Move every SRT subtitle earlier or later
Choose the correct offset, understand negative-time protection, and recognize drift that a fixed shift cannot solve.
Use one offset for one consistent delay
If every cue appears 1.5 seconds too early, add 1.5 seconds to every start and end time. Enter 1.5 in Subtitle Workbench’s Time shift, seconds field. If every cue appears 1.5 seconds too late, enter -1.5. A positive value moves cues later on the video timeline.
A fixed offset keeps every cue duration and gap unchanged. It suits an inserted intro, a different clip origin, or a consistent export delay. Incorrect caption text still needs editing.
| Step | Timestamp |
|---|---|
| Original | 00:00:02,250 --> 00:00:04,750 |
| Shift | +1.500 seconds |
| Result | 00:00:03,750 --> 00:00:06,250 |
| Duration before and after | 2.500 seconds |
Measure against a clear reference
Choose a distinct spoken phrase near the beginning instead of a long passage with several speakers. Compare the subtitle start with the phrase’s start in the video, apply the difference, then check another phrase much later.
If the phrase starts at 12.0 seconds in the video and the cue starts at 10.8 seconds, +1.2 seconds is a candidate offset. Check by watching and listening. Captions can intentionally appear slightly before speech or remain briefly after it, so delivery requirements determine the final timing.
Stop before a cue moves before zero
If the first cue starts at 00:00:01,000, a -2 second shift would put its start at -1 second. The tool refuses that export and identifies the cue. It does not clamp the start to zero, delