Problem
After you upload an SRT file (subtitle file) to the Add Subtitles tool, you get the following error message: Looks like your SRT file is formatted incorrectly. Please fix formatting errors or contact us if you believe this is not the case.
Cause
For an SRT file to be recognized, it must have a specific format that follows these rules:
Subtitle number
A numeric ascending counter starting from 1 without spaces.
1
Timestamps
Start time and end time for the subtitle to appear in the video in the following format: hours:minutes:seconds,milliseconds. The end time value must be greater than the start time value.
00:02:16,612 --> 00:02:19,376
Text
Subtitle text on one or more lines.
Subtitle text.
Blank line
A blank line with no text indicating the end of this subtitle.
Example
Here’s an example of a correctly formatted SRT file:
1
00:00:01,342 --> 00:00:02,365
Subtitle text on one line
And another line.
2
00:00:02,364 --> 00:00:03,734
Subtitle text.
3
00:00:04,144 --> 00:00:04,237
Subtitle text.
4
00:00:05,361 --> 00:00:06,153
Subtitle text.
5
00:00:07,750 --> 00:00:09,560
Subtitle text.
Troubleshooting
If you see the SRT formatting error, most likely some formatting issues need to be fixed, for example:
- Missing or incorrect subtitle numbering: make sure the numbering goes as 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, etc.
- Errors in timing format: make sure there are no spaces within the timestamps, but there are spaces around the
-->. - Unnecessary or missing blank lines: make sure you have one blank line only after each subtitle text and no lines after the last line of your file.
- Video duration is shorter than subtitles: make sure the timing of the subtitles corresponds to or is no longer than the video.
Tools for editing SRT files
You can open and edit an SRT file in any text editor:
- Notepad (Windows)
- Notepad++ (Windows)
- TextEdit (macOS)
- Sublime Text (Windows and macOS)
- etc.
If you still get the error message after fixing formatting errors, please get in touch with us and attach your file for investigation.