Free tool
Add captions in Premiere Pro
Here’s how to add captions in Premiere Pro from a file: make an SRT from your edit’s audio with the free generator below, import it into your project, and drag it onto the sequence. Premiere turns it into a caption track you can restyle, fix and export.
- Free
- SRT for Premiere
- Nothing is stored
Drop your video or audio file here, or Choose your video or audio file
MP4, MOV, MKV or WebM video, or MP3, M4A or WAV audio. Up to 30 minutes of each file, 3 free files a day. The language is detected automatically.
Cutting interviews and talks every week? NoteOwl transcribes your recordings on your Mac, unlimited, and saves SRT captions with each speaker’s name, ready for Premiere.
How it works
How do you make captions for a Premiere Pro sequence?
Export the sequence, or just its audio, and drop the file on the generator. Its speech is transcribed in short pieces and laid out as numbered captions timed from the first frame. Check them in the preview, then download the SRT to import into Premiere.
- 1
Export your edit
A quick MP4 of the sequence, or an MP3 or WAV of its mix, both starting at the sequence’s first frame.
- 2
Drop it here
Up to 30 minutes of each file is captioned. Every caption shows its times and lines.
- 3
Download the SRT
The file takes your export’s name. Keep it next to the project.
How do you import an SRT file into Premiere Pro?
Import it into your project like any media file, then drag it from the Project panel onto your sequence. Adobe’s help says Premiere creates a new caption track and places the captions on it, ready to edit in the Text panel.
- 1
Import the SRT
Bring the .srt into the project the way you bring in footage. It appears in the Project panel.
- 2
Drag it onto the sequence
Drop it anywhere in the sequence. Premiere adds a caption track above your video.
- 3
Line it up
If your sequence doesn’t start at 0:00, slide the captions so the first one meets its line.
- 4
Check in the Text panel
Every caption is listed with its times. Click one to fix a word.
Can you change how the captions look after importing?
Yes. Select the captions and change the font, fill, stroke and shadow in the Properties panel. To reuse a look, Adobe’s help points to the Track style menu’s plus icon and Create style, which you save to the project or to your local styles.
Building a vertical cut for Reels or Shorts? Tick Short lines for a vertical video under the generator’s download buttons before you save, so each line fits the narrow frame at a readable size.
Should you burn the captions in or export them as a file?
It depends on where the video goes. Burn them in for social feeds that ignore caption files; export an SRT sidecar for YouTube, Vimeo or LinkedIn, where viewers can turn captions off. Premiere’s Export workspace offers both, plus embedded broadcast captions.
- Burn-in captions
- What you getText drawn into the picture
- Use it forInstagram, TikTok, ads, anywhere without caption support
- Sidecar file
- What you getA separate .srt (one stream per file), or .scc, .stl and more
- Use it forYouTube, Vimeo, LinkedIn, a client delivery
- Embed captions
- What you getCEA-608, CEA-708 or OP-47 inside the file
- Use it forBroadcast and platforms that ask for embedded captions
| Option | What you get | Use it for |
|---|---|---|
| Burn-in captions | Text drawn into the picture | Instagram, TikTok, ads, anywhere without caption support |
| Sidecar file | A separate .srt (one stream per file), or .scc, .stl and more | YouTube, Vimeo, LinkedIn, a client delivery |
| Embed captions | CEA-608, CEA-708 or OP-47 inside the file | Broadcast and platforms that ask for embedded captions |
Which caption files does Premiere Pro accept?
SRT is the simplest, and Adobe also lists SCC, MCC, STL, DFXP and XML formats such as TTML, SMPTE-TT and EBU-TT. If your captions came as a WebVTT file, turn it into SRT first with the VTT to SRT converter.
Captions out of step with a re-cut sequence? Move the whole file with the subtitle shifter before importing it again.
Can you get captions with speaker names for interview edits?
Yes, with NoteOwl on your Mac. It transcribes the recordings you import with on-device AI models, labels each speaker and saves an SRT file in which every caption starts with who is talking, so a two-person interview arrives in Premiere already attributed. Nothing is uploaded.
FAQ
Questions about captions in Premiere Pro
How do I add subtitles in Premiere Pro from an SRT file?
Import the SRT into your project like any media file, then drag it from the Project panel onto the sequence. Premiere creates a caption track with every subtitle on it, timed from the file.
Why are my imported captions out of sync?
The SRT counts from 0:00 of the file it was made from. If your sequence starts later, or you trimmed the start after making the SRT, slide the caption track so the first caption meets its line, or make the SRT again from the final export.
Can Premiere Pro import a VTT file?
Adobe’s list of caption formats doesn’t include WebVTT. Convert the VTT to SRT first, or download the SRT from this generator, which offers both.
How long can the video be?
The free generator captions up to 30 minutes of each file, 3 files a day. For a longer edit, export it in parts and shift each part’s captions, or caption the whole recording with NoteOwl on your Mac.
Do the captions include speaker names?
No. The web generator writes the words only. NoteOwl, the Mac app, writes SRT captions that start each speaker’s line with their name.
Is my footage uploaded?
No. Your browser reads the file and takes out its sound; short pieces of that sound go to a cloud AI transcription service, which transcribes and discards them. The SRT is written in the page and nothing is stored.
Keep exploring
More subtitle generator tools
- Subtitle generatorA free AI subtitle generator: drop in a video or recording and download SRT or VTT subtitles timed to the speech, two short lines per cue; only the sound is sent, nothing is stored
- Subtitles for iMovieIMovie can’t import subtitle files: make an SRT here, then use titles, Final Cut Pro or burned-in subtitles instead
- Subtitles for CanvaMake subtitles for a Canva video and add them the way Canva allows
- Subtitles for Final Cut ProMake an SRT and import it into Final Cut Pro with File > Import > Closed Captions, then burn it in or export it
- Subtitles for DaVinci ResolveMake an SRT and import it into DaVinci Resolve’s Media Pool as a subtitle track, free or Studio
Captions for every cut, made on your Mac
Free to download. Runs entirely on your Mac.
macOS 26 or later · Apple Silicon (M1 or newer) · 16 GB memory minimum, 24 GB recommended
About NoteOwl
NoteOwl is private AI meeting notes and memory for the Mac. It captures meetings without a bot joining the call, labels every speaker, writes summaries and action items, and builds a memory of every conversation that you can chat with — fully offline, because the speech recognition and the AI run on the Mac itself. Dictation into any app is free; Pro is a one-time purchase.
NoteOwl pricing: what’s free and what Pro adds
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