Subtitles

Kodi supports both stand-alone subtitle and embedded subtitles. Most major subtitle formats are supported. Kodi can also search and download subtitles directly from full screen playback.

Changing subtitle settings during playback


Various subtitle settings can be changed or they turned On/Off (default is on) via the OSD (On Screen Display) while watching a movie by selecting the subtitle menu or audio options.

Main settings
Settings -> Videos -> Subtitles

Adjusting subtitles position
The position of the subtitles can be adjusted vertically (but not horizontally) in the Video Calibration screen, you can also configure the way that they are displayed though the Subtitles Settings.

Note: This does not apply to DVD subtitles as the DVD itself defines their location.

Subtitle downloader

 * can be bound to a remote button using keymaps in order to quickly bring up the subtitle search window.

Manually downloaded external subtitle files
To use stand-alone subtitle files with video files, put them in the same folder as the video file or alternatively go to the Subtitles Settings and set a Custom Subtitle Directory. You can also choose to manually browse for the subtitle file via the OSD (On Screen Display) Audio and Subtitle Settings. You can configure the way that they are displayed through the Subtitles Settings, and you can adjust where they are displayed onscreen through the Video Calibration Screen.

The subtitle and video files must have the same name, for example: Video File: The Matrix.avi Subtitle: The Matrix.srt

Compressed subtitles
Kodi also supports compressed VobSub subtitles. Please note that the subtitles inside the RAR archive still need to have the same name as the video file. Video File: The Matrix.avi Subtitle: The Matrix.rar Where The Matrix.rar containins the VobSub-file The Matrix.sub and the The Matrix.idx VobSub index-file that has been compressed with RAR. If you want Kodi to automatically turn on packed subtitles, you have to turn on the Search for Subtitles in RARs option in Subtitles Settings.

Using multi language subtitles
Kodi supports the use of more than one external subtitle. This of course is most useful when you have more than one subtitle file, (eg. for more than language).

To use this functionality you need to rename the video file and subtitle files as follows:

Video File: The Matrix.avi Subtitle 1: The Matrix.English.srt Subtitle 2: The Matrix.French.srt Subtitle 3: The Matrix.German.srt

The dot after the filename but before the extension specifies the language (you can use anything here, mix numbers and and letters or just use one or the other).

You can even mix subtitle formats, eg:

Video File: Movie Name (2006).avi Subtitle 1: Movie Name (2006).Chinese.idx Subtitle 1: Movie Name (2006).Chinese.sub Subtitle 2: Movie Name (2006).Japanese.idx Subtitle 2: Movie Name (2006).Japanese.sub Subtitle 3: Movie Name (2006).English.srt Subtitle 4: Movie Name (2006).French.smi Subtitle 5: Movie Name (2006).German.ssa

Adding fonts
Additional fonts can be stored in the Kodi folder (one level below userdata) at

Increasing the delay range for subtitle adjustment
If you don't already have an advancedsettings.xml file, it's very simple to make. Kodi uses this file for advanced settings and features that normal users shouldn't modify without first knowing what they do, as well as for experimental features, etc.


 * 1) Create a plain text file (no rich text formatting, don't use .doc, etc) and save it as advancedsettings.xml. Make sure that the file extension is ".xml" and not ".txt" or ".xml.txt".
 * 2) Cut and paste this into your new plain text file:
 * 3) Change the two values between the tags to fit your situation.
 * 4) Save this file in your userdata folder
 * If you have an existing file, make sure the tags, and settings we'll add between them, are between the main  tags.
 * If you have an existing file, make sure the tags, and settings we'll add between them, are between the main  tags.

Using Forced Subtitles
Many movies have subtitles encoded for secondary languages spoken during the film – when these are added to the movie, they are known as forced subtitles and are always visible (despite not being hard encoded). As of Gotham, Kodi recognizes and respects the forced flag for showing subtitles (even if subtitles are turned off by default, the forced flag will trigger them being turned on). This requires that the user have set the default languages in Settings in order to function properly. If there are multiple forced subtitles, Kodi will select the forced subtitles that match the default playback language.

If you are using an .mkv file, the forced subtitles may be included in the file when originally encoded. If so, Kodi will automatically recognize that they are present and will display them at the appropriate times. If they are not included, or if the header was not properly edited, you will need to use external subtitles.
 * Internal Forced Subtitles

If you are using anything other than an .mkv file, or if your mkv doesn’t have the forced subtitles properly included, the forced flag can be easily added to your external subtitles. Following the same naming conventions listed above, you can then append the forced flag to the end of the subtitle file name. The forced flag can be either upper, lower or mixed case in the filename and can use a “.” (dot), “ “ (space) or “-“ (dash) to separate them from the name of the movie and language of the subtitles. IE:
 * External Forced Subtitles