How to Add Subtitles Manually

When typing beats generating

Speech recognition is quick, but it isn't always the right tool. Writing subtitles yourself makes sense when:

• You already have the script, and the subtitles must match it word for word.
• The clip is short or has little speech: a 20-second teaser, a tutorial with three on-screen notes, a montage with a handful of captions.
• The vocabulary is specialised enough that correcting a machine draft would take longer than writing from scratch.
• The words aren't speech at all: lyrics, on-screen jokes, a translation you are writing yourself.
• You'd rather keep everything on your machine. Without AI, the audio stays put along with the video, and you never need to sign in.

It also costs nothing. Credits only come into play when AI writes the text.

Set yourself up

A minute of setup saves a lot of rewinding:

• Untick "Write the subtitles automatically with AI" before choosing the video, so the editor opens on an empty line list.
• Slow playback to 0.75× or 0.5× in the speed menu if people talk fast; you'll pause closer to the start of each phrase.
• Keep the script, if there is one, in a window beside the browser so you can copy a phrase at a time.
• Zoom the timeline until a few seconds fill its width, because small blocks are fiddly to grab. Fit brings the whole video back into view.

Typing subtitles from the first line to the last

1. Choose your video in the editor with the AI switch off.
2. Press Space to play, and press it again the moment a new phrase begins.
3. Press Enter. A new subtitle appears at the playhead, lasting 2 seconds or until the next subtitle starts, and the cursor jumps into its text box.
4. Type the words. Enter inside the text box starts a second line within the same subtitle rather than a new subtitle.
5. Click the video to leave the text box. The click also resumes playback, so you can listen for where the phrase ends.
6. Pause when the speaker finishes, then drag the right edge of that block on the timeline to the playhead, or type the end time in the line list.
7. Repeat from step 3 to the last line, then press Export SRT to keep a copy of the work.
8. Open Style for the look, then Render video and Download video for the finished MP4.

The keys that do the work

Space

Play or pause.

Left or Right arrow

Jump back or forward 1 second.

Shift with Left or Right

Step 0.1 seconds, for landing on the exact start of a word.

Up or Down arrow

Select the previous or next subtitle and move the playhead to it.

Enter

Add a subtitle at the playhead.

Delete or Backspace

Remove the selected subtitle.

Ctrl+Z (Cmd+Z on a Mac)

Undo. Ctrl+Shift+Z or Ctrl+Y redoes.

While the cursor sits in a text box or a time field, the playback and line shortcuts step aside, so a space or a Backspace edits your text instead of controlling the video. Undo and redo keep working even while you type.

Getting the timing right

Timing is where hand-made subtitles usually fall short, and most fixes take seconds:

• Drag a block on the timeline to move the whole subtitle, or drag either edge to change when it appears or disappears. Edges snap to 10 milliseconds.
• Type exact start and end times in the line list when you know them, down to the millisecond.
• Split cuts the selected subtitle in two at the playhead, quicker than retyping when one block ended up covering two sentences. Merge joins it with the next one.
• If every line is early or late by the same amount, "Shift all by" moves them all at once; a negative number moves them earlier.

A line that appears a moment before the voice feels natural, while one that lags behind feels broken, so aim for each subtitle to start on the first syllable or just ahead of it. Changing subtitle timing and splitting and merging lines cover the finer points.

Let the warnings catch what you miss

The line list marks problems as you type, and the timeline highlights the same blocks:

• Too fast to read: more than 21 characters per second in most scripts. Stretch the line into a gap or cut words.
• On screen for under 0.8 seconds, or with no duration at all: lengthen it.
• Overlapping the previous or next subtitle, so two would show at once: pull one edge back.
• A line longer than 42 characters: it wraps by itself, but a break you choose reads better.
• More than 3 lines: too much of the picture is covered, so split it.
• No text: usually an accidental Enter. Empty subtitles are skipped when rendering, but deleting them keeps the list tidy.

Warnings don't stop a render, and the summary before rendering tells you how many remain. Subtitle segmentation explains where to break lines so they read naturally.

Starting from a script

If the text exists but has no timings, the editor won't line it up with the speech for you; there is no automatic alignment of pasted text. The practical route is to paste the script a phrase at a time during the typing loop above. If that's too slow, AI subtitles will time the speech, at 1 credit per minute of video, and you can then correct the wording against the script. When someone has already sent you an SRT or VTT, Import SRT / VTT loads it and the typing is done. Writing a subtitle file in a plain text editor works too; editing an SRT file shows the format, and creating an SRT file does the same job with this editor's timeline.

Keeping your work

Lines, style and blur settings are saved as a draft in this browser while you work, for up to five videos. Choose the same video again later and the editor offers to restore the draft. Browser storage can be cleared, so press Export SRT at natural stopping points as well. That file is also the copy you can open in any other subtitle editor or upload to YouTube as a separate caption track. The online subtitle editor page covers styling and rendering in more detail, and if a future video has too much speech to type, the AI subtitle generator can write the first pass.

About the subtitle editor on this page

Opens

MP4, MOV, M4V, WebM, MKV videos your browser can decode

Subtitles from

AI (from the speech, optionally translated into one of 21 languages), an SRT or VTT file, or typing them in

You download

An MP4 with the subtitles drawn into the picture at the original resolution and frame rate, plus SRT and VTT files

Cost

Editing, styling, rendering and SRT/VTT export are free, with no account and no watermark. AI subtitles cost 1 credit per minute (5-credit minimum per video); signing in with Google gives 100 free credits and accounts get 10 free credits a day

Privacy

The video never leaves your device and is rendered in your browser. Only for AI subtitles is the audio sent, over HTTPS, and it is deleted within 30 minutes of delivery

Rendering needs

Chrome or Edge 94+, Safari 16.4+, or Firefox 130+ on a computer. Editing and SRT/VTT export work in any current browser