Add subtitles to a video on your Mac
By Himanshu Ranjan · Updated 8 November 2026
To add subtitles to a video on your Mac, select the video and its SRT or VTT file in Finder, hold the right Option (⌥) key and choose Combine › Burn in subtitles, or Combine › Add subtitle track for switchable subtitles. No subtitle file? Choose Adjust › Add auto-captions… to transcribe the speech on your Mac. Nothing is uploaded.
How to do it with FileDial
- Select the video, plus its SRT or VTT file if you have one.
- Hold right ⌥ to open the dial.
- Choose Combine › Burn in subtitles, or Combine › Add subtitle track.
- No subtitle file yet? Choose Adjust › Add auto-captions…, or Convert › Transcribe to subtitles… to get an SRT you can edit first.
- Play the new copy saved beside the original.
Your original file stays untouched. The result is saved beside it, and every result has Undo.
Which option to pick
| Tool | Use it when |
|---|---|
| Burn in subtitlesCombine | Subtitles must always show, on any player or social feed. Pick a video and an SRT or VTT file. |
| Add subtitle trackCombine | Viewers should switch subtitles on or off in their player. Pick a video and subtitle file; no re-encoding. |
| Transcribe to subtitles…Convert | You need subtitles but have none. Makes an SRT and a TXT on this Mac, ready to check and edit. |
| Add auto-captions…Adjust | One step from speech to captions: transcribed on this Mac and burned into a new copy, plus the SRT. |
Burned-in or soft subtitles: which one you need
Burned-in subtitles, also called hardcoded or open captions, become part of the picture. They show on every player, in every social feed and in previews that autoplay without sound, but nobody can turn them off and you can't fix a typo without making the video again.
Soft subtitles are a separate track inside the video file. Viewers switch them on or off in players that support it, and the video itself isn't re-encoded, so FileDial's Add subtitle track leaves the picture untouched. Many social apps ignore subtitle tracks, though, so for posting online burned-in is usually the safer choice.
SRT and VTT are plain-text subtitle files: numbered lines of text with start and end times. If you transcribe with Transcribe to subtitles…, you get an SRT you can open in any text editor, correct names and spellings, then burn in or add as a track. Add auto-captions… does everything in one step and still leaves you the SRT.
- Social posts and autoplay feeds: Burn in subtitles.
- Files people watch in a player: Add subtitle track.
- No subtitle file: Transcribe to subtitles… or Add auto-captions…
Why not use an online subtitle generator
Online captioning services need your video uploaded, and transcription means they process every word said in it. Interviews, internal meetings, customer calls and lessons often contain names and details that shouldn't leave your hands.
Free online file tools have also drawn a public warning. The FBI Denver Field Office said on 7 March 2025 that free online document converter tools are increasingly used to spread malware. The conversions work, but returned files can carry malware leading to ransomware, and the sites can scrape personal data such as identity numbers, banking and crypto details, emails and passwords. That warning was about document converters; online subtitle tools also depend on uploading your file.
FileDial transcribes and adds subtitles on your Mac, with nothing uploaded and Wi‑Fi off if you prefer.
Other ways to add subtitles on a Mac
Apple's free apps have limited subtitle support. iMovie can add titles over clips by hand, which works for a few lines but not for a full transcript, and QuickTime Player can show subtitle tracks that are already in a file but doesn't add them. Professional editors and some free open-source apps can import SRT files and burn them in, with more setup.
FileDial is the quicker path when you already have an SRT or VTT, when you need a transcript made on your Mac, when you want burned-in and switchable versions from the same menu, and when you want Undo on every result.
Questions
What subtitle files can I use?
Burn in subtitles takes a video and an SRT or VTT file. Select both in Finder, hold right ⌥ and choose Combine › Burn in subtitles. Add subtitle track works the same way with a video and a subtitle file.
Can FileDial create subtitles if I don't have any?
Yes. Transcribe to subtitles… makes an SRT and a TXT on your Mac. Add auto-captions… transcribes on your Mac and burns the captions into a new copy, plus the SRT.
Is my video sent to a transcription service?
No. Transcription runs on your Mac, files are never uploaded, and every tool works with Wi‑Fi off. The only things FileDial sends online are the licence check and optional anonymous usage counts, never file names or contents.
Does adding a subtitle track reduce quality?
No. Add subtitle track adds subtitles that viewers can switch in their player without re-encoding the video, so the picture stays exactly as it was in the original.
Will the original video be changed?
No. The result is saved as a new file beside the original, which is left as it was, and, like every FileDial result, it has Undo if you change your mind.