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VTT
What is a VTT file?
The subtitle format HTML5 video expects. SRT with a header and styling support.
What VTT is
VTT is a plain-text format you can open in any editor. It is used for subtitling and the web.
The extension is .vtt, and the full name is WebVTT. Both matter less than what the file can hold, which is what the rest of this page is about.
Where VTT came from
W3C published it in 2010. The specification is WebVTT.
Age is worth knowing here for one practical reason: the older a format is, the more programs have had time to learn it.
The specification is public
Anyone can implement it without asking permission or paying a licence, which is why it turns up in so many programs and why files written twenty years ago still open.
Nothing is thrown away
VTT stores its content exactly. Saving it again changes nothing, so it can be opened, edited and re-saved as often as you like without accumulating damage — which is what makes it a working format rather than a delivery one.
What opens VTT
VLC and Subtitle Edit read it, and so do most programs of the same kind.
If a file will not open, the format is rarely the problem — it is more often that the program predates it. Converting to something older is the reliable way past that, and it is what the rest of this site is for.
Opening it in a browser
Every current browser reads it.
That makes it a safe thing to put on a page or attach to a message without wondering what the other end has installed.
It is a working format
VTT is meant to be opened and changed. Keep the file in this format for as long as the work is going on, and export from it whenever a finished copy is needed.
The facts, in one place
| Extension | .vtt |
|---|---|
| Media type | text/vtt |
| Published by | W3C |
| First published | 2010 |
| Specification | WebVTT |