hand on the date shown. Pages change, so open the source if a detail matters to you.

  1. WebVTT (Wikipedia), Wikipedia · checked
  2. WebVTT: The Web Video Text Tracks Format (W3C), W3C · checked

Try it on your own recording

Send your voice message, audio or video to @potok_now_bot on Telegram and the text comes back in the chat.

Open @potok_now_bot in Telegram