Media Player · Windows 10 and 11
Watch videos with subtitles
Keep the subtitle file beside the video with the same name, and it comes on by itself when the video starts. If the lines are too small, in the way, or a little early or late, fix that from the Subtitles button while you watch.
How to play a video with subtitles
- 1
Put the subtitles beside the video
Name the file like the video:
Film.mkvandFilm.srt.Film.en.srt,Film - English.assand files in aSubsfolder are found too. - 2
Open the video
Open it in Octoolo's Media Player. The subtitles come on by themselves; with several files, the one named exactly like the video wins.
- 3
Choose and adjust
Press Subtitles (or C) to switch them off, pick another, or set Size, Place and Timing.
- 4
Add one from elsewhere
Press Add subtitles… in the same menu, or drop the subtitle file on the window while the video plays.
Where the player finds subtitles
- Beside the video: SRT, VTT, ASS and SSA files whose names start with the video's name, and every subtitle file in a
SubsorSubtitlesfolder next to it. - Inside the video: MKV and MP4 files often carry their own. Text subtitles (SRT, ASS, WebVTT, MP4 text) are listed in the menu with their language; forced and default ones come on by themselves.
- Anywhere else: Add subtitles… opens any subtitle file for the video that is playing.
Picture subtitles from Blu-ray (PGS) and DVD (VobSub) are listed but cannot be shown yet.
Make them easy to read
Subtitles show as white words with a dark outline, above the controls while they are visible and lower when they fade. In the Subtitles menu:
- Size: Small, Medium, Large or Huge, scaled to the size of the window.
- Place: Bottom, Higher (out of the way of words already in the picture) or Middle.
- Dark box behind the words for busy or bright scenes.
Italic, bold and underlined words stay that way. ASS fonts, colors, positions and effects are left out, so styled anime subtitles show as plain lines at the bottom.
When they are out of sync
Under Timing, Earlier and Later move every line by a quarter of a second at a time; the menu shows the total. If the gap grows as the film goes on, the subtitles were made for another version of it (another frame rate or cut), and another file will fit better.
To make subtitles part of the picture for good, for a phone or a website, add subtitles to a video in the Video Editor and export it.
Questions, answered
Does it find subtitles online?
No. Octoolo does not look anything up on the internet: use a subtitle file you have.
My subtitles show strange letters. Why?
The file is in an old text encoding. UTF-8 and UTF-16 files show correctly, and older Western European files too; files saved in other old code pages (Cyrillic, Greek, Arabic, Chinese) may not. Save the file as UTF-8 in a text editor and open it again.
Can I show two subtitles at once?
No, one at a time. Lines that overlap in time within the same file show together.
Do the subtitles stay when I change the sound track?
Yes. Changing the language you hear does not change the subtitles.
Which keys help?
C turns subtitles on and off. The menu sets size, place and timing.
Video player with subtitles, and 16 more apps.
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