Subtitles do not default to external SRT

[pancho12 2]

My subtitles have the same name as my MKV files. In the support page says Emby will always choose external subtitles first, but it is not my case. It always choose the internal ones first.

The player recognize the external subs because they appear as "Und (SRT)" and I can activate them without problems. But I want the player to always choose those external subtitles first.

Is there a way to do this?

For now I'm just testing this with the web player.

 

Thanks.

[Abobader 3464]

Hello pancho12,

** This is an auto reply **

Please wait for someone from staff support or our members to reply to you.

It's recommended to provide more info, as it explain in this thread:

Thank you.

Emby Team

[GrimReaper 4742]

3 minutes ago, pancho12 said:

My subtitles have the same name as my MKV files. In the support page says Emby will always choose external subtitles first, but it is not my case. It always choose the internal ones first.

The player recognize the external subs because they appear as "Und (SRT)" and I can activate them without problems. But I want the player to always choose those external subtitles first.

Is there a way to do this?

For now I'm just testing this with the web player.

 

Thanks.

There was a discussion about that already here:

Basically, without language code and/or deafult/forced tag, your "Und (SRT)" could hardly be preferred. 

[pancho12 2]

2 minutes ago, GrimReaper76 said:

There was a discussion about that already here:

Basically, without language code and/or deafult/forced tag, your "Und (SRT)" could hardly be preferred. 

Sorry, did not see it. Too bad there is not an option to always prefer the external one, even without the language code. Renaming all my subs would be a pain in the ass.

[Luke 42080]

More options are possible in future updates. Thanks for the feedback.

[Carlo 4561]

On 4/13/2021 at 8:36 AM, pancho12 said:

Sorry, did not see it. Too bad there is not an option to always prefer the external one, even without the language code. Renaming all my subs would be a pain in the ass.

Like that other thread shows it's a matter of what's marked as default and having the needed language type in the file name.

You will need to follow the subtitle naming convention:

https://emby.media/support/articles/Subtitles.html

Edited November 6, 2025 by GrimReaper
KB article link updated

[pancho12 2]

17 minutes ago, cayars said:

Like that other thread shows it's a matter of what's marked as default and having the needed language type in the file name.

You will need to follow the subtitle naming convention:

https://support.emby.media/a/solutions/articles/44001159160

I don't understand, the support page shows that not having the language code should work, I have all my movies and TV shows like this example:

Home Alone.mkv
Home Alone.srt

Am I missing something?

[Carlo 4561]

It will work for manual selection if they are the only subs.

But if you have internal subs that do have proper languages associated with the tracks and external subs without language what is Emby to do?

If you name your external files with the language setting then Emby will know what language the track is for and can use the external over the internal.

Do you only have one language downloaded for your subs?

Example of what I'm asking.  Is all SRT files for English?

Or do you have combinations for example English and Spanish?

What I'm getting at is to try and see if it's possible to mass rename your srt files.

[pancho12 2]

3 minutes ago, cayars said:

It will work for manual selection if they are the only subs.

But if you have internal subs that do have proper languages associated with the tracks and external subs without language what is Emby to do?

If you name your external files with the language setting then Emby will know what language the track is for and can use the external over the internal.

Do you only have one language downloaded for your subs?

Example of what I'm asking.  Is all SRT files for English?

Or do you have combinations for example English and Spanish?

What I'm getting at is to try and see if it's possible to mass rename your srt files.

I see, so if the sub is external but it has no language code, it will choose the internal first.

Yeah, I tested it and it seems that the only way to default to the external ones is adding the language code at the end of the file name.

Guess I will have to manually select the subs for the things that I already have and start adding the code for future downloads.

Thank you very much.

[Carlo 4561]

Are all your external subs one language?

[pancho12 2]

16 minutes ago, cayars said:

Are all your external subs one language?

Yes, always.

[Carlo 4561]

What language?

[pancho12 2]

18 minutes ago, cayars said:

What language?

They are all in spanish.

[Carlo 4561]

OK, do you know how to use the DOS command line rename utility?
With this you can mass rename all .srt to .spa.srt ?

[pancho12 2]

20 minutes ago, cayars said:

OK, do you know how to use the DOS command line rename utility?
With this you can mass rename all .srt to .spa.srt ?

I see, not really, no, but if that's a thing you can do with CMD I can google how to do it I guess.

[Carlo 4561]

Open a command prompt.
Now change to the top level folder holding your movies.

Example:
F:
CD F:\Movies

Now type the following
dir *.srt /s

That will give you a long scrolling list of every srt from your movies.
Make sure the only extension is ".srt" and nothing is ".en.srt", "eng.srt", "sp.srt" or "spa.srt" or subs with a DOUBLE EXTENSION.
If you have any with "double extensions" then halt and let us know before continuing

I would suggest doing a test run first by copying 5 to 10 movie folders to a new location and doing a test run on that first by switching to that new folder/directory and then running this:

forfiles /S /M *.srt /C "cmd /c rename @file @fname.spa.srt"

That will rename EVERY file with an ".srt" extension to ".spa.srt" extension making them all spanish subs.

Now look hard at your test folder to make sure everything worked and renamed ONLY the SRT files correctly.
If everything looks good switch your actual movie folder and run that same exact command again to rename your non test/real movies subtitles.

After that cleanup you test folder and then perform a full library scan in Emby.

Let us know how you make out or if you hit any snags.

[moviepalace4K 29]

7 hours ago, pancho12 said:

Ja altijd.

Search on Google for 'advanced renamer'. I use it top. Good for this issue.

[pancho12 2]

21 hours ago, cayars said:

Open a command prompt.
Now change to the top level folder holding your movies.

Example:
F:
CD F:\Movies

Now type the following
dir *.srt /s

That will give you a long scrolling list of every srt from your movies.
Make sure the only extension is ".srt" and nothing is ".en.srt", "eng.srt", "sp.srt" or "spa.srt" or subs with a DOUBLE EXTENSION.
If you have any with "double extensions" then halt and let us know before continuing

I would suggest doing a test run first by copying 5 to 10 movie folders to a new location and doing a test run on that first by switching to that new folder/directory and then running this:

forfiles /S /M *.srt /C "cmd /c rename @file @fname.spa.srt"

That will rename EVERY file with an ".srt" extension to ".spa.srt" extension making them all spanish subs.

Now look hard at your test folder to make sure everything worked and renamed ONLY the SRT files correctly.
If everything looks good switch your actual movie folder and run that same exact command again to rename your non test/real movies subtitles.

After that cleanup you test folder and then perform a full library scan in Emby.

Let us know how you make out or if you hit any snags.

Thanks!! It worked perfectly!!

[Carlo 4561]

7 hours ago, pancho12 said:

Thanks!! It worked perfectly!!

Awesome, good to hear it worked for you!