SRT Subtitle Repair

Subtitle repair is useful when an SRT contains recognizable captions but uses inconsistent timestamp separators or cue numbers. This subtitle repair tool normalizes supported timing-line syntax, regenerates sequential numbers and optionally sorts cues by their start times. You get a text preview, a cue table and a downloadable SRT. It preserves dialogue and reports overlapping cues rather than trimming them automatically. Missing words, invalid timestamps and reversed timing still require an informed edit; the subtitle repair tool does not invent a replacement.

What this subtitle repair tool fixes

An SRT cue normally contains a number, a timing line, one or more dialogue lines and a blank separator before the next cue. Small deviations in the timing line can prevent a strict importer from understanding otherwise readable captions. This repair recognizes supported period or comma millisecond separators and one- or two-hyphen arrows, then writes the normal comma and two-hyphen form.

Exported cue numbers start at 1 and run sequentially, regardless of gaps in the source numbering. The dialogue itself stays separate from timing-line normalization. An arrow spoken in the text, or a timestamp mentioned by a character, is not rewritten as though it were structural caption syntax.

Repair an SRT step by step

1. Open your .srt with Choose file, or paste the caption text into the input.
2. Leave Input encoding on automatic initially. If accents look wrong, choose the source encoding and process again.
3. Enable Sort cues by start time only when the cue order itself needs correcting.
4. Select Process files for pasted input or changed controls, then compare the preview and warnings with the original.
5. Download subtitles.srt and test it with the actual video or importing application.

The example control demonstrates a recoverable timing line, making it easy to see the scope before changing a longer file. File selection also starts processing automatically with the current options. Keep the original, especially if your captions intentionally display two speakers simultaneously.

Example: a period and short arrow become normal SRT

7
00:00:01.000 -> 00:00:03.500
Hello, Ana!

For this supported input, the output cue is numbered 1 and uses 00:00:01,000 --> 00:00:03,500. “Hello, Ana!” remains unchanged. The repair does not translate the line, make it shorter or extend its duration to a guessed reading speed.

If the end time is earlier than the start time, processing fails instead of swapping the values. Swapping might hide the real cause: a typed minute, a missing hour or a cue copied from a different video section. Inspect the context and make a deliberate correction before retrying.

Why overlapping captions stay visible

Some files intentionally overlap cues for simultaneous speech, layered translation or on-screen text. Automatically cutting one cue at the next cue’s start could delete part of that intended display. The checker therefore reports overlap and retains the timings. Sorting does not resolve it; sorting changes order, not start or end values.

Review the affected scene in your player. If an overlap is accidental, change the particular boundary in an editor. If every cue is early or late against the audio, adjust SRT timing instead. A global offset or linear drift is a synchronization problem, not a numbering problem.

Encoding, missing structure and output limits

Automatic encoding selection is a starting point, not certainty. Windows-1252 and UTF-16 input can need an explicit choice when UTF-8 decoding produces garbled characters. Reprocessing with the correct original encoding can restore readable letters; it cannot recover characters already damaged and saved in the source.

The subtitle repair tool accepts structurally recoverable cues and requires recognizable timing plus text. It does not reconstruct missing dialogue, guess invalid times, join a file whose cue boundaries cannot be parsed, or check comprehensive accessibility requirements. Caption counts are bounded at 100,000 for this repair engine, and displayed previews are bounded separately from the downloadable output.

When combining separate subtitle parts, use the SRT merger and then review its join timing. For a web player that requests WebVTT rather than SubRip, convert the checked SRT to VTT. Repair first, confirm the words and timing, and choose the output format only after you know what your receiving application expects.

Common subtitle repair tool errors and how to fix them

When the subtitle repair tool cannot use a file, it stops with one clear message instead of producing a half-finished download. These are the problems people run into most often, with the fix for each:

• The file does not match the expected format or has invalid structure. No block contains a time line that can be read, even after normalizing separators. Plain text or a different subtitle format fails here.
• A subtitle ends before it starts. A cue has an end time earlier than (or equal to) its start time, often from a typo such as 00:01:05 written as 00:00:65 or swapped times. Correct that cue in a text editor and process the file again.
• Warnings about overlapping cues Overlaps are kept for simultaneous speakers and listed so you can review them.
• Single-digit hours are not repaired Times such as 0:00:01,000 must be corrected by hand first.

Privacy: the subtitle repair tool runs in your browser

Subtitle repair tool processing happens with JavaScript in a background worker on this page. Your file is not uploaded to a FileFix server, and the results you download are created in your browser’s memory. Unreleased video scripts and captions stay on your computer. When you finish on a shared computer, clear the selection or close the tab.

For the underlying format rules, see the Library of Congress description of SubRip (SRT). The subtitle repair tool follows the subset described on this page rather than every optional feature in those documents.

Sources

• Library of Congress description of SubRip (SRT)

Questions about this tool