QuickTime Player can show subtitles, but it can't add them. As of 19 October 2026, Apple's QuickTime Player User Guide says it displays subtitles or captions only if the movie already contains them, through View > Subtitles, and the guide describes no way to load an SRT file or create subtitles. So the answer depends on what you have.
If you already have an SRT file, either embed it in the video as a subtitle track with a free muxing app such as Subler, so QuickTime shows it, or open the video in a player that loads SRT files. If you recorded your screen or camera in QuickTime and have no subtitle file at all, generate captions from the speech and burn them into the video. Both paths are below.
What QuickTime Player can and can't do with subtitles
From Apple's Show subtitles or captions in QuickTime Player page and the rest of the guide:
- Can: play subtitle tracks that are inside the file (View > Subtitles, then a language), and show closed captions embedded as CEA-608 (View > Show Closed Captioning).
- Can: record your screen (File > New Screen Recording) or camera, trim, and export a .mov at 4K, 1080p, 720p or 480p.
- Can't: open a separate .srt file, create or edit subtitles, transcribe speech, or export an MP4. Apple's export page says plainly that QuickTime Player doesn't export movies as MP4 videos.
That leaves four common situations:
| What you have | What to use | Cost (19 Oct 2026) | Result |
|---|---|---|---|
| Video + SRT, want switchable subtitles in QuickTime | Subler 1.9.5 | Free | MP4 with a subtitle track QuickTime shows |
| Video + SRT, just want to watch | VLC | Free | Subtitles shown during playback only |
| Video + SRT, want them in the picture | HandBrake or FFmpeg | Free | New video with subtitles burned in |
| Screen or camera recording, no SRT | A caption generator such as CapsAI | 3 free minutes, then from $4 | MP4 with captions burned in |
You have an SRT: embed a subtitle track
Subler is a free macOS app (macOS 10.13 or later; version 1.9.5 released 5 October 2026) built, in its own words, "to mux and tag MP4 files". Its home page says it creates text subtitle tracks "compatible with all Apple's devices (iPhone, iPad, AppleTV, iPod, QuickTime)", and its guide notes that QuickTime needs text-based subtitles, which is what an SRT becomes.
- Open Subler and choose File > New to get an empty window.
- Drag your video into the window. Subler takes MOV, MP4 and MKV sources and writes an MP4.
- Drag the .srt file into the same window. It appears as a subtitle track; set its language.
- Choose File > Save As and save a new copy, keeping the original as a backup.
- Open the new file in QuickTime Player and choose View > Subtitles, then the language.
If the SRT won't import, Subler's FAQ points to text encoding: save the file as UTF-8 and try again. Subler's guide shows each existing track set to pass through as it is, so the picture isn't re-encoded, and the subtitles stay switchable: viewers can turn them off.
Check the SRT before you embed it
An embedded track is only as good as the file you feed it, and problems are easier to fix before the muxing step than after. Three quick checks:
- Format. Subler's guides describe SRT files. If you were sent a WebVTT (.vtt) file and it won't import, convert it with our free VTT to SRT converter and keep the original.
- Encoding. Accented letters and non-Latin scripts turn into junk when the file isn't UTF-8. Re-save it as UTF-8 in a text editor before importing, which is also Subler's own advice.
- Timing. Run the file through the subtitle sync checker to catch overlapping cues, end times before start times and lines held on screen too long, any of which can break an import. If the subtitles were made for a different cut and every line is off by the same amount, shift them all at once with the subtitle time shift tool.
Or open the video in another player
If you only need to watch the video with subtitles, skip the embedding. VLC is free and, per VideoLAN's subtitles guide, reads .srt files: tick "use a subtitle file" in the Open Multiple Files dialog, or load the file from the Video > Subtitle Track menu. Nothing about the video changes, so this is the right choice for a lecture or a downloaded film you just want to follow.
Turn on a subtitle track QuickTime already shows
If the movie came with a subtitle track, for example a file you embedded with Subler, open it in QuickTime Player and choose View > Subtitles, then pick a language. You can also use the Subtitles button in the playback controls. For closed captions, such as a Final Cut Pro export with embedded CEA-608 captions, choose View > Show Closed Captioning; Apple notes that this option appears only for CEA-608 captions.
If neither option shows up, the file has no track QuickTime can read. Apple's page is direct about it: if the movie doesn't have subtitles, you won't see an option to view them. Embed one with Subler, or use the next section.
You have only a screen or camera recording: generate captions and burn them in
This is the case most QuickTime users are in: a screen recording of a demo, a tutorial or a slide talk, with no subtitle file. QuickTime Player won't write captions from it, so the speech has to be transcribed in another app: Final Cut Pro's Generate Captions does it on an Apple silicon Mac for U.S. English (see our Final Cut Pro auto captions guide), or a browser tool does it without new software. With CapsAI, in Safari or Chrome:
- Record and trim. Choose File > New Screen Recording, record, then Edit > Trim to cut the dead air at each end. The caption editor has no trim of its own. For cleaner captions, record in a quiet room, keep music off while you talk, and speak a little slower than in conversation; transcription of any kind struggles most with overlapping sound.
- Check the size. Screen recordings at full Retina resolution get large. 3 free minutes to start. Files up to 500 MB, or 10 GB with a pack. Videos up to 10 minutes each. To shrink one, use QuickTime's File > Export As > 1080p.
- Upload the .mov and pick the spoken language: English or one of 10 Indian languages. CapsAI doesn't detect it for you, and it needs a video file with speech; an audio-only file, such as QuickTime's Audio Only export, isn't accepted.
- Fix the draft. Correct product names and numbers, adjust start and end times, and choose 1 to 4 words per caption.
- Pick a style and export. 8 of the 37 styles are free; the rest come with any paid pack, from $4 (₹49 in India, €4 in the euro area), paid once. You download one MP4 with the captions burned in, the same shape as your recording, at 1080p on Starter or up to 4K on Creator and Pro.
The MP4 plays in QuickTime Player like any other file, with the captions always visible because they're part of the picture. Download it soon after export: projects are kept for 1 day on the free plan and 3 to 15 days with a pack. What CapsAI can't do is the SRT side of this page: it doesn't import, embed or export subtitle files, and there's no Mac app.
Embedded track vs burned-in captions: which to send
- Embedded track (Subler): viewers can turn it off and pick a language, and the text stays editable in the SRT. It only shows in players that read the track, and only if the viewer switches it on.
- Burned-in captions: visible in every player and on every site, including feeds that start muted. They can't be turned off, translated by the viewer or edited after export.
There's also a third option for uploads: send the clean video and the SRT side by side. Apple's Final Cut Pro guide lists SRT as a format YouTube, Facebook and Vimeo support, and those sites then handle the switchable captions for you.
For a file you're sending to a colleague on a Mac, either works. For a clip that will be posted where you can't control the player, burn them in. Our guide to burned-in vs closed captions goes deeper. If you have an SRT and want it burned in, see how to burn subtitles with HandBrake, VLC or FFmpeg. For the MOV and HEVC details behind iPhone and Mac recordings, see MP4 vs MOV for captioning, and if you're editing in iMovie rather than QuickTime, see how to add subtitles in iMovie.
What to do next
Have an SRT: embed it with Subler for QuickTime, or open the video in VLC. Have only a recording: trim it in QuickTime, then upload the .mov to the MOV caption generator and download the captioned MP4.
