SBV
SubViewer / YouTube SBV
A simple subtitle format used by the YouTube uploader. Like SRT but with comma-separated timestamps and no cue numbers.
In depth
SBV (sometimes called 'SubViewer' or just 'YouTube SBV') is a plain-text subtitle format YouTube accepts in its Studio uploader. Each cue is a one-line timestamp pair (HH:MM:SS.mmm,HH:MM:SS.mmm) followed by the caption text and a blank line. There are no cue numbers, no styling, and no header — it's the most minimal of the common subtitle formats.
When to use it
Use SBV only when a tool specifically requires it — most commonly when uploading to YouTube and the source already has SBV. For everything else, SRT or VTT is more portable.
Example
0:00:01.000,0:00:03.500 Hello world. This is a caption.
Frequently asked
What does SBV stand for?+
SubViewer. It's the format the original SubViewer Windows player used in the early 2000s; YouTube adopted a slightly relaxed variant for its uploader.
Does YouTube prefer SBV or SRT?+
Both work. SRT is more widely supported across editors, so most creators use SRT and let YouTube convert internally.
Does SBV support styling?+
No — plain text only. For any styled captions on YouTube, embed them in the video itself.