How to Embed Subtitles in Videos

Video subtitles are useful for displaying dialogue and sounds as on-screen text for people who are hard-of-hearing or for language translation. Subtitles are stored on a separate file. The most common subtitle file format is Subrip...

Method 1 of 5:

Embedding Subtitles into a Video File

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    Download and Install Handbrake. Handbrake is a free video transcoder tool that can also embed subtitles in videos. You can download Handbrake from https://handbrake.fr/downloads.php.
    1. In order to embed subtitles into your video, you need an external SRT file containing subtitles for your video. If you do not have an SRT file, you can make one using a free app called Aegisub, or you can code them by hand in Notepad or TextEdit.
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    Open Handbrake. Once you download and install Handbrake, you can open it in the Windows Start Menu, or in the Applications folder on Mac.
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    Click File. It's the second option in the menu on the left. This opens a file browser.
    1. Alternatively, you can drag and drop the video you want to embed subtitles into the box on the right.
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    Click the video you want to embed subtitles in and click Open. This opens the video in Handbrake.
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    Click Subtitles. It's one of the tabs in the center of the screen below the video source information.
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    Click Import SRT. It's at the top of the box below the "Subtitles" tab.
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    Select the SRT file that corresponds to the video and click Open. This imports the SRT file into Handbrake.
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    Click Browse. It's the grey button in the lower-right corner.
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    Type a name for the new file and click Save. This creates a save file and location for the final video with the embedded subtitles.
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    Click Start Encode. It's at the top of Handbrake next to the green icon with the Play triangle. This encodes the video with the embedded subtitles. You can turn on the subtitles in your media player by selecting the subtitle menu and then enabling subtitles.
Method 2 of 5:

Uploading Subtitles to a YouTube Video (Creator Studio Classic)

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    Navigate to https://www.youtube.com in a web browser. You can use any web browser on PC or Mac.
    1. If you haven't already signed in to your YouTube account, click Sign In in the upper-right corner and sign in with the email address and password associated with your YouTube account.
    2. In order to upload subtitles to a video you YouTube, you need an SRT file containing subtitles for that video. If you do not have an SRT file, you can make one using a free app called Aegisub, or you can code them by hand in Notepad or TextEdit.
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    Upload your video to YouTube. If you haven't already done so, use the normal methods to upload your video to YouTube from your computer.
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    Click your user icon. It's the circular icon that has your profile image in the upper-right corner. This displays your account menu.
    1. If you have not selected a profile image, YouTube displays a colored circle with your initial in it.
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    Click Creator Studio. It's in the drop-down menu that appears when you click your profile image.
    1. If you see "YouTube Studio (Beta)" instead of "Creator Studio", you can use the next method to learn how to upload subtitles in YouTube Studio. Alternatively, you can click YouTube Studio (Beta) and then click Creator Studio Classic in the sidebar to the left to switch back to Creator Studio Classic.
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    Click Video Manager. It's in the sidebar to the left. This displays a list of all your uploaded YouTube videos.
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    Click Edit next to the video you want to add subtitles to. This displays a drop-down menu for the video.
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    Click Subtitles/CC. It's near the bottom of the drop-down menu that appears when you click Edit.
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    Select a language and click Set Language. If you have not already selected a language for the video, use the drop-down menu to select a language for the video. Then click the blue button that says 'Set Language.
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    Click Add new subtitles or CC. It's the blue button to the right of the video.
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    Select the language. If you add more than one language to the video, select the language that the subtitle file is in. Otherwise, just click the default language you selected.
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    Click Upload a file. It's the first option on the right.
    1. If you do not have a subtitle file, you can select one of the other options to create subtitles in YouTube Creator Studio.
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    Select "Subtitle file" and click Choose file. Click the radial button next to "Subtitle file" and then click Choose file. This opens a file browser that you can use to select the subtitle file.
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    Select the subtitle file and click Open. Use the file browser to navigate to the SRT file. Click it to select it. Then click Open to upload the file.
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    Click Upload. It's the blue button in the lower-left corner. This uploads the subtitle file to your video. You can preview the subtitles using the video on the left.
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    Click Save Changes. It's the blue button above the video preview on the right. This encodes the video with the subtitles permanently embedded within the video file.
Method 3 of 5:

Uploading Subtitles to a YouTube Video (YouTube Studio Beta)

