Free online SUB to TEXT converter

Convert a subtitle file to plain text when you need to search, edit, archive, or share the dialogue without video synchronization. A .txt file is also easier to open in general text editors than a timed or image-based subtitle file.

What the SUB format is

In video subtitles, .sub commonly identifies either a text-based MicroDVD subtitle or a VobSub bitmap subtitle. The extension alone does not identify the variant.

• MicroDVD SUB: stores dialogue with start and end frame numbers, for example {100}{140}Hello. Subtitle editors and media players use those frame numbers to synchronize the text with video.
• VobSub SUB: stores rendered subtitle images extracted from a DVD. It normally requires a matching .idx file containing timestamps, image indexes, and language information.

Open the file in a text editor to identify the type. Readable frame-number lines usually indicate MicroDVD; binary-looking content indicates VobSub. Subtitle editors, DVD-ripping tools, and older media-authoring software can create either type.

What the TEXT format is

A .txt file is plain text containing characters without subtitle timestamps, synchronization data, styling, positioning, or embedded images. It can be opened by nearly every operating system and text editor and is suitable for proofreading, searching, copying, and archival storage.

Plain text is not a playable subtitle format. Converting to it removes the information needed to synchronize dialogue with video. If the output must remain usable as a subtitle, export to .srt instead.

How to convert a text-based SUB file

1. Open the .sub file in Subtitle Edit or another subtitle editor that supports MicroDVD.
2. Confirm that the detected format is MicroDVD and that the dialogue displays correctly.
3. Use the program's plain-text export command, commonly found under File → Export, or choose File → Save as and select .txt if that option is available.
4. Disable timestamps if the export dialog offers that setting, choose the required character encoding—usually UTF-8—and save the file.

Some converters retain timestamps or subtitle markup in the output. Open the resulting file and remove any remaining frame numbers, formatting tags, or unwanted blank lines if a dialogue-only transcript is required. You can also convert the file on 101convert.com for free without installing software.

How to convert a VobSub SUB file

1. Place the matching .sub and .idx files in the same folder. The .sub file contains images, while the .idx file supplies timing and stream information.
2. Open the .idx file in Subtitle Edit or another tool with VobSub import and OCR support.
3. Select the correct language and configure the OCR character set before starting recognition.
4. Review the recognized subtitles, correct errors, and export the corrected text as .txt.

VobSub cannot be converted directly into characters because it contains subtitle images rather than text. OCR is required, and a matching .idx file is normally needed to interpret the image stream and its timings.

Quality and compatibility limits

• MicroDVD timing is based on video frame numbers. The frame rate matters when displaying or converting the source subtitle, although it has no effect on dialogue-only text.
• Plain-text export discards italics, colors, positioning, speaker layout, timestamps, and other subtitle metadata.
• OCR can misread punctuation, accented characters, italics, overlapping graphics, and text against complex backgrounds. Check the complete output manually.
• Some .sub files use other text-based subtitle syntaxes. If automatic detection fails, select the correct input format in the subtitle editor before exporting.
• Renaming a text-based .sub file to .txt changes only its filename extension; it does not remove frame numbers or subtitle markup. Renaming cannot convert a binary VobSub file.