Clean Subtitles

What this tool does

This tool removes hearing-impaired (SDH) notes from subtitles: sound descriptions in brackets or parentheses, music symbols, SPEAKER NAMES: labels, formatting tags and ASS codes. You choose what to remove, and a report counts each kind. Lines with nothing left are deleted by default.

How to remove SDH from subtitles

Select Choose files and add subtitle files, or use Paste text.
Choose what to remove. The defaults remove sound notes in brackets and parentheses, music lines and speaker names.
Select Clean and check the list of what was removed and the changed lines.
Select Download for one file or Download all (ZIP) for several files.

Options explained

Remove [sound notes] and Remove (sound notes) are on. A note can span two lines.
Remove music lines is on. It removes lyrics between ♪ or # signs and lines that start or end with ♪.
Remove SPEAKER NAMES: is on. It only matches capital letters at the start of a line, after an optional dash.
Remove dialogue dashes is off. Turn it on to remove the “- “ that starts each speaker’s line.
Remove formatting tags and Remove ASS override codes are off, so italics and positions stay.
Delete subtitles that become empty and Tidy extra spaces are on.
The output keeps the input format and is saved as UTF-8. SRT and ASS files keep their line endings; WebVTT and SBV are saved with LF line endings.

Example

With the default options, the sound note line is deleted and the laugh and the name are removed:

1
00:00:01,000 --> 00:00:02,500
[DOOR SLAMS]

2
00:00:03,000 --> 00:00:05,000
(laughs) You really thought
I would forget?

3
00:00:10,000 --> 00:00:12,000
JOHN: Wait for me!

Output:

1
00:00:03,000 --> 00:00:05,000
You really thought
I would forget?

2
00:00:10,000 --> 00:00:12,000
Wait for me!

Format notes and limits

Reads SRT, VTT, ASS, SSA and SBV. ASS comment lines are not changed.
When one line of a two-speaker subtitle is removed, the dash on the other line stays unless Remove dialogue dashes is on.
Up to 50 files, 20 MB per file and 200 MB in total.
For a text transcript, clean the file first and then use SRT to TXT. To repair timing problems, use Fix subtitles. If the letters look wrong, fix the encoding first.

Questions

What does SDH mean?

SDH stands for Subtitles for the Deaf and Hard of Hearing. Besides dialogue, they describe sounds such as [DOOR SLAMS] or (laughs), mark music with ♪ and name the speaker. This tool removes those notes and keeps the dialogue.

Will it delete dialogue that is in parentheses?

With Remove (sound notes) on, everything in parentheses is removed, because the tool cannot tell a sound note from spoken words. If your dialogue uses parentheses, turn that option off and only the other selected types are removed.

Which speaker names are removed?

Only names in capital letters at the start of a line, followed by a colon, such as JOHN: or MAN #2:. Mixed-case text such as "John:" and times such as 10:30 are left alone.

Are italics removed?

No. Formatting tags are kept by default, so italic lines stay italic. Turn on Remove formatting tags to remove <i>, <b>, <u> and <font> tags as well.

What happens to a subtitle that only had a sound note?

It becomes empty and is deleted, so no blank subtitle flashes on screen. Turn off Delete subtitles that become empty to keep it with no text. The result lists how many notes, names and subtitles were removed.

Are my files uploaded?

Your files are processed in your browser and are not uploaded to our servers.

Drop subtitle files here

Options