Most of the popular Kodi video add-ons are capable of downloading subtitles automatically, but sometimes you need more control over the subtitle selection process to get the right one for your videos.
In this guide, we’ll enable subtitles on Kodi using a couple of add-ons, so you can watch all your shows and movies with subtitles in your preferred language.
1. Set up subtitle preferences on Kodi
Let’s start by setting our preferred language for subtitles and audio.
1. Press the cog icon near the top left corner of the screen. 
2. Open the Player settings.
3. Highlight the Language tab and set your Preferred audio language and Preferred subtitle language. 
Configuring the Preferred audio language ensures that the correct audio track is selected when playing multi-language streams. If English is not your primary language, you should be aware that streams in languages other than English are harder to find.
4. Now highlight the Subtitles tab and set Language to download subtitles for to your preferred language. You can enable multiple languages for subtitles. 
The Default TV show service and Default movie service settings allow you to define your preferred subtitle add-on. Since we have not installed any add-ons yet, we’ll leave these fields empty for now. Please remember to come back and set your preferred subtitle add-ons later.
2. Subtitle add-ons on the official Kodi repository
The official Kodi repository offers a variety of subtitles add-ons for many languages, some of these add-ons require a user account from their respective websites.
Some of our favorite add-ons on the official repository are OpenSubtitles.com, Subscene Subtitles, and Addic7ed. These add-ons offer subtitles in many languages.
OpenSubtitles requires a user account, while the other two do not. Try a couple of add-ons to find which one works best with your preferred languages.
In this guide, we will install Opensubtitles.com, their website offers a large catalog of subtitles in many languages. You must create a free account on Opensubtitles.com to use the add-on.
1. Pressing the cog icon near the top left corner of the Home Screen.
2. Select Add-ons.
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. Now, let’s install some subtitles add-ons. There are many providers, install the ones that suit your language needs.
6. Click on the Install button.
7. Let’s configure the add-on. Open the Context Menu on OpenSubtitles.com and select Settings. (Use a long-press on the remote or the C key on the keyboard to open the context menu).
8. Enter your username and password, and press OK to continue.
3. Using subtitles add-ons en Kodi
Now that we installed and configured the add-ons, we’re ready to use subtitles on Kodi. Let’s start by playing a movie or episode.
1. When playing a video, press the Subtitles button near the bottom-right corner of the screen.
2. Select Download subtitles…
3. Press on one of the installed add-ons and wait a couple of seconds while the search process finishes. Then select a file from the list to download the subtitles.
The video will automatically resume playing as soon as the subtitle file is downloaded.
4. Recommended Kodi subtitle add-ons
a4kSubtitles and SubLoader are two great subtitle add-ons. Both can grab subtitles from a set of popular subtitle websites, they can find subtitles in many languages, and do not require a user account (but you can still use your own OpenSubtitles account for better results).
4.1. Install a4kSubtitles
A4KSubtitles is a great add-on that supports multiple subtitle services like OpenSubtitles, BSPlayer, Podnapisi, Subscene, and Addic7ed.
a4kSubtitles uses the IMDb identifier to find matches for your video, this identifier is usually provided by the streaming add-on as metadata. Luckily, a4kSubtitles works with most modern add-ons.
1. Press the cog icon to open the Settings menu.
2. Press File Manager. 
3. Select Add Source. 
4. Enter https://a4k-openproject.github.io/ on the top box and Addons4Kodi on the bottom one. Press OK to add the source. 
5. Now select Add-ons.
6. Press on Install from zip file. 
7. Select Addons4Kodi. 
8. Click on a4kSubtitles-repository-x.x.zip to install the repository. 
9. Now select Install from repository.
10. Press on Addons4Kodi Repository. 
11. Select Subtitles. 
12. Click on a4KSubtitles. 
13. Press the Install button to install a4kSubtitles on Kodi. 
You’ll see a list of dependencies to be installed along with the add-on, press OK to continue. Now you’re ready to use a4kSubtitles on Kodi.
Check out the add-on’s settings to enable automatic subtitles search, enable/disable subtitle providers, and more.
