Add subtitles to a video
Add an SRT subtitle file to a video. Burned in, they become part of the picture and display everywhere, including on social networks. As a separate track, they can be turned on or off in the player, without re-encoding the video.
Updated on
Put it in the same folder as the video. Avoid spaces and accents in its name.
The lower the number, the better the picture and the larger the file.
How to use it
- Install ffmpeg if you haven't already.
- Put the video and the SRT file in the same folder, then open a terminal in that folder.
- Copy the generated command, adjust the file names if needed, then run it.
- Open the resulting file to check the result.
Burned in or as a track?
Burned in, the subtitles are drawn into the picture: they display everywhere but can no longer be turned off, and the video has to be re-encoded. As a track, they are added alongside the video, without re-encoding, and the viewer chooses whether to show them: it's the best option for a file meant for a video player.
The SRT format
An SRT file is a simple text file: each subtitle has a number, a time range (00:00:01,000 --> 00:00:04,000) and one or two lines of text. It can be written by hand, generated by an automatic transcription tool or downloaded.
Frequently asked questions
Burning in fails with an error about the "subtitles" filter
Your version of ffmpeg was built without the libass library. The official Windows builds and the Homebrew ones include it. Check with "ffmpeg -filters" that the subtitles filter is present.
Accented characters display incorrectly
The SRT file isn't encoded in UTF-8. Open it in a text editor and save it as UTF-8, or add ":charenc=CP1252" after the file name in the filter.
The subtitle track doesn't appear
It has to be turned on in the player (the subtitles menu in VLC, for example). Some apps, including several social networks, ignore subtitle tracks: burn them in in that case.