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# Extract a subtitle track to SRT
- URL: https://ffmpeguru.com/extract-a-subtitle-track-to-srt/
- Published: 2026-08-10T09:00:00.000Z
- Updated: 2026-10-13T17:59:36.000Z
- Author: FFmpeguru
- Tags: ffmpeg

Many video files carry subtitle streams inside the container, often as a \`mov\_text\` track in MP4 or a PGS bitmap track in MKV. If you want to edit them in a text editor, generate transcripts, or burn them back in with custom styling, the first step is to extract the track as a separate SRT file.

## The command

```
ffmpeg -i in.mp4 -map 0:s:0 -c:s srt out.srt
```

## What it does

The \`-map 0:s:0\` option selects the first subtitle stream from input 0\. The \`-c:s srt\` flag converts it to the SubRip text format. The output is a plain-text SRT file with the cues, timecodes, and sequence numbers you can edit in any text editor. If the input has multiple subtitle languages, change \`0:s:0\` to \`0:s:1\`, \`0:s:2\`, and so on to pick the right one.

## Requirements

The input must contain a subtitle stream. PGS bitmap subs and ASS/SSA subs convert to SRT cleanly; image-based subs (DVD VobSub) need a separate OCR pass. No hardware required.

## Things to avoid

- Picking a wrong stream index. If the file has 2 video streams and 1 subtitle, the subtitle is \`0:s:0\` only if it's the only subtitle — count carefully with \`ffprobe\`.
- Expecting styled output. The SRT format has no styling beyond italic, bold, underline. ASS/SSA styles are dropped on conversion.
- Re-encoding the whole file. Without \`-c copy\`, FFmpeg may re-encode the video stream too. Specify \`-c copy\` for the video and audio to keep them untouched.
- Naming the output \`out.srt\` and then renaming it to \`out.ass\` later — the file extension is just a hint to the player, but the content was written as SRT, so keep the extension matching.