4.2. Install SubLoader
SubLoader is a service add-on that automatically finds and downloads subtitles for your content with great accuracy. No need to navigate menus, just play your content and SubLoader will do the rest. This add-on is especially useful if you use subtitles often.
SubLoader uses the IMDb number and filename of your video to find the best match. The more descriptive the filename, the better the chances of finding the correct subtitles.
1. Go to SubLoader’s releases page on GitHub and download the latest version of service.subloader-x.x.x.zip. 
Remember the path for the downloaded zip file, we’ll need it in a moment.
2. Open Kodi and press the cog icon to open the Settings menu.
3. Select Add-ons.
4. Press Install from zip file.
5. Locate the recently downloaded zip file and press on it to install SubLoader. 
SubLoader is now installed, but it uses its own language preferences. Let’s open the add-on’s settings and select our preferred language.
6. Select My Add-ons. 
7. Click on Services. 
8. Select SubLoader. 
9. Press the Configure button. 
10. You can choose up to 3 languages on the Subtitles tab. Press OK to save the settings. 
It’s important that you install other subtitle add-ons to use as backup. If SubLoader can’t identify your video, it’ll open the subtitle download dialog and use your other add-ons as fallback.
SubLoader is a fork of AutoSubs. If you’re using AutoSubs please uninstall it to avoid conflicts between the add-ons.
Looking for more add-ons? These are some of our favorite Kodi add-ons for December 2023.
Please visit our list of the best Kodi add-ons for more information.
 | Seren: Excellent add-on with great user interface and many innovative functions. (Premium sources) |
 | Umbrella: Great add-on based on Venom. (Premium sources) |
 | Fen: This add-on is very fast and offers many features. (Premium sources) |
 | Elementum: An exceptional add-on that offers high-quality streams using torrents. (Free sources) |
 | Scrubs: Great add-on specialized in free sources. (Free sources) |
 | The Crew: Great all-in-one add-on with many extra features for kids, sports, live TV, and more. (Free and premium sources) |
I have the same problem. Stuck at register? How do you update the system? will that resolve the problem? thanks for your help.
Yes. There is a selection to choose the 1st subtitle right next to where you choose which subtitle service you want in the system menu under subtitles- it is used instead of choosing a subtitle service.
It seemed ok until you had to try to register. Fuck what a pain, gave up after 15 mins.
You should update system. You are running an old system. If you don’t want to update try to click get addons, and you should see install from repository on the next screen
Is there a way to have it automatically pick the first subtitle file available instead of opening the subtitle selection screen?
Currently, I also have the same problem… I’ve tried different sub provider, the result is the same… It has gone haywire…
Hey, were you able to find English subtitles? I’m also stuck yet I love watching Spanish shows
Scratch my last post. I figured it out. I someone hadnt completed the full sign up process on their website. Went back, paid attention to detail and got it done. Now its working somewhat. My only problem now is trying to get the subtitles to match whats being said. Its WAY off for me right now. Also, when “downloading” these subtitles do they automatically erase themselves from where ever they’re at or are they building up on our devices, filling up the drive and require manual deleting later? I have a firestick and we all know theres not much space on that.
Im having the same problem. I guess it stopped working between the 28th, which was the last time someone said it was working, and now.
I installed as you instructed but it would not load subtitles due to password error. How do I get around this? Thanks
Thanks so much for uncomplicated instructions!
Extremely easy to follow and it actually worked!
I followed the tutorial all the way. I want to get french or bulgarian subtitles for english movies, but it only ever finds english subtitles. Any tips?
Subscene has not been working for me for the last couple of weeks. I liked it even better than opensubtitles, but when I try to use it now it says “failed: check log for error” any idea on what this could be? I have uninstalled and reinstalled to no avail.
I’ve tried all these suggestions but I still get subtitles on all movies and TV shows. I uninstalled the autosub service, gone into audio settings during a show and un-enabled subtitles and saved for all media but still have subtitles on all media. Any idea what the issue is?
I have a quick question … I’ve uninstalled all of my subtitle services, but the screen that lets me choose a subtitle service is still appearing automatically every time I start watching something.
Is there a way to turn the automatic overlay off?
Hi, you have to uninstall the Autosubs service. Go to System > Add-ons > My Add-ons > Service and uninstall Autosubs.