How to download subtitles in VLC

Since a few versions of VLC, there is now a built in option that will search for subtitles of current media file online, download the one selected, and play it with the movie, with only a few clicks.


How to download movie subtitles in vlc

Since a few versions of VLC, there is now a built in option that will search for subtitles of current media file online, download the one selected, and play it with the movie, with only a few clicks.

This is achieved by the VLC VLsub extension, which was previously an external plugin, but is now directly integrated in VLC media player.

How to download subtitles for movies

Starting with a movie being played in VLC player, for which no subtitle is available, as per the empty menu subtitle. To add a subtitle to the movie, one solution would be to look for it on internet, download it, and add it to the file currently being played.

VLC official website

A now much easier solution, is to open the menu View > VLsub, which will allow VLC auto download subtitles from internet, provided that a proper working internet connection is available.

TV series subtitles download

There, select the language you want, which should be set by default to the language of the VLC installation, and enter the title in any case, but also the season and episode if you are looking for TV series subtitles.

This is how to change subtitle language in VLC, by changing the options in this menu.

How to use vlsub

Once the options have been selected, do a search either by hash or by name, let VLC search for subtitles and see the results appearing ! Select the one you are interested in, most likely the one with a name as close as possible to your file to avoid subtitle sync issues, and click on Download selection.

Check in the movie currently being played if synchronization is correct. If it is not the case, or if subtitles are plain wrong, try to download another file.

VLC player download

All subtitles downloaded will be available in the Subtitle > Sub Track menu of VLC interface.

If planning to move the movie file, make sure the subtitle file is moved at the same time, or VLC will not be able to find it if it not stored in the same directory with the same name.

How to sync subtitles in VLC

If you need to synchronize subtitles, because they either started too early, or too late, or at some point in the movie got desynchronized, how to synchronize subtitles in VLC is pretty easy. While playing a movie with subtitles, press the keyboard key H to increase the subtitle delay by 50ms, or press the key G to lower the subtitle delay by 50ms.

How to change subtitle language in vlc media player

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With this trick, you can for example choose english subtitles download, find VLC russian subtitles, find arabic subtitles for movies, have a french subtitles download, see movies with portuguese subtitles, have a spanish subtitles download, find hindi movie subtitles, get telugu movie subtitles, add korean subtitles in VLC, download in VLC chinese subtitles, download swedish subtitles for movies, put in VLC hebrew subtitles, add in VLC greek subs, and many more languages !

Read more on get VLC to download subtitles
opensubtitles official website

How to download subtitles in VLC

To download subtitles in VLC, start to play a file, and go to menu view > VLSub.

There, enter information about the movie being played, select the language, and search for subtitles online. Simply click on the button to download them.

Subtitles not showing properly in VLC

If strange characters and symbols are showing instead of the normal text, it is because the file encoding is not correct.

Go to menu tools > preferences > Subtitles/OSD, and there change the default encoding to the one applying for your language, which might necessitate several tries until finding the right one for the subtitle file downloaded.

If the local language encoding does not work, try universal encoding such as UTF-8 and UTF-16.

After having changed the encoding, try to disable and enable again the subtitle by using the keyboard key V, or by going to the menu subtitle > sub track, or try restarting VLC.

How to synchronize subtitles in VLC

While a movie is opened with subtitles, go to menu tools > track synchronization. There, it is possible to adjust the subtitles display with the subtitle track synchronization option, pushing it up will delay it up, and down will put reduce the delay. The keyboard hotkeys H for subtitle delay up, and G for subtitle delay down can also be used while the movie is playing.

How to change language in VLC player

To change language of the VLC player interface, simply go to the menu tools > preferences > interface > menus language, or use the keyboard shortcut CTRL+P, select the required language to apply to the VLC interface, and tap save.

Frequently Asked Questions

What is the process for automatically finding and downloading subtitles for videos using VLC Media Player to enhance the viewing experience for non-native language content?
VLC Media Player offers an integrated feature for downloading subtitles through the VLSub extension. By accessing this feature under the View menu while playing a video, users can search for and download matching subtitles from online databases, synchronizing them with the video for an improved viewing experience.

Yoann Bierling
About the author - Yoann Bierling
Yoann Bierling is a Web Publishing & Digital Consulting professional, making a global impact through expertise and innovation in technologies. Passionate about empowering individuals and organizations to thrive in the digital age, he is driven to deliver exceptional results and drive growth through educational content creation.

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