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    Navigate to https://www.youtube.com in a web browser. You can use any web browser on PC or Mac.
    1. If you haven't already signed in to your YouTube account, click Sign In in the upper-right corner and sign in with the email address and password associated with your YouTube account.
    2. In order to upload subtitles to a video you YouTube, you need an SRT file containing subtitles for that video. If you do not have an SRT file, you can make one using a free app called Aegisub, or you can code them by hand in Notepad or TextEdit.
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    Upload your video to YouTube. If you haven't already done so, use the normal methods to upload your video to YouTube from your computer.
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    Click your user icon. It's the circular icon that has your profile image in the upper-right corner. This displays your account menu.
    1. If you have not selected a profile image, YouTube displays a colored circle with your initial in it.
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    Click YouTube Studio (Beta). It's in the drop-down menu that appears when you click your profile image.
    1. If you see "Creator Studio" instead of YouTube Studio (Beta), see Method 2 to learn how to upload subtitles in Creator Studio Classic. Alternatively, you can click Creator Studio and then Try Studio (Beta) to switch to YouTube Studio.
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    Click Videos. It's in the sidebar to the left. This displays all the videos you have uploaded to YouTube.
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    Click the video you want to add subtitles to. You can either click the thumbnail image or the video title. This displays the page that allows you to edit the video details.
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    Click Advanced. It's the second tab at the top of the page.
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    Select a language for the video. If you haven't already done so, use the "Video Language" drop-down menu to select a language for the video. You will not be able to upload a subtitle file until you select a language.
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    Click Upload Subtitles/CC. It's the blue link below the video language drop-down menu.
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    Select "With Timing" and click Continue. Since SRT files have the subtitle timing in the file, click the radial button next to "With Timing" and then click Continue in the lower-right corner of the Window.
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    Select the SRT file and click Open. Use the file browser to navigate to the SRT file for your video. Click it to select it, and then click Open in the lower-right corner. This uploads the file to YouTube.
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    Click Save. This saves the video with the subtitles uploaded.
    1. When playing the video, you can turn on subtitles by clicking the gear icon at the bottom of the video, and then clicking Subtitles/CC. Then select the subtitle language.
Method 4 of 5:

Creating Subtitle Files using Aegisub

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    Go to http://www.aegisub.org in a web browser. This is the website to download Aegisub, a free app you can use to create subtitles for videos.
    1. If you'd rather type your subtitles manually, see the Creating a Subtitle File by Hand method.
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    Click Full Install next to "Windows" or "OS X 10.7+". If you are using Windows, click Full Install next to Windows to download the Windows install file. If you are using Mac, click Full Install next to "OS X 10.7+" to download the install file for Mac.
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    Double-click the install file and follow the instructions. By default, your downloaded files are found in your "Downloads" folder on both Mac and Windows. The Windows installer filename is "Aegisub-3.2.2-32.exe". The Mac installer file name is "Aegisub-3.2.2.dmg".
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    Open Aegisub. It has an icon that resembles a red eyeball with an X over it. You can find it in the Windows Start menu, or in the Applications folder on Mac.
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    Click Video. It's in the menu bar at the top of the screen. This displays the Video drop-down menu.
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    Click Open Video. It's the first option in the drop-down menu below "Video".
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    Select a video and click Open. Navigate to the save location of the video you want to add subtitles to can click it to select it. Then click Open to open the video in Aegisub. You will see the video view box on the left. To the right, you will see the audio view box. This displays the audio wave from the video. Below that, you will see a text box where you enter the subtitles. Below everything, you see the subtitle view which displays a list of each subtitle and some information about the subtitle.
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    Click and drag to highlight the audio you want to subtitle. Use the audio view box to the right to highlight the audio you want to add a subtitle for. You can adjust the highlighted area by clicking and dragging the red and blue lines on the edges of the highlighted area. You can also manually type the start and end time for the subtitle in the time boxes below the audio view box.
    1. You can also click the icon that resembles an audio wave below the audio view box. This switches to Spectrum Analyzer mode which gives you a better look at the wave file and makes it easier to see where speech starts and stops.
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    Type the subtitle in the text box. Use the text box below the audio view box to type the subtitle for the highlighted audio.
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    Click the checkmark icon. The green checkmark icon is above the text box. This saves the subtitle and creates a new subtitle after the last one ends.[1]
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    Repeat for all additional subtitles. You can add as many subtitles as you want by clicking the checkmark icon. You can adjust the subtitles by clicking them in the subtitle view at the bottom and then editing the text or adjusting the start or stop times.
    1. If any of the boxes in the subtitle view at the bottom turn red, you probably have too many characters per line. You can create a separate line in the subtitle by typing "/N" or pressing ⇧ Shift+↵ Enter.
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    Click File. It's in the menu bar at the top of the screen. When you are finished adding your subtitles, you'll need to save the subtitle file.
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    Click Export Subtitles. It's in the drop-down menu below "File".
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    Click Export. It's in the lower-right corner of the pop-up window.
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    Navigate to the folder location you want to save the file. For best practices, you should save the SRT file in the same folder as the video you are adding subtitles to.
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    Type a filename for the subtitle file. Use the box next to "Filename" to type a name for the subtitle file. You should give it the same filename as the video it corresponds to. If the file name for the video is "Introduction.mp4", the SRT file should be titled "Introduction.srt".
    1. Some media players, such as VLC can automatically detect and display subtitles if the SRT file is in the same folder and has the same file name. Other media players, such as Windows Media Player require you to upload the SRT file alongside the video file. This only allows you to view the subtitles. It does not embed the subtitles within the video file.
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    Select "SubRip (*.srt)". Use the drop-down menu next to "Save as Type" to select "SubRip" as the file type. This saves the subtitle file in SRT format.
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    Click Save. This saves the subtitle file in SRT format. An SRT file is just a plain text document that can be edited in NotePad or TextEdit on Mac.
    1. Aegisub '''does not''' permanently embed subtitles within a video file. It can only create an external subtitle file. You can use another free program called Handbrake to embed the subtitles into the video file. You can also upload the SRT file to add subtitles to a video you uploaded to YouTube..
Method 5 of 5:

Creating a Subtitle File by Hand

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    Open a text editor. The most common text editor on Windows is NotePad. On Mac, you can use TextEdit. Use the Following Steps to open a text editor.
    1. Windows 10:
      1. Click the Windows Start menu in the lower-left corner.
      2. Type NotePad.
      3. Click the NotePad icon.
    2. Mac:
      1. Click the magnifying glass icon in the upper-right corner.
      2. Type TextEdit.app and press ↵ Enter.
      3. Click TextEdit.app.
      4. Click New Document
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    Type the number for your first subtitle and press ↵ Enter. Each subtitle in your SRT file is numbered in the order they appear. Type "1" for the first subtitle, and "2" for the second title and so on.
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    Type the starting time for the subtitle. This is the time the subtitle starts in the video. The starting time for each subtitle should be written in "[hours]:[minutes]:[seconds],[milliseconds]" format. For example, the first subtitle starting at the beginning of the video may read 00:00:01,000.[2]
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    Type --> immediately after the starting time. Typing two dashes and an arrow separates the starting time and the ending time for the subtitle.
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    Type the ending time for the subtitle. This is the time when the subtitle stops displaying. The ending time should be in "[hour]:[minutes]:[seconds],[milliseconds]" format. The entire line containing the subtitle time stamp should look something like this 00:00:01,000 --> 00:00:05,040.
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    Press ↵ Enter. After you type the time stamp for the subtitle, press the Enter key to add a new line.
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    Type the subtitle. The third line contains the actual subtitle that displays on the screen.
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    Press ↵ Enter twice. After you finish typing the subtitle, press the Enter key twice to create line-space between the subtitle you just made and the next subtitle. Repeat these steps for each subtitle in the video.
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    Repeat these steps for each subtitle in the video.
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    Click File and then click Save As. After you finish typing your subtitles in your text editor, you'll need to save the file as a ".srt" file. You can find the Save option in the File menu at the top of the screen.
    1. In TextEdit on Mac, click Save instead of "Save as".
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    Navigate to the folder containing the video. You should save the SRT file in the same folder as the video that the subtitles correspond to.
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    Give the text document the same file name as the video. Use the box next to "Filename" in Windows, or "Save As" on Mac to type a name for the SRT document. Both the video and the SRT file should have the same filename. If the file name for the video is "Introduction.mp4", the SRT file should be titled "Introduction.srt".
    1. Using VLC, you can test the subtitles if the SRT file is saved to the same location and has the same filename as the video file. Click '''Subtitles''' and then sub-track and select a subtitle track.
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    Save the document as an SRT file. Use the following steps to save the text document as an SRT file. Once the file is saved, move to the Testing Your Subtitles method to learn how to test them out.
    1. Windows: While saving the file in NotePad, delete the ".txt" extension at the end of the file name and replace it with ".srt". Then click Save.
    2. Mac: Click Save to save the file as a ".rtf" file. Use the Finder to navigate to the location of the document and click it to select it. Click File and then Rename. Deleted the ".rtf" extension at the end of the file name and replace it with ".srt". Click Use .srt when asked if you want to keep the extension.

Here is an example of subtitle text properly formatted in an SRT file:

1 00:00:01,001 --> 00:00:05,040 Welcome to our video tutorial.

2 00:00:07,075 --> 00:00,12,132 In this video, we will be discussing subtitles.

3 00:00:14,013 --> 00:00:18,021 Let's start by making an SRT file.

Update 24 March 2020
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