How to change Subtitles position in VLC on PC

VLC is an open-source media player program that plays different formats of video and audio files. It’s compatible across gadgets including Windows computers. Users like this app for its features, one of which is the ability to download and include subtitles in the video playing. In this article, we will look at how you can change subtitles position in VLC on PC. You can position subtitles in the center, at the top, or at the left or right of the video. There are different ways you can achieve this using the inbuild settings on the VLC app.

Some users are used to seeing subtitles overlaying at the bottom of the video. But did you know you can even set them to show at the bottom of the video without overlaying? This and more are some of the available features in VLC player. Subtitles are a good way to understand more of what you are watching, especially if you are not conversant with the accent or language in a movie or TV show.

How to change subtitles position in VLC on PC

In changing the subtitles’ position in the VLC media player, not only do you shift them left, right, bottom, or center, but you can go further and fine-tune exactly where in those options. In this section, you will learn how to:

1. Align subtitles position in VLC
2. Position subtitles below or above the video without the overlay

Let us see these two changes in detail

1] Align subtitles position in VLC

By default, the subtitles are always at the bottom overlaying the video on the VLC media player. You can align this position to the left, right, or center. Follow the steps below:

• Open the VLC player and go to Tools > Preferences.
• You will see Show settings; select All to continue to the Advanced preferences.
• Select Input/Codecs and then go to Subtitle codecs > Subtitles.
• On the left side, you will see Text subtitle decoder. Locate Subtitle justification and select where you want to position your subtitles from the options Center, Left, or Right.
• Finally, hit the Save button to complete the process. You may need to relaunch VLC to effect the changes.

2] Position subtitles below or above the video without the overlay

Apart from positioning the subtitles on the left, right, or center, you can create a blank black area under the video and position the subtitles there. However, this works well if the original video had no empty black area on top or bottom; most movies and TV shows have this area. The first step here is to create the empty black space and this is how:

• Open VLC and press Ctrl + P to open Preferences, or you can go to Tool > Preferences.
• In the Show settings option, click All and then go to Video > Filters.
• On the left side, locate and tick the box next to the Video cropping filter.
• On the left side, go to the Padd option and set the value for Pixels to padd to bottom as 110, and click press Save to effect the changes.

Now, we have created an empty space below the video. The height of the space depends on the value you will enter to padd. Next is to position our subtitles in that space. Follow the steps below:

• Go to Advanced preferences as we did in the steps above and select Video > Subtitles/OSD.
• On the left side, locate Force subtitle position and set the value to a negative number like 150, and then click Save.

The negative number pushes the subtitles below the video while a positive number pushes it above the video. So, to position the subtitles above the video enter a positive number like 500 in the Force subtitle position.

That’s all. We hope you find something helpful here.

Next tip: Adjust, delay, speedup Subtitle Speed in VLC Media Player

Why can’t I download subtitles in VLC on PC?

You might not be able to download subtitles on VLC because you have internet connection issues or you are not logged in to the VLSub extension. This extension is in charge of fetching subtitles from opensubtitles.org. Another reason could also be an issue to do with the VLC app that needs to be resolved by resetting or reinstalling the app on your Windows PC.

Read: How to download subtitles in VLC media player

Why won’t my Subtitles move in VLC?

There are several reasons why your subtitles won’t work or move in VLC. For example, the subtitle file might be corrupted or empty, the VLC media player subtitle settings are not turned on properly, or subtitles are not in UTF-8 encoding of the text. Another reason would be the subtitle file is saved in a different folder from the video.