Extract Subtitles from MKV

What is an SRT file?

Files with SRT extension is used by the SubRip software to capture the subtitles ripped from any video, through character recognition. SRT is perhaps the most basic of all the subtitle formats. This format is supported by most video players, either standalone or software for Windows, MAC or Linux, and subtitle creation programs. SRT files do not contain any critical data for the video, and all subtitles are stored as an editable text which could be loaded together with video file. The purpose of the SRT subtitle file is to display subtitles during playback of this video on any player that supports SRT format.

What is an MKV file?

MKV files are stored in the Matroska video container format and are used to store video, audio and other multimedia elements in the same container file. This format can contain an unlimited amount of video, audio, or subtitle tracks within a single file.

How to extract a Subtitle track embedded in MKV video?

The subtitle tracks displayed in an MKV format are generally independent of the video itself. The same could be true with audio, when multiple audio streams are stored together with a video for different languages.

To extract the SRT subtitle track from an MKV movie we are going to use the free software, Subtitle Edit.

The steps to follow are:

1) Open the Subtitle Edit software
2) In the File menu click on “Import subtitle from Matroshka (MKV) file”.
3) Find the MKV video in the open file dialog and click "Open"
3) Wait for video to load, and then click on "Save as". Select SRT as subtitles storage format in "Save as type" combobox and click "Save" to extract subtitles.