Subtitles → translated

Translate YouTube subtitles

To translate YouTube subtitles, the free Chrome extension switches the caption track to your language and exports it as a timed SRT or VTT file — or plain text. The tool below gives you the original subtitle file to start from. Free, no sign-in.

Works on any video with captions · or add the Chrome extension for one-click transcripts on every video.

What you get

Translating subtitles takes the caption track of a video and rewrites every line in another language, keeping the timings intact. The result is a subtitle file you can load into a player or editor, or plain text you can read — the same words, in the language you need. It works on the captions YouTube already serves, so there’s nothing to record and nothing to upload.

It pairs naturally with reading: if you’d rather read the whole video in your language than handle a file, translating the YouTube video as text covers that side. This page is about getting a translated subtitle file out. For the background on the track itself, the download YouTube subtitles overview goes deeper.

Translate them in one step

The free Chrome extension does it beside the player: it opens the caption track, a language menu switches it, and you export.

1. Open the video and open the transcript with the extension.
2. Pick the target language — the track switches in a click.
3. Export SRT or VTT, or keep it as text.

The timecodes stay attached to every line, so the translated subtitles land in sync. The transcript tool above pulls the original-language file, ready to export — a starting point for the translation. There’s no cap on how many you make.

Pick a language, keep the timings, export. Subtitles in sync, in any tongue.

A translated SRT or VTT file

For a usable subtitle file, leave the timecodes on and export to SRT or VTT. Each line keeps the exact start and end time from the original, so the translated subtitles stay synced when you load the file — no re-timing. SRT is the safe default for video editors and re-uploads; VTT is the web-native choice. For the SRT route in full, see YouTube subtitles to SRT. Because both are plain text, you can open the translated file in any editor and fix a line by hand before you use it.

Keep the original and the translation

A common job is two files for one video: export the original-language SRT from the tool above, then translate the track in the extension and export that. Now you have matching subtitle tracks — the original for accuracy, the translation for reach — both timed to the same moments, so they stay in sync against the same video. Drop both into an editor and you can offer a clip in two languages without re-timing a single line, or check the translation against the source side by side.

How good the translation is

It’s machine translation, so be honest about it. For understanding a video or roughing out a subtitle track, it’s genuinely useful. But it’s not broadcast-ready: names get mangled, idioms go literal, and tone flattens. It’s also only as good as the source captions — a clean creator track comes out better than an auto-generated one with no punctuation. Treat the exported file as a strong first draft. For subtitles you’ll publish, have a fluent speaker review it; the machine gets you most of the way, a human finishes it.

What it’s for

Translated subtitles widen who can watch. Creators add a second language track to reach an audience abroad. Editors localise a clip for a campaign in another market. Teachers prepare a foreign-language video for a class that reads in their own language. Subtitlers start from the machine draft and polish it rather than typing from scratch.

The workflow is usually the same wherever it’s used: export the machine-translated file, open it in a subtitle editor, and fix the handful of lines that matter — a name, a technical term, a line where the timing needs a nudge. Because the timings and structure are already there, the human work is editing, not building from a blank page, which is the slow part of subtitling. A track that would have taken hours to write from scratch becomes a half-hour review. The job here is to get a timed, translated file out cleanly; what you ship from it is up to you — ideally with a human check on the way.

Frequently asked questions

How do I translate YouTube subtitles?

The free Chrome extension translates the caption track: open it beside the player, pick your language, and export an SRT or VTT in that language (or plain text). The tool on this page gives you the original subtitle file to start from. It is free, with no sign-in.

Can I get a translated SRT file?

Yes. Translate the track to your language, keep the timecodes on, and export as SRT — a ready subtitle file with the original timings preserved.

How accurate are the translated subtitles?

It’s machine translation — good for understanding, but not flawless. Names and idioms can slip. For published captions, have a fluent speaker review the file before you ship it.

What if the video has no subtitles?

Then there’s nothing to translate. Translation runs on the existing caption track, so an uncaptioned video can’t be subtitled this way.