How to Add an SRT File to a Video (Premiere, DaVinci, VLC)

Published on September 19, 2026

To add an SRT file to a video, either load it next to the video as a separate caption track (a "sidecar") or burn the text into the picture when you export. Players like VLC and platforms like YouTube use the sidecar route. Editors like Premiere Pro and DaVinci Resolve can do both. Below are the steps for each app, plus fixes for the errors people hit most. If you don't have an SRT yet, you can get one from a YouTube video's captions with the transcript.you Subtitle Downloader, or from your own video file.

Sidecar or burned-in: decide first

In short, use a sidecar for YouTube, course platforms and anything accessibility-related. Burn in for social clips that autoplay without sound on apps where you can't upload a caption file. The burn-in vs sidecar glossary entry goes into more detail.

Get a good SRT first

Most "subtitle import" problems are really problems with the file. An SRT is plain text: a number, a timing line, the text and a blank line.

1
00:00:01,200 --> 00:00:03,900
Welcome back to the channel.

2
00:00:04,100 --> 00:00:07,300
Today we're fixing subtitle sync.

Where to get one:

• From a YouTube video's existing captions. Paste the link into the SRT subtitle downloader and choose SRT from the Export menu. Your first SRT or VTT download is free with a free account. After that, SRT and VTT need a paid plan. The timing is YouTube's own, so it matches the YouTube version of the video, not a trimmed or re-edited cut.
• From your own video file. Upload it to video-to-SRT, which transcribes the audio with AI (Whisper). The add captions to video page walks through that workflow.

If the SRT came from YouTube auto-captions, expect lots of short cues and loose punctuation. It's worth tidying the file before you import it. See how to edit an SRT file.

Adobe Premiere Pro

1. Choose File > Import and select the .srt file. It appears in the Project panel like a clip.
2. Drag it onto your sequence, above the video tracks. Premiere creates a caption track and places each cue at its timecode.
3. Check the style (font, size, position) in the caption and text tools. Premiere's options here have changed a lot between versions, so look for caption styling in the Essential Graphics or Text panel of your version.
4. When you export, look in the Captions section of the export settings. You can create a sidecar caption file or burn the captions into the video.

If the captions start at the wrong point, check that your sequence starts at 00:00:00:00. A sequence that starts at 01:00:00:00 (a common broadcast setting) puts the cues an hour off.

DaVinci Resolve

1. Choose File > Import > Subtitle and pick the .srt. You can also drag the file into the Media Pool.
2. Drag the subtitle item from the Media Pool onto the timeline. Resolve adds a subtitle track.
3. Select the subtitle track to change its style in the Inspector.
4. On the Deliver page, open the subtitle settings in the render settings, turn on subtitle export, and choose whether to burn them into the video or save them as a separate file.

As in Premiere, a timeline that starts at 01:00:00:00 shifts everything. Set the timeline start to 00:00:00:00, or move the subtitle track to match.

CapCut

CapCut's desktop editor can import a local caption file from its captions area. Look for a caption import option rather than the auto-caption button, which makes new captions from the audio. Import options differ between the desktop, web and mobile versions and change often, so if you don't see a way to import an SRT on your version, the desktop app is the most likely place to find it.

CapCut exports are usually burned in, which suits short social clips. If you need a caption file viewers can switch off, upload the SRT separately to the platform instead.

VLC (just to watch)

VLC doesn't change the video file. It displays the subtitles while it plays.

• Automatic: give the SRT the same name as the video and put it in the same folder, for example lecture.mp4 and lecture.srt. VLC loads it on its own.
• Manual: while the video is playing, open the Subtitle menu and choose Add Subtitle File, then pick the .srt.
• Out of sync? Press G or H to move subtitles earlier or later in small steps while watching. This only affects playback. It doesn't change the file.

YouTube Studio

To add captions to your own upload:

1. In YouTube Studio, open Subtitles from the left menu and choose the video.
2. Add a language if needed, then choose to add subtitles for it.
3. Choose Upload file, select With timing (because an SRT has timestamps) and pick your .srt.
4. Check the preview, then publish.

YouTube shows uploaded tracks as regular subtitles, without the "(auto-generated)" label, and viewers can switch them on or off. If YouTube already made auto-captions for the video, you can download the YouTube subtitles, fix them, and upload the corrected file with this same process. Our guide to downloading YouTube auto-generated captions covers the cleanup.

Common errors and fixes

Garbled accents or strange characters

Text like "café" instead of "café" means an encoding mismatch. Open the SRT in a text editor and save it as UTF-8. Most modern apps expect UTF-8.

Subtitles all early or late by the same amount

This is a constant offset. It usually happens because you trimmed an intro, or because the timeline starts at 01:00:00:00. Move the whole subtitle track in your editor, or shift every timing in Subtitle Edit or Aegisub (both free) and save a new SRT.

Subtitles drift further out of sync over time

If the first cue is right but later ones get worse, the timing was made for a different version of the video. That could be a different edit or a different frame rate (for example 25 fps vs 23.976 fps). A single shift won't fix it. Subtitle editors can adjust timing proportionally, or you can re-sync against two points, one near the start and one near the end. If you edited the video after downloading its captions, it's often quicker to make a new SRT from the final file with video-to-SRT.

"Unsupported file" or nothing imports

• The file is actually captions.srt.txt. Turn on file extensions and rename it.
• A cue is missing its blank line, or the arrow isn't exactly -->.
• SRT timestamps use a comma before milliseconds (00:00:01,200). VTT uses a period. A VTT renamed to .srt can fail, so convert it properly instead. See SRT vs VTT vs TXT.

Lines too long or cues flash by

Auto-caption SRTs often have very short cues. Merge them into two-line cues of about 42 characters per line before importing, as explained in how to edit an SRT file.

A note on rights

Adding subtitles to your own videos is fine. Using another creator's captions for private study or accessibility is generally fine too. Republishing their video or captions needs their permission.

For everything about getting subtitle files out of YouTube in the first place, see how to download YouTube subtitles.

FAQ

Can I add an SRT file to an MP4 permanently?

Yes, by burning it in when you export from an editor like Premiere Pro or DaVinci Resolve. The text becomes part of the picture and can't be switched off. transcript.you creates subtitle files but doesn't burn them into video.

Why don't my subtitles show up in VLC?

Check that subtitles are switched on in the Subtitle menu, that the file really ends in .srt, and that it's saved as UTF-8. For automatic loading, the SRT must have the same name as the video and sit in the same folder.

Should I upload SRT or VTT to YouTube?

YouTube accepts both. SRT is the more widely supported choice across editors, so it's the safer default if you'll use the file in other places too.

My SRT came from YouTube but is out of sync with my downloaded edit. Why?

The timing matches the video as it is on YouTube. If your copy was trimmed or re-edited, shift the timings or create a new SRT from your final file.