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How to Add Subtitles to a Video Using MKVMerge

· 2 min read

MKVMerge (part of the MKVToolNix suite) is a free tool that lets you combine video, audio, and subtitle tracks into a single MKV container file. This is useful when you have a separate SRT subtitle file and want to embed it permanently into the video.

How to add subtitles with MKVMerge​

  1. Open MKVMerge (MKVToolNix GUI).
  2. Click Add and select the video file you want to add subtitles to.
  3. Click Add again and select the SRT subtitle file.
  4. In the tracks list at the bottom, click on the subtitle track (it should be the last entry).
  5. Set the Language to English (or the appropriate language for your subtitles).
  6. Set the Forced Track flag to Yes if you want the subtitles to display automatically.
  7. Under Format Specific Options, set the Character set to UTF-8 (recommended) or ISO-8859-2 if your subtitles use Eastern European characters.
  8. Set the output file name at the bottom of the window.
  9. Click Start Muxing (or Mux).

MKVMerge will combine the video and subtitle files into a new MKV file. The original files are left unchanged.

Tips​

  • UTF-8 is preferred over ISO-8859 character sets for most modern subtitle files, as it supports a wider range of characters including accented letters and non-Latin scripts.
  • You can add multiple subtitle tracks in different languages by repeating steps 3-7 for each SRT file.
  • If the subtitles are out of sync, use the Delay option in the track settings to shift the timing forward or backward by a specified number of milliseconds.
  • MKVMerge also supports other subtitle formats including ASS, SSA, and VobSub.