How to Automatically Add Subtitles to a Movie Permanently: 3 Best Ways

Last Updated: 2023. 10. 23

Watching downloaded movies at home has been a great alternative when theaters are unavailable.

Yet, very often, the movie you downloaded online may not have subtitles on it, which makes it hard for us to understand the jargon or brand names inside a movie, let alone share this movie with friends who speak a foreign language or with hearing issues.

In this post, we will walk you through 3 free and proven ways to automatically add subtitles to a movie permanently using online and desktop subtitle generators, including paid human service.

Abstract Cinematic Movie Trailer
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Abstract Cinematic Movie Trailer
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Fire Cinematic Movie Trailer
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Here’s What You Will Learn:

Also, read how to add open captions to videos.

How to Automatically Add Subtitles to a Movie Online

Whether you already have the SRT subtitle file for your downloaded movies or not, one of your go-to choices to add subtitles to a movie permanently is to use the user-friendly and feature-rich FlexClip AI video maker.

Effortlessly add subtitles to movies by FlexClip online.

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Best Features to Add Subtitles to Movies by FlexClip:

  • Harness the AI auto subtitle generator to automatically and permanently add subtitles to movies in one click. It can transcribe 140+ languages with diverse accents to text for burned-in subtitles and promises over 95% accuracy.
  • Seamlessly add subtitles to a movie by FlexClip AI auto subtitle generator online

    Seamlessly add subtitles to a movie by FlexClip AI auto subtitle generator online.

    Add Subtitles to Movies Now
  • Alternatively, if you already have the SRT or other subtitle files, you can directly upload your SRT file (SRT, VTT, SSA, ASS, SUB, SBV formats) to FlexClip, which will automatically and accurately sync the subtitle content to the dialogues in your movie. You can even download imported subtitle files in another subtitle format, saving you time and effort for subtitle format conversion.
  • Directly upload your subtitle files to FlexClip to add subtitles to a movie

    Directly upload your subtitle files to FlexClip to add subtitles to a movie.

  • Of course, you can easily customize the subtitle fonts, styles, colors, subtitle’s background fill, opacity, alignments, etc., or drag and drop to adjust the subtitle’s timecodes, and easily split or merge subtitles in the movie.
  • Easily stylize your movie subtitles

    Easily stylize your movie subtitles.

  • Another bonus for video content creators is that you can use 150+ designer-made and fully customizable movie trailer templates for your video projects. With easy drags and drops of your video assets, you can create a movie trailer or short films in a breeze.
  • Old Film Title Package Credits
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    Old Film Title Package Credits
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    End Credits of Movies
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    End Credits of Movies
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    Epic History Movie Trailer
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    Cinematic Romance Movie Intro
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    Cinematic Romance Movie Intro
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  • In addition, apart from the AI auto subtitle generator, FlexClip also offers you other versatile AI tools to streamline your video edits and reclaim tons of valuable time. From the AI video script generator, fueled by ChatGPT, to the text-to-speech generator, text-to-image generator, text-to-video generator, image background remover, and audio extractor, etc. you can leverage AI to quickly create compelling video content like never before.
  • Convert to text to realistic AI voices for your video projects

    Convert to text to realistic AI voices for your video projects.

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    Step 1
    Access FlexClip and upload your movie from your PC, phone or Google Drive, Dropbox, One Drive, etc.
    Upload your movies or other video assets to FlexCLip

    Upload your movies or other video assets to FlexCLip.

    Step 2
    Add your movie to the intuitive timeline. You may trim or split the movie when needed.
    Add your movie to the timeline and trim or split portions of movies when needed

    Add your movie to the timeline and trim or split portions of movies when needed.

    Step 3
    Automatically add subtitles to the movie.

    Click the Subtitle tab > Auto AI Subtitle > select the source language in the movie > hit Next > select the styles of your subtitles. No, worries, you can change it later. > click the Generate Subtitles button. Then FlexClip shall automatically generate the subtitles for the movie. How long it will take depends on your movie length and bandwidth.

    Auto-generate subtitles for your movies

    Auto-generate subtitles for your movies.

    Add Subtitles Now

    Alternatively, if you have already downloaded the SRT or other subtitle formats for a movie, you can click the Subtitle tab > Upload Subtitle File (SRT, VTT, SSA, ASS, SUB, SBV formats) > FlexClip will auto-sync the subtitle content and subtitle timecodes to the movie.

    Upload your subtitle files to add subtitles to a movie with ease

    Upload your subtitle files to add subtitles to a movie with ease.

    Step 4
    Do the proofreading and customize the auto-generated subtitles.

    You can go through the subtitles > correct any misspellings > or press Enter to split a long subtitle or click the Merge button to combine two short subtitles. Or, you can download the SRT in other subtitle formats for other repurposings.

