How to merge subtitles with any video permanently (4 ways)
This tutorial will show you step by step how to merge subtitles with any video permanently.
This works for MP4, MKV, AVI, and other video files.
Methods:
Some devices, like, for example, Sony PlayStation 3, 4 and 5, or some TV's don't support SRT subtitle files. So if you want to play a video or movie with subtitles, you'll need to hardcode the SRT subtitle file into a video file.
How to merge subtitles with any video permanently using MKVToolNix
MKVToolNix is a set of tools to create, alter, and inspect MKV video files on Microsoft Windows and Linux. But you can also use it to merge SRT subtitle files with MP4 video files.
For Windows, MKVToolNix is available as an installer and as a portable 7zip archive.
You can download MKVToolNix for Windows here.
Note: If you've downloaded the portable version of MKVToolNix, then you will need to unzip the .7z file first. You can use 7-Zip for this.
1. Make sure that the subtitle file is in the same folder as the video file.
2. Make sure that the subtitle file has the same filename as the video file.
Example:
Movie.mp4
Movie.srt
3. Open MKVToolNix (mkvtoolnix-gui.exe or mkvtoolnix-gui).
4. Click on the + Add source files button at the bottom of MKVToolNix.
A “Add media files” window will open.
5. In this window, you go to the location on your computer where the subtitle file and video file are.
6. Select the subtitle file and video file.
7. Click on the Open button.
8. At Destination file located at the bottom, you can see and change the location on your computer where MKVToolNix will save the new video file.
9. When you're ready, you click on the Start multiplexing button at the bottom.
MKVToolNix will now merge the subtitles with the video file.
This process will only take a minute or so to complete.
You can see the progress in the bottom right corner of MKVToolNix.
The result will be an MKV video file.
How to merge subtitles with any video permanently using VLC media player
VLC media player is a free and open-source cross-platform multimedia player for Microsoft Windows, Linux, and macOS. It plays most video and audio files, and it offers a lot of extra features, like, for example, converting videos.
1. Make sure that the subtitle file is in the same folder as the video file.
2. Make sure that the subtitle file has the same filename as the video file.
Example:
Movie.mp4
Movie.srt
3. Open VLC media player.
4. Click on Media in the upper left corner.
5. Click on Convert/Save.
A “Open Media” window will appear.
6. In this window, you click on the Add button.
A “Select one or multiple files” window will appear.
7. In this window, you go to the location on your computer where the subtitle file and video file are.
8. Select the video file.
9. Click on the Open button.
10. Do not check the Use a subtitle file option. Make sure this option is unchecked (disabled).
11. Click on the Convert/Save button at the bottom of the window.
A “Convert” window will appear.
12. At Profile, you click on the selection menu button and select Video for MPEG4 720p TV/Device or Video for MPEG4 1080p TV/Device. This depends on the resolution of the original video file.
13. Click on the tool button next to the profile selection menu button.
A “Profile edition” window will appear.
14. Click on Video codec.
15. Make sure the Video option is checked.
16. Make sure the Keep original video track option is unchecked (disabled).
17. Click on Audio codec.
18. Make sure the Audio option is checked.
19. Check the Keep original audio track option.
20. Click on Subtitles.
21. Check the Subtitles option.
22. Select DVB subtitle.
23. Check the Overlay subtitles on the video option.
24. Click on the Save button at the bottom of the window.
25. Click on the Browse button.
A “Save file” window will appear.
26. Select a location on your computer where you want to save the new video file.
27. At File name, you type a name for the new video file.
28. Click on the Save button.
29. Click on the Start button at the bottom of the window.
VLC media player will now merge the subtitles with the video file.
This process may take a while to complete.
You can see the progress of this process at the bottom of VLC.
How to merge subtitles with any video permanently using VLC media player (second method)
VLC media player is a free and open-source cross-platform multimedia player for Microsoft Windows, Linux, and macOS. It plays most video and audio files, and it offers a lot of extra features, like, for example, converting videos.
1. Make sure that the subtitle file is in the same folder as the video file.
2. Make sure that the subtitle file has the same filename as the video file.
Example:
Movie.mp4
Movie.srt
3. Open VLC media player.
4. Click on Media in the upper left corner.
5. Click on Stream.
A “Open Media” window will appear.
4. In this window, you click on the Add button.
A “Select one or multiple files” window will appear.
5. In this window, you go to the location on your computer where the subtitle file and video file are.
6. Select the video file.
7. Click on the Open button.
6. Do not check the Use a subtitle file option. Make sure this option is unchecked (disabled).
7. Click on the Stream button at the bottom of the window.
A “Stream Output” window will appear.
8. Click on the Next button.
9. Click on the Add button.
10. Click on the Browse button.
A “Save file” window will appear.
11. Select a location on your computer where you want to save the new video file.
12. At File name, you type a name for the new video file with the correct file extension (e.g., Video.mp4, Movie.mp4).
13. Click on the Save button.
14. Click on the Next button.
15. Make sure the Activate Transcoding option is checked.
16. At Profile, you click on the selection menu button and select Video for MPEG4 720p TV/Device or Video for MPEG4 1080p TV/Device. This depends on the resolution of the original video file.
17. Click on the tool button next to the profile selection menu button.
A “Profile edition” window will appear.
18. Click on Video codec.
19. Make sure the Video option is checked.
20. Make sure the Keep original video track option is unchecked (disabled).
21. Click on Audio codec.
22. Make sure the Audio option is checked.
23. Check the Keep original audio track option.
24. Click on Subtitles.
25. Check the Subtitles option.
26. Select DVB subtitle.
27. Check the Overlay subtitles on the video option.
28. Click on the Save button at the bottom of the window.
29. Click on the Next button.
30. Click on the Stream button.
VLC media player will now merge the subtitles with the video file.
This process may take a while to complete.
You can see the progress of this process at the bottom of VLC.
How to merge subtitles with an AVI video permanently using AVIAddXSubs
AVIAddXSubs is a small free portable program for merging subtitle files with AVI video files.
1. Make sure that the subtitle file is in the same folder as the video file.
2. Make sure that the subtitle file has the same filename as the video file.
Example:
Movie.avi
Movie.srt
3. Click here to download AVIAddXSubs.
4. Unzip the downloaded AVIAddXSubs.zip file.
5. Open the AVIAddXSubs folder.
6. Double-click on AVIAddXSubs.exe to open it.
7. Click on the [...] button located next to the Filename(s)(.avi or .srt or .idx).Or folder(s) field.
A “Open” window will appear.
8. Go to the location on your computer where the .avi video file and .srt subtitle file are.
9. Select the AVI video file.
10. Click on the Open button.
11. Click on the Configuration 1 tab located at the top.
12. Now you will have a lot of settings, but you probably only want to change a few settings, like:
- Character Set this setting is for some languages who use different characters in their subtitles.
- Language Code here you can select your subtitle language. Don't worry if your language is not on the list, because it probably won't matter much.
- Font here you can select a font. I prefer Verdana or Arial.
- Font Size here you can enter a size for the text of your subtitles. I prefer 18 as font size.
- Bold is checked by default, but if you don't like it you can just uncheck it.
- Outline Size this is the size of the font border. I prefer 1 as outline size.
13. Click on the Create XSUB or Idx/Sub tab located at the top.
14. Click on the Start button located in the bottom left corner.
AVIAddXSubs will now merge the srt subtitle file with the AVI video file.
This process will not take long. Maybe one or two minutes.
15. When the process is complete, you click on the Exit button located in the bottom right corner.
The output will be a .divx video file.
Related:
How to merge SRT subtitles with an MP4 video (4 easy ways)