Extract text from SAMI subtitle files (SMI)
To convert SMI subtitles to another format, you need Windows Media Player or other Text software.
To convert other file formats to the "Closed Caption Subtitle File" file type, you need software like Windows Media Player or a similar tool.
The .SMI format most commonly functions as a Synchronized Accessible Media Interchange (SAMI) file, a proprietary closed-captioning standard developed by Microsoft. These files contain formatted text and timing data, often using UTF-8 or UTF-16 encoding, designed to display synchronized subtitles in media players like Windows Media Player. Alternatively, .SMI can indicate a Synchronized Multimedia Integration Language (SMIL) presentation defined by the W3C, an old Apple Self-Mounting Disk Image (precursor to DMG), or even legacy Siemens mobile picture messages and CATIA V4 session models.
Because .SMI SAMI files rely on an outdated HTML/CSS-like syntax tailored specifically for legacy Windows environments, they suffer from poor cross-platform compatibility. Modern web video players and standard media applications rarely support native SAMI playback. They often fail to load entirely or display raw HTML tags instead of clean text on non-Windows devices. You will need to convert these files to universally accepted formats like SRT (SubRip Subtitle) or VTT (Web Video Text Tracks) for broad compatibility with YouTube, VLC, or modern web browsers.
Opening or converting older .SMI files is frustrating because the extension refers to multiple, completely unrelated formats. If the file is an Apple disk image or a CATIA model, a standard text-based converter will permanently corrupt it. This is a closed, proprietary format problem. Standard online converters fail because they misidentify the specific variant of .SMI. Even if standard tools fail, our analysis detects supported underlying text or embedded formats so viewing or conversion may still be possible.
Convert.Guru analyzes your SMI file, detects the exact format, and lets you read the text inside.
Users also converted SMIL, SRT, MP4, TXT, MSI, FLC, ASF, SDF and VTT files.
If you want to convert SMI file to SRT, MP4, TXT, SDF, VTT, ISO, IMG, DMG, VHD, VMDK, VDI or HDD, you can use Windows Media Player or similar software from the "Video Subtitle and Caption File" category. In the File menu, look for Save As… or Export….
To convert VFD, DMG, OVA, IMA, VBOX, ADF, PVS, VHD, OVF, ISO, DSK or IMG files to SMI, try Windows Media Player or another comparable tool in the "Video Subtitle and Caption File" 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 SMI converter.