    Proofread the auto-generated movie subtitles or split and merge subtitles and download subtitles in other formats

    Proofread the auto-generated movie subtitles or split and merge subtitles and download subtitles in other formats.

    Of course, you can click the Style tab and customize the fonts, styles, color, and opacity of the subtitle background fill, alignment, etc.

    Stylize the subtitles text, font, size, color of background fill and more

    Stylize the subtitles text, font, size, color of background fill, etc.

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    Step 5
    Preview and share.

    Down with the editing. You can download the movie with burned-in subtitles to your PC or directly share it to YouTube, Google Drive, One Drive, Dropbox, etc; a clickable link is also available for your blogs, newsletter, or other repurposing.

    Easily share and repurpose your video content

    Easily share and repurpose your video content.

    How to Add Subtitles to a Movie Using SRT Files in VLC

    If a movie is more than 2 hours, then using a desktop subtitle generator that supports SRT. file to add subtitles to a movie would be an efficient solution. A flexible option is to use VLC, a free media player for Windows, Mac, and Linux systems, to add subtitles to a movie permanently on your PC. Also, read how to crop videos in VLC.

    Bonus Tips
    An Srt file is a standard subtitle container that stores the subtitle’s sequence, duration of each subtitle, and the content of the subtitle. You may use a video editor or subtitle generator to sync the movie with a corresponding SRT file as a way to quickly add subtitles to a long movie.

    How to add subtitles to a movie permanently in VLC

    Step 1
    Download the free VLC media player and open it on your PC.
    Step 2
    Permanently add subtitles to the movie using VLC.

    Click on the “Media” button on the top menu > hit “Convert/Save” > press “+ Add” icon to import your movie > once the movie is imported and check “Use a Subtitle File” > find the corresponding SRT. file and open it > go to “Convert/Save” drop-down menu > select “Convert” > choose a folder for saving and rename your movie file > hit “Start”. Done.

    Step 3
    Find the designated folder and enjoy your movie with subtitles.
    Bonus Tips
    Here we also recommend 3 free and popular subtitle sites to you, i.e. YIFY Subtitles, Subscene, and Podnapisi, where you can find tons of the latest and vintage movies with subtitles of multiple languages. Enjoy it.

    How to Automatically Add Subtitles to a Movie by HappyScribe

    If an SRT file is nowhere to be found for a long movie, to quickly add subtitles to your movie, you need a free and viable auto-subtitle generator. That’s when Happyscribe comes to help.

    Happyscribe is a free and powerful in-browser subtitle generator that uses AI to automatically generate subtitles for your video. The machine-generated subtitles can reach as high as 80% accuracy with multiple languages available. So, all you need to do is manually correct words like Jaron, brand names, or technical terminologies.

    Use Happyscribe’s free and auto-subtitle generator online

    Step 1
    Sign up and upload your movie file to Happyscribe.
    Step 2
    Set machine-generated subtitles options.

    Select the “Subtitle” option > confirm the quality of the audio of your movie to AI > select the language spoken in the movie > hit the “Submit” button.

    Step 3
    Check the Correctness of each subtitle and make manual adjustments.

    The machine will automatically add subtitles to your video. Next, playback your video and manually adjust the mistakes for the subtitles. You may also customize the fonts, and color, and position of the subtitles.

    Step 4
    Preview and download the movie with permanent subtitles.
    Bonus Tips
    If a movie involves too many technical terminologies, the accuracy of the machine-generated subtitles would drastically drop. In this case, Happyscribe offers you paid human service.
    So you can pay and hire professionals to manually add subtitles for you. The cost is €1.7/min and your movie with added subtitles and an SRT file with 99% accuracy will be returned to you 24hrs after your request and payment are accepted.

    Now, It’s Your Move

      Add Subtitles Best Features Downsides
    FlexClip Auto AI subtitle generator, timeline Automatically add subtitles to movies with 140+languages and accents and up to 95% accuracy; upload 6 subtitle formats to add subtitles to a movie editable movie trailer templates; diverse text animations and video assets can’t animate subtitles in a movie
    VLC Use SRT File, desktop app across platform free, auto-generated Can’t edit the wrong subtitle; takes time to download SRT file elsewhere; mere a media player
    Happyscribe Auto-generated subtitles; timeline; paid human service Multiple ways to import a movie; multiple languages; hotkeys; customizable subtitles limited free projects; pricy human service

    So, given the flexibility, versatility, and huge stock assets, FlexClip outweighs the rest two subtitle generators for adding subtitles to a short movie or movie trailers. While adding subtitles to a long movie permanently, the VLC or Happyscirbe enjoy distinct advantages respectively. While which one works best for you depends on your needs and budget. So, start adding subtitles to your movie with FlexClip now.

    Add Subtitles to Movies Now
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