Subtitle translator

Translation models treat every word as ordinary language. Left alone, they can turn a command into nonsense, or translate the name of a button that keeps its English label in your software. Add those words to the box marked Keep these as written, one per line. The tool hides each one from the model and puts it back in the right place afterwards, so npm install stays npm install. The list is saved in this browser for your next file.

Links, email addresses and text in backticks are protected without being listed. Terms match exact words and spelling, including capital letters. If a term goes missing from a translation, the subtitle is marked so you can add it back.

From English, it translates into Chinese (Simplified), Dutch, French, German, Indonesian, Italian, Spanish, Swedish and Ukrainian. Into English, it translates from Chinese, Dutch, French, German, Italian, Japanese, Korean, Polish, Russian, Spanish and Turkish. To go between two other languages, translate into English first and review that file before translating it again.

We tested each model on tutorial sentences before offering it: menu labels, commands and words with two meanings. English into Japanese, Russian, Arabic, Hindi, Vietnamese and Portuguese are left out because the results were not good enough to review. They may be added if better models become available. Each language pair is a separate download of about 110 to 135 MB, kept by your browser for next time.

These are small models that run on your own device, and they make mistakes a person would not. Technical words with an everyday meaning are the most common: in our tests “push the branch” came out as pressing a tree branch in several languages, “commit” as making a promise, and “dashboard” as a car's instrument panel. A very short line such as “OK” can come back as something else. Tone can vary too, moving between formal and informal from one line to the next.

Each subtitle is translated on its own, so a sentence split over two subtitles loses some context, and the words may read oddly at the join. Check those by reading on from one line to the next. Translate your finished subtitles, not a rough draft, and have someone who speaks the language read them before you publish. The tool marks subtitles that look wrong, but an unmarked line is not proof that it is right.

In YouTube Studio, open Subtitles, choose the video and select Add language. Pick the language you translated into, select Add under subtitles, then Upload file and With timing, and choose your file. Each language is its own track, so viewers pick the one they want. The downloaded name ends with the language code, such as lesson.es.srt, which keeps several files easy to tell apart.

Need subtitles to start with? The subtitle generator makes them from your video's speech, and the SRT to VTT converter changes the format without touching the words.

Translation uses the OPUS-MT models by the University of Helsinki's language technology group, under the Apache 2.0 and CC BY 4.0 licences, run with Transformers.js. YouTube's caption upload steps. Checked 5 November 2026.

Subtitles in a second language can open a tutorial to viewers who would otherwise skip it. Short sentences and clear steps translate best, so keep that in mind for the next one. Record your next tutorial with Rescreen, then come back here with its subtitles.