How to enable automatic subtitles on Kodi

Some popular video addons for Kodi already have automatic subtitles capabilities and that’s great, but some times you need more control over your selection process to get the right subtitles for your video. In this guide we’ll enable subtitles on Kodi using a couple of addons so you can watch all your shows and movies on Kodi with subtitles in any language.

Install subtitles addons on Kodi

1.  Click the Add-ons tab on the Home Screen.  

2. Open the Addon Browser by clicking the little box  icon on the top left corner of the screen. 

3. Select Install from repository.

4. Click on Subtitles. (If you’ve installed 3rd party repositories on your system you’ll have to select the official Kodi Add-on Repository first).

5. Lets install some subtitles addons. There are many providers, install the ones that suits your language needs. Subscene is great for english subtitles.
If you want to install the official OpenSubtitles addon read the instructions at the end of this tutorial, OpenSubtitles offers subtitles in many languages. 

6. Click on the Install button. 

Set up subtitles on Kodi

7. Now we are going to set up the preferred language for subtitles. Go back to the Home Screen and open Settings by clicking the gear icon near the bottom-left corner. 

8. Select Player Settings. 

9. Highlight the Language tab and click on Language to download subtitles for.

10. You can select more than one language. Select your preferred languages and click OK to confirm.

11. Now set the Default TV show service and Default movie service to one of the subtitles addons installed earlier.

12. You’re ready to go. When playing a video use the Subtitles button near the bottom right corner of the screen to select and download your subtitles. 

[Optional] How to enable automatic subtitles on Kodi with Autosubs

If you use subtitles often you may find that clicking on Subtitles > Download every time you start a video can be a bit annoying. Lets solve that by installing the Autosubs service. .

13. Go to the Home Screen and click on the Add-ons tab.

14. Select Addon Browser. 

15. Then select Install from repository.

16. Click on Services. (If you’ve installed 3rd party repositories you’ll have to select the official Kodi Add-on Repository first)

17. Select Autosubs.

18. Press Install. 

19. Now that Autosubs is installed the Subtitle Selection Dialog will automatically open when you start playing a video. 

When choosing a subtitles file keep in mind the video quality and try to match it with the subtitle file name, this way you’ll have better chances of getting the right subtitles for your video. Most addons scrapping file locker websites for sources will show a truncated filename which makes finding the right subtitle harder.

How to install the official OpenSubtitles addon

OpenSubtitles.org has launched its official addon for Kodi called OpenSubtitles by OpenSubtitles. This new addon doesn’t require authentication and it gives you access to their extensive collection of subtitles in several languages.

• Download the addon from its GitHub page or using this link, remember the location of the downloaded file.
• Go to Add-ons > Add-on Browser (the box icon on the top-left corner) > Install from zip file.
• Locate the downloaded zip file and click on it to install.

If you want to search for subtitles before playing a video you can install the Context Menu addon for OpenSubtitles, it only works with OpenSubtitles.

Don’t forget to remove the old OpenSubtitles addon if you already installed it. Unlike the official addon, the OpenSubtitles addon available on the official Kodi repository requires an OpenSubtitles account.

More Info:

• OpenSubtitles addon thread on OpenSubtitles forums.

You can stream Movies and TV shows on Kodi using 3rd party addons, check our tutorials on some of the most popular Kodi addons for streaming:

• How to install Placenta.
• How to install Elementum.