How to add subtitles to a video (step by step, 2026)

Practical guide · TranscribePro

Adding subtitles to a video no longer requires transcribing by hand or paying per minute. With speech recognition you can generate automatic subtitles, fix them and leave them burned into the video in minutes. In this guide I'll show you how to do it on Windows, without uploading your video to the cloud (everything stays on your computer).

What you'll need

A PC with Windows 10 or 11 (works even on an ordinary laptop; with an NVIDIA card it flies).
The video or audio you want to subtitle.
A local transcription app. Here we use TranscribePro, which processes everything on your machine.

Step by step

Open the app and drag in your video. It accepts MP4, MOV, MKV, MP3, WAV and more. You can also paste a link.
Generate the automatic subtitles. Speech recognition transcribes the audio to text with timestamps. It detects the language automatically (99+ languages).
Edit the text and timing. In the editor you can fix any word, adjust when each line enters and exits, and even split long lines so they read comfortably.
Pick the style (optional). You can keep normal subtitles or animated styles for social media (word by word, TikTok, karaoke).
Export. Download the SRT/VTT file to upload alongside the video, or render an MP4 with burned-in subtitles, ready for YouTube, TikTok or Instagram.

💡 Tip: if the video mixes languages or is very noisy, review the text in the editor before exporting. The correction takes seconds and greatly improves the result.

Try TranscribePro free (5 videos / 1 hour) →

Can subtitles be translated?

Yes. Besides transcribing, you can translate the subtitles into another language while keeping the timing, and even add a voiceover (dubbing) to the translation. All from the same app.

Why do it locally and not on a website?

Online tools upload your video to their servers and usually charge per minute. Doing it on your own PC has three advantages: it's private (your content never leaves your machine, ideal for confidential material), you have no minute limits, and it works without depending on your connection.

Frequently asked questions

Do I need an expensive graphics card? No. It runs on CPU on any PC; with an NVIDIA it goes faster.

Does it work without internet? Yes, with a license it works 100% offline (only the first time it downloads the voice model).

Can I use it for YouTube/TikTok? Yes: export SRT/VTT or an MP4 with the subtitles already burned in.

Start subtitling your videos today →