How to add a subtitle file to a video

You have a video and a subtitle file, usually an .srt, and you want to see the two together. How you do that depends on where you watch: a player on your computer, a TV, a media server, a phone, or a website. This guide covers each one, from the two-second trick that works almost everywhere to burning subtitles permanently into the picture.

Soft subtitles and burned-in subtitles

There are two ways to put subtitles on a video, and it helps to know which one you want.

• Soft subtitles stay a separate file (or a separate track inside an .mkv or .mp4). You can switch them on and off, pick a language, change the size, and fix the timing later. This is what you want almost every time.
• Burned-in (hardcoded) subtitles are drawn into the picture itself. They show on any screen, even one that ignores subtitle files, but they can never be turned off or corrected without re-encoding the video.

Start with soft subtitles. Burn them in only when you share a video with a device or platform that can't load a subtitle file.

The trick that works almost everywhere: matching file names

Put the subtitle file in the same folder as the video and give it the same name, changing only the extension:

Holiday Trip 2026.mp4
Holiday Trip 2026.srt

VLC, MPV, MPC-HC, Kodi, Plex, Jellyfin, Infuse and most smart TVs then load the subtitles on their own. If you have several languages, add a language code before the extension:

Holiday Trip 2026.en.srt
Holiday Trip 2026.vi.srt

Players list each one under its language, and many pick the right one from your settings. Plex and Jellyfin also understand .forced.srt for subtitles that only translate signs and foreign dialogue.

On a computer

VLC (Windows, Mac, Linux). With the video playing, open Subtitle → Add Subtitle File and pick the .srt. You can also drag the subtitle file onto the playing video. Switch tracks under Subtitle → Sub Track, or press V to cycle through them.

MPV. Drag the subtitle file onto the window, or start it with mpv --sub-file=movie.srt movie.mp4. Press j to switch subtitle tracks and v to hide them.

MPC-HC and MPC-BE. Drag the file onto the player, or use File → Load Subtitle (Ctrl+L).

The Windows Films & TV app. Open the subtitle menu in the player and choose Choose subtitle file.

QuickTime on Mac doesn't load .srt files. Use VLC or IINA, or add the subtitles as a track with a tool such as Subler.

On a smart TV or set-top box

Copy the video and the .srt to a USB stick, in the same folder and with the same name, and play the video from the TV's media player. Turn subtitles on from the TV's options button during playback.

TVs are the fussiest players there are. If nothing appears, the file name is slightly different, the text encoding isn't one the TV reads, or the TV doesn't support the format. Why subtitles don't show on a TV goes through each cause and fix.

In Plex, Jellyfin and Kodi

Put the subtitle next to the video in your library folder, named as above, then refresh the library (in Plex: Refresh Metadata on the item). The subtitle appears in the track menu during playback. Plex and Jellyfin can also search for subtitles online, but a file you place yourself is the one you control.

If a TV app makes Plex convert the video when you turn subtitles on, the subtitle format is usually the reason: ASS subtitles with styles often force the server to burn them in. An SRT file is the lightest choice for streaming to TVs.

On a phone or tablet

The built-in players on iPhone and most Android phones don't load external subtitle files. Install VLC for Mobile (free on iOS and Android), copy the video and the .srt into the same folder or into VLC's own storage, and open the video in VLC. On Android, MX Player and Just Player do the same.

On YouTube and other video sites

YouTube. In YouTube Studio, open the video, go to Subtitles, choose a language, then Add → Upload file and pick “With timing”. YouTube accepts .srt, .vtt and .sbv, among others.

Vimeo, Facebook and LinkedIn all have a captions or subtitles section in the video settings that accepts .srt files, and Vimeo takes .vtt too. If a site refuses one format, convert SRT to VTT or VTT to SRT and upload again.

On your own web page

The HTML5 <video> element shows subtitles from a <track> element, and it only reads WebVTT:

<video controls src="trip.mp4">
  <track kind="subtitles" src="trip.en.vtt" srclang="en" label="English" default />
</video>

An .srt file in src loads without any error and shows nothing. Convert it first with SRT to VTT, and serve the .vtt from the same site as the page.

Burning subtitles into the video

When the subtitles must show everywhere, even on a platform with no subtitle support, burn them in:

• HandBrake (free). Open the video, go to the Subtitles tab, choose Import Subtitle and pick your .srt, then tick Burn In and start the encode.
• FFmpeg. ffmpeg -i movie.mp4 -vf subtitles=movie.srt movie-subbed.mp4 draws the subtitles onto every frame.

Fix the timing and the letters before you burn them in, because afterwards they can't be changed.

Before you add the subtitles: check the file

Two problems cause most of the trouble, and both are quick to fix:

• The text appears too early or too late. Find the offset in VLC, then fix the file with Shift Subtitle Timing. If the gap grows during the film, see How to fix subtitles out of sync.
• Accents show as é, Ä‘ or question marks. The file is in an old text encoding. Fix Subtitle Encoding saves it as UTF-8, which every player reads.

Got a .vtt file but a player that only takes .srt, such as some TVs or video editors? Convert VTT to SRT. Every tool on this site runs in your browser, so your files are never uploaded.