Extract text from YouTube caption files (SBV)
To convert SBV captions to another format, you need YouTube Studio or other Text software.
To convert other file formats to the "Subtitle Format" file type, you need software like YouTube Studio or a similar tool.
The .SBV file format is a plain text file used primarily by YouTube for closed captions, subtitles, and automatically generated video transcripts. It is also generated as a chat transcript format by communication platforms like Zoom and Google Meet. These files contain raw text synchronized with timecodes, ensuring text appears at the exact right moment during video playback.
While native to the Google ecosystem, .SBV files are notoriously rigid. The format is a proprietary variation of the SubViewer standard and completely lacks advanced styling features like color formatting or specific screen positioning. Worse, standard professional video editing suites like Adobe Premiere Pro or Final Cut Pro often reject .SBV files natively, forcing users into tedious manual software workarounds or facing import errors.
To bypass these limitations and use your captions elsewhere, you must convert the file. For universal compatibility with video editing software and alternative social media platforms, convert to SRT (SubRip). For implementation in modern HTML5 web video players, convert to VTT (WebVTT). If you simply need the raw transcript for a blog post or text archive, convert to TXT. Just drag and drop your file here to analyze and convert it - free, online, and without installing software.
Convert.Guru analyzes your SBV file, detects the exact format, and lets you read the text inside.
Users also converted SVB, CBV, TXT, SRT, DOCX, SPV, SBF, VTT, SDOCX, PDF, RTF, MPK and TSX files.
If you want to convert SBV file to SRT, VTT, TXT, PDF, MP4, TEXT, DOCX, INDD, QXP, PUB, PMD or PM6, you can use YouTube Studio or similar software from the "Video Captioning and Transcripts" category. In the File menu, look for Save As… or Export….
To convert MDI, PUB, PDP, PM4, P65, COMIC, WEBTEMPLATE, PMD, SPUB, INDD, PM5 or QXP files to SBV, try YouTube Studio or another comparable tool in the "Video Captioning and Transcripts" category.
The history of Convert.Guru began over 25 years ago in California with Tom Simondi’s file-format database. A former contributor to Space Shuttle development and a software pioneer of the 1980s, Simondi established a trusted resource for file type analysis that was even referenced by Microsoft Windows XP. Today, we use modern technology to process and convert thousands of file formats while continually improving our SBV converter.