How to Add Subtitles in VLC

While the video plays, choose Video > Subtitle Track > Open File and pick the .srt — or give the subtitle file exactly the same name as the video, in the same folder, and VLC loads it automatically. VLC plays SRT, ASS/SSA, WebVTT, TTML and VobSub, but it can't create subtitles.

At a glance

Plays	SRT, ASS/SSA, WebVTT, TTML, SUB/IDX (VobSub), SMI and more
Built-in auto captions	No
Auto-load	Movie.mp4 + Movie.srt in the same folder
Subtitle delay	H and G shift subtitles later or earlier (J and H on a Mac)
Creates or burns in subtitles	Not covered by VLC's documentation

Add a subtitle file while playing

Open the video in VLC.
Choose Video > Subtitle Track > Open File (Subtitle > Add Subtitle File in some versions).
Pick the .srt, .vtt or .ass file; it shows immediately.

Load subtitles automatically

Name the subtitle file exactly like the video — interview.mp4 and interview.srt — and keep both in the same folder. VLC picks the subtitles up every time you open the video.

Fix encoding, size and timing

Broken accents or symbols: use Media > Open Multiple Files, tick Use a subtitle file, and choose the right character encoding — or re-save the SRT as UTF-8.
Font and size: Tools > Preferences > Video > Subtitles/OSD, then reopen the video.
Out of sync: press H or G during playback (J or H on a Mac) to shift the subtitles; V switches between subtitle tracks.

Things that trip people up

For VobSub subtitles, open the .idx file, not the .sub.
Encoding and size settings don't affect VobSub, which is made of images.
Font changes apply after you restart the video.
SRT has no styling; use ASS or SSA files for coloured or positioned subtitles.

Questions

Why doesn't VLC show my subtitles automatically?

The file names must match exactly, apart from the extension, and both files must be in the same folder.

How do I fix subtitles that are out of sync in VLC?

Press H or G during playback (J or H on a Mac) to shift the subtitles later or earlier until they match the speech. VLC doesn’t save the delay into the file: shift the file itself to keep the fix.