Free tool
QuickTime subtitles and SRT files
QuickTime subtitles come only from tracks inside the movie, so QuickTime Player can’t open an SRT file beside a video. Make the SRT with the free generator below, then watch the video in VLC with it, put the words into the picture, or have an editor embed captions in the movie.
- Free
- SRT and VTT files
- 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.
Rewatching interviews on your Mac? NoteOwl transcribes your recordings on the Mac, unlimited, and saves SRT subtitles that put each speaker’s name first.
How it works
How do you make subtitles for a QuickTime movie?
Drop the .mov or .mp4 on the generator. Short stretches of its soundtrack are transcribed one after another and laid out as subtitles that count from the movie’s first frame. Look them over, then download the SRT, which carries the movie’s name.
- 1
Drop the movie in
A MOV or MP4, from a camera, a phone or a screen recording, or just its audio.
- 2
Look over the subtitles
Each one shows its start, end and lines. The first 30 minutes of every movie are subtitled.
- 3
Download the SRT
It takes the movie’s name, which matters if you then play the pair in VLC.
Can QuickTime Player open an SRT file?
No. Apple’s QuickTime Player guide covers only subtitles and captions already inside a movie, and says that when a movie has none, there’s no option to view them. It describes no way to open a separate .srt file, so a subtitle file beside the video goes unseen.
The ways round it: play the movie in VLC with the SRT, put the subtitles into the picture, or carry captions inside the movie file. Each is below.
How do you turn on subtitles in QuickTime Player?
Choose View > Subtitles, then pick a language. For closed captions, choose View > Show Closed Captioning, which Apple says is available only when captions are embedded in the CEA-608 format. If neither is offered, the movie carries no subtitles QuickTime can show.
How else can you watch a video with an SRT on a Mac?
Pick by where the video is going. To watch it yourself, play it in VLC with the SRT. To share it with anyone, on any player, put the subtitles into the picture. For captions people can switch on in QuickTime Player, embed them in the movie with an editor.
Play it in VLC
VLC is a free player for the Mac. Open the movie, choose Subtitles > Add Subtitle File... and pick the SRT, or give the SRT the movie’s name and keep both in one folder.
Put the words in the picture
Subtitles drawn into the frames show in every player, QuickTime Player included, though no one can switch them off. Make the SRT here, then burn them into the video; Final Cut Pro and Premiere Pro both burn captions in on export.
Embed captions in the movie
Final Cut Pro’s help says SRT captions export only as a separate file; the captions it embeds in a movie, which QuickTime Player can show, are CEA-608. So turn the SRT into CEA-608 first with the SRT to SCC converter, import the .scc with File > Import > Closed Captions, and share with Embed CEA-608.
Should subtitles be burned in or kept as a separate track?
Burn them in when the movie will play in apps you don’t control, QuickTime Player among them: the words become part of the picture. Keep them separate when viewers should be able to hide them, or when you may still correct a word.
A subtitle track is subtitle text stored inside the movie file itself, beside its picture and sound. That’s the only kind QuickTime Player lists; the SRT this page saves is a separate file, so it suits VLC, video editors and websites.
- SRT file beside the movie
- QuickTime Player shows itNo
- Viewers can hide itYes: it’s a separate file
- Burned into the picture
- QuickTime Player shows itYes
- Viewers can hide itNo
- CEA-608 captions embedded in the movie
- QuickTime Player shows itYes, under View > Show Closed Captioning
- Viewers can hide itYes, from the View menu
| Way | QuickTime Player shows it | Viewers can hide it |
|---|---|---|
| SRT file beside the movie | No | Yes: it’s a separate file |
| Burned into the picture | Yes | No |
| CEA-608 captions embedded in the movie | Yes, under View > Show Closed Captioning | Yes, from the View menu |
Can you get subtitles with speaker names for videos on your Mac?
Yes. NoteOwl transcribes the recordings you import on your Mac with on-device AI models, unlimited, works out who is speaking and saves an SRT whose subtitles start with each speaker’s name. Play it in VLC beside the recording, or burn it into the picture for QuickTime Player.
FAQ
Questions about subtitles in QuickTime Player
Why is there no subtitles option in QuickTime Player?
Because the movie has no subtitle track. Apple’s guide says that if a movie doesn’t have subtitles, you won’t see an option to view them, and a separate SRT file doesn’t count.
Does giving the SRT the same name as the movie work in QuickTime?
No. Apple’s guide describes nothing of the kind. Matching names is how VLC finds subtitles: it loads an SRT named like the movie from the same folder.
Can QuickTime Player show closed captions?
Yes, when they’re embedded in the movie in the CEA-608 format: choose View > Show Closed Captioning. Captions in other formats, or in a separate file, don’t appear there.
Does this page put the subtitles into my video?
No. It makes subtitle files, SRT first and VTT beside it, and leaves the video as it is. To have the words in the picture, burn the SRT into the video with a tool or editor that does that.
How much of a movie gets subtitles?
Up to 30 minutes of each file, 3 files a day, with no account. For a longer movie, the subtitles cover its first 30 minutes.
Is the movie uploaded?
No. The movie stays on your computer; the page lifts out its soundtrack and sends it in short pieces to a cloud AI transcription service, which transcribes each one and deletes it. The SRT is put together in your browser, 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 ClipchampClipchamp’s help covers its own autocaptions, not importing a file: what to do with an SRT you already have
- Subtitles for LoomLoom says it can’t take a subtitle file: fix its own captions through the transcript, or caption your own copy of the recording with an SRT made here
- Subtitles for YouTubeMake an SRT file from your video free in the browser, then upload it in YouTube Studio under Subtitles, step by step
- Subtitles for CapCutMake an SRT with short lines for vertical video, then import it in CapCut on desktop or the web
Related
- Subtitles for VLCMake an SRT for any video and load it in VLC with Add Subtitle File, or name it like the video so VLC finds it
- Subtitles for iMovieIMovie can’t import subtitle files: make an SRT here, then use titles, Final Cut Pro or burned-in subtitles instead
- Subtitle generatorTurn a recording into an SRT subtitle file with timecodes and speaker names, on your Mac
Subtitles for the interviews you watch 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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