How to Add and Use Subtitles in VLC Media Player

One of the great features of VLC Media Player; is the ability to add or enable subtitles to videos. While watching a movie, a series, or some other video in VLC Media Player, we tend to turn subtitles on. Subtitles can be a helpful tool; for those who are hard of hearing or want to watch foreign language movies with translations to understand the story.

Some movies come with embedded subtitle files, while others require downloading subtitles from an external source. You can use the built-in tool or search for subtitles on the web; to download subtitles. In this tutorial, we will go through the step-by-step process of manually adding and enabling subtitles to your videos in VLC Media Player.

Subtitle Formats Supported by VLC Media Player

If you have a question – “What caption formats can I open in VLC Player?” Let me tell you that, in VLC Media Player, you can use several different caption formats. Subtitle files are generally in .srt format. However, there exist other subtitle formats too.

Here is the complete list of supported formats:

Turn On Encoded Subtitles in VLC

Sometimes some video files come with embedded subtitle files. If the video files have subtitles embedded within the video, you don’t need to download and load the external subtitles in VLC.

You can follow the steps mentioned below to enable it.

1. Open VLC Media Player and play the video file.

2. To check whether the video file has embedded subtitles files. Click the Subtitle tab in the top menu and select the Sub Track option. If you get the subtitle list, select the preferred subtitle file.

3. After that, you will get the subtitle in the video area. You can also change the position of the subtitle in VLC Media Player.

Now, you can use the below method if the video file doesn’t include any embedded subtitles files.

Manually Add Subtitles in the VLC Media Player

If the subtitle is not embedded within the VLC, let’s discuss; how to manually add a subtitle to the VLC. For that, you have to download the subtitle file from the internet. A popular site to get subtitles from is OpenSubtitles, but there are other sources too.

Once you’ve downloaded the subtitle file, follow these steps:

1. Open the video in VLC and make sure it begins playing. You can use Ctrl + O to open the file.

2. From the top menu bar, click the Subtitle tab and select the Add Subtitle File… option.

3. Browse to the location where your subtitle file is present and hit the Open button.

4. Alternatively, if you want to load the subtitle automatically from the beginning when the video is playing. You can put your movie file and subtitle file in the same folder. Give both those files the same file name. Only the file extension will be different.

Here is an example:

Movie file name => Avengers.Endgame.mp4

Subtitle file name => Avengers.Endgame.srt

How to Change Subtitle Position in VLC Media Player

By default, VLC sets the subtitle position to the center of the screen at the bottom. Sometimes, this default position may not be convenient, and you may want to change it. Adjusting the subtitle position to your preference can enhance your viewing experience in VLC Media Player.

Below, we have listed two methods to change the subtitle position. Let’s discuss them one by one.

1. Changing the Subtitle Alignment

The setup of the subtitle file determines where the subtitle displays. The subtitle alignment is set to “Auto” by default.

However, VLC Media Player allows you to overwrite the position of the subtitle. You can change the alignment of the subtitle – left, right, and center. Here are the steps you can follow to change the alignment:

1. Open VLC Media Player on your computer.

2. Click on the Tools option on the top menu bar and then click on Preferences.

3. It will open the Preferences window. Click the All radio button at the bottom to access the Advanced Settings menu.

4. Navigate to Input/Codecs > Subtitle codecs > Subtitles. Under the text subtitle decoder, you can set the Subtitle Justification to left, right, or center.

5. Select the alignment and click on the Save button.

2. Positioning the Subtitle Below the Video

There is another way to change the subtitle position. Normally, the text is over with the video. If you find it disturbing, you can move it below the video.

The goal is to create an empty black area under the video and push the subtitle. It will prevent the on-screen text from overlaying anything.

Here are the steps you can follow:

1. Open the Advanced Preferences settings window. 

2. Now, navigate to Video > Filters settings. Under the Video filter module, check the option that says Video cropping filter.

3. Then click on the Save button

4. After that, navigate further to Video > Filters > Croppadd option. In the Video Cropping Filter options, under the Padd section, add a numerical value for the Pixels to padd to bottom. For example, enter a value like 100.

5. Once you specify the bottom padding, you have to force the subtitle position. To do so, click on Tools > Preference and select the Subtitles/OSD option. Here, you will find the Force Subtitle Position and change the value accordingly. For instance, I have saved it to -200px.

6. Then click on the Save button.

Now, whenever you open a video with a subtitle, the subtitle will be positioned below. After watching the video, all these settings and values must be removed from the advanced preferences to switch to normal playback.

How to Add Subtitles to VLC on Android

The VLC Media Player application for Android supports subtitles, just like it does on other operating systems. You can add subtitles to a video on Android either manually or automatically.

Here’s how you can add subtitles using VLC Media Player on Android:

1. Adding Subtitles Automatically

If you don’t want to do the hard work of finding subtitles for your videos, you can try downloading subtitles automatically with VLC on Windows and macOS.

1. Open the video file in the VLC Media Player app.

2. Tap on the Audio and Subtitle icon.

3. Expand the Subtitle drop-down menu and choose the Download Subtitle option.

4. The VLC Player will start searching for available subtitles. Select the subtitle and download it.

5. After that, it will add the captions to the currently playing movie instantly.

2. Add Subtitles Manually

If you have the subtitle files saved on your device locally, you can add them to the video files. You can also download subtitles for your videos from popular websites like Opensubtitles.org, Subscene.com, and Podnapisi.net.

Once you get the subtitles, follow these steps to add subtitles manually:

1. Open the VLC app and play the video file.

2. Tap on the Audio and Subtitle icon in the bottom left corner of the screen.

3. Expand the Subtitle drop-down menu and choose the Select Subtitle file option.

4. Navigate to the location where you have the subtitle file on your device and select it.

5. The subtitle will be added to the video file immediately.

If you see that the subtitles are not synchronized properly or want to make changes, you can use the subtitle delay feature.

Conclusion

This is how to add and use subtitles in VLC Media Player on various devices. However, if you want to further customize subtitles, such as the font, color, background color, or font style, you can do so by following the linked guide.