How to Add Subtitles to Video

Why Add Subtitles to Your Video?

• Reach more viewers — Many people watch on mute, especially on mobile and social video.
• Improve accessibility — Captions help the deaf and hard of hearing community.
• Boost SEO — Subtitle text gives search engines more content to index.
• Increase retention — Viewers stay longer when text reinforces the audio.

Step 1: Generate a Subtitle File

The fastest way is to auto-generate an SRT file with AI instead of typing every timestamp by hand.

1. Upload your video — or paste a YouTube link into TranscribePro.
2. Pick the language — or use auto-detect (120+ languages supported).
3. Export SRT — download a timestamped .srt file in seconds.

Use our free SRT generator — it's 300 minutes/month free, no credit card. (Not sure what an SRT is? Read our SRT file format explained guide.)

Step 2: Add Subtitles on YouTube or Vimeo

On YouTube

1. Open YouTube Studio and select your video.
2. Go to Subtitles and choose your language.
3. Click Upload file and select your .srt file.
4. Review timings and publish.

On Vimeo

1. Open your video's settings.
2. Under Distribution, find Add captions.
3. Upload your SRT or VTT file and save.

Step 2 (Alt): Add Subtitles in a Video Editor

In VLC (for playback)

Load your video, then use Subtitles > Add subtitle file to load the .srt. It plays with no re-encoding.

In CapCut, Premiere Pro, or DaVinci Resolve

Import the SRT as a caption track, then style it (font, color, position). When you export with captions burned in, the text becomes part of the video frame.

Here's a quick recap of the two approaches:

• Sidecar captions — SRT stays separate; ideal for YouTube/Vimeo and toggling on/off.
• Burned-in subtitles — Text is part of the video; best for social platforms where viewers watch on mute.

Pro Tips

• Keep lines short — Roughly two lines or under 42 characters per caption.
• Check sync — Review timing on your own video after adding the SRT.
• Use clean audio — Crisp audio produces more accurate auto-captions.
• Match the style — Set a readable font and contrast color for burned-in text.