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Convert XLS to SRT

Online Converter: Build SRT subtitles from a legacy XLS workbook (Excel 97-2003)

Engine updated: October 1, 2026

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Convert an Excel spreadsheet into an SRT subtitle file. The converter reads the subtitle data from your columns and writes a properly formatted subtitle file with sequential numbering, timecodes and text - ready for any video player or editing suite.

You do not have to rearrange your sheet first. Column headers are matched by meaning, so the wording your subtitle editor or translator used is very likely already understood. Both XLSX (Excel 2007 and later) and the legacy XLS format are accepted. This is the return leg of our SRT to Excel converter, so the usual workflow is: export subtitles to a spreadsheet, edit or translate them there, convert back.

What Your Spreadsheet Needs

Only three things are essential: a start time, an end time and the subtitle text. Everything else is optional.

A start column and an end column - or a single column holding the whole range, such as 00:00:01,000 --> 00:00:03,000.
A text column - the words that appear on screen.
A numbering column is optional. Leave it out and the cues are numbered for you, in the order the rows appear.

Beyond that, the converter is deliberately forgiving:

Header wording is flexible and case does not matter. Start Time, Timecode In and START all mean the same thing.
Extra columns are ignored. Speaker names, a second language, reviewer notes, layer or track IDs can all stay where they are.
A title row above the header is fine. If row 1 is a file name, an episode title or a note to a colleague, the real header row is found for you within the first few rows.
A bad row does not sink the file. Rows that cannot be read are skipped and the rest of the subtitles are still produced.

An optional type column is read when present; leave it out and every row becomes a normal subtitle cue.

Column Names That Are Recognised

Letter case and surrounding spaces are ignored, so Index, INDEX and index are all the same header. These wordings are understood:

Column	Headers that work
Numbering optional	index, no, no., #, num, number, id, line, entry, entry #, serial, serial number, seq, sequence, cue
Start time	start, start time, start_time, in, in time, timecode in, tc in, begin, from
End time	end, end time, end_time, out, out time, timecode out, tc out, finish, to, until
Subtitle text	text, subtitle, subtitles, subtitle text, subtitle content, caption, content, dialogue, original

If your sheet has more than one text column - an original and a translation, say - the first one is used, and the conversion result tells you which column it took. To export the other language, move that column in front of the first one, or delete the one you do not need.

Prefer to start from something that already works? Download the sample file: sample.xlsx

A Real Export, Converted As It Is

Here is a sheet of the kind subtitle tools actually produce: a title in row 1, headers no one would call index or text, and a speaker column that has nothing to do with the subtitle file. Nothing here needs renaming.

Before - your spreadsheet

Entry #	Start Time	End Time	Speaker	Subtitle Text
Episode 4 - English subtitles (final)
1	00:00:01,000	00:00:05,000	Narrator	Welcome to our video tutorial.
2	00:00:05,500	00:00:10,000	Narrator	Today we will look at file conversions.
3	00:00:11,000	00:00:15,500	Host	Let's get started!

After - the SRT file

plaintext

1
00:00:01,000 --> 00:00:05,000
Welcome to our video tutorial.

2
00:00:05,500 --> 00:00:10,000
Today we will look at file conversions.

3
00:00:11,000 --> 00:00:15,500
Let's get started!

The title row and the speaker column are left out of the subtitle file, and the cues are numbered from 1 in row order. Delete the Entry # column entirely and the result is identical.

Time Formats You Can Use

Any of these work, and you can rely on the one your tool already writes:

HH:MM:SS,mmm - the SRT standard, for example 00:01:23,456
HH:MM:SS.mmm - a full stop instead of the comma
MM:SS,mmm - the hours part left out
HH:MM:SS - whole seconds, no milliseconds
HH:MM:SS:FF and HH:MM:SS;FF - SMPTE timecode, including the drop-frame form with a semicolon
Excel time values - a cell your spreadsheet has already turned into a clock value is read as a time rather than rejected

One column holding both times. If your sheet keeps the range in a single cell, such as 00:00:01,000 --> 00:00:03,000, that is understood too - no need to split it into two columns.

Timestamps and Excel's Auto-Formatting

Spreadsheet software eagerly reinterprets anything that looks like a time, so a perfectly good 00:01:23,456 can turn into a clock value the moment you press Enter. Those cells are now read as times, so the conversion still runs.

It is still worth keeping the timecodes as text if you can, because that is the only way a cell stays exactly as you typed it, milliseconds and all:

Select the start and end columns and set their cell format to Text before typing or pasting into them.
If a cell already shows something like 12:03:00 AM, the sub-second part of what you typed may have been rounded away by the spreadsheet. Reformat the column as text and paste the timecodes in again to be sure.
Files produced by our SRT to Excel converter already store the timestamps as text, so a round trip is safe as long as you do not retype them.

How to Convert Excel to SRT

Check that your sheet has a start time, an end time and the subtitle text somewhere. The header wording is up to you.
Upload the XLSX or XLS file with the file picker above.
Click "Run Conversion".
Download the SRT file and drop it next to your video.

Subtitles are numbered from 1 in the order the rows appear, so gaps or duplicates in your numbering column are corrected automatically, and a sheet with no numbering column at all works just as well. Sort the rows by start time and the output follows.

Workbooks With Several Sheets

Every worksheet is converted into its own subtitle file. One sheet gives you a single .srt file; several sheets give you a ZIP archive with one subtitle file per sheet. That makes a workbook a tidy container for one language per sheet, or one episode per sheet.

For a subtitle that takes two lines on screen you have two options: put a line break inside the text cell, or add a continuation row with empty start and end cells - its text is appended to the cue above as a new line rather than dropped. Fully empty rows are skipped.

What People Use It For

Post-translation import: translators deliver their work as a spreadsheet - convert it straight to SRT for the video, headers and all.
Subtitles from a script: build the cues in a spreadsheet from a transcript, then generate the subtitle file in one go.
Round-trip editing: export with SRT to Excel, do the bulk edits and QC formulas there, convert back here.
One workbook, many languages: keep a sheet per language and get back a ZIP with a subtitle file for each.

Related Subtitle Converters

Other ways in and out of a subtitle file:

SRT to Excel - export existing subtitles into a spreadsheet
CSV to SRT - the same conversion starting from a CSV file
SRT to CSV - subtitles as a plain text table
Excel to ASS - build ASS subtitles from a spreadsheet instead
AI Subtitle Translator - translate a finished subtitle file into another language

Frequently Asked Questions

What columns does my spreadsheet need?

A start time, an end time and the subtitle text. A numbering column is optional. Header wording is flexible - Start Time, Timecode In and In all mean the start of a cue - and letter case and surrounding spaces are ignored. Extra columns are ignored too.

Do I have to rename my headers to index, start, end and text?

No. The common wordings that subtitle editors and transcription tools export are recognised as they are, including Entry #, No., Cue, Start Time, Timecode Out, Subtitle Text, Caption and Dialogue. The full list is in the table above. If a header of yours is not on it, renaming that one column is enough.

Do I need a numbering column?

No. If there is no numbering column, the cues are numbered from 1 in the order the rows appear. If there is one, its values are still replaced with clean sequential numbers, so gaps, duplicates or a counter starting at 0 do no harm.

My sheet has a title row above the headers. Is that a problem?

No. A file name, an episode title or a note sitting above the header row is tolerated - the header row is located automatically within the first several rows.

What timestamp formats are accepted?

HH:MM:SS,mmm and HH:MM:SS.mmm, the shorter MM:SS,mmm, plain HH:MM:SS without milliseconds, SMPTE timecode as HH:MM:SS:FF (or HH:MM:SS;FF for drop-frame), and Excel time values. A single column holding a whole range, such as 00:00:01,000 --> 00:00:03,000, is understood as well.

My sheet has both the original and a translation. Which one is used?

The first text column in the sheet, and the conversion result tells you which one that was. To export the other language, move its column in front of the first one or remove the column you do not need.

What happens to a row with a broken timecode?

That row is skipped and the rest of the file is still converted, so one stray cell no longer costs you the whole conversion.

Does it support XLS files as well as XLSX?

Yes. Both the modern XLSX format and the legacy XLS format are accepted. There are also dedicated XLSX to SRT and XLS to SRT pages if you prefer to start from one of those.

What happens with multi-sheet workbooks?

Each sheet becomes its own subtitle file. With several sheets the result is a ZIP archive containing one SRT file per sheet.

How do I write a subtitle with two lines?

Either put a line break inside the text cell, or add a continuation row with empty start and end cells - its text is appended to the cue above as a new line.

Can I export subtitles to Excel first?

Yes. Our SRT to Excel converter writes a layout this page reads without any renaming, so the round trip is straightforward.

Is it free, and is my file private?

Conversion is free to try, with larger files, batch conversion and API access covered by our pricing plans. Uploads are encrypted in transit, the source file is deleted right after the conversion, and the result is removed automatically within 24 hours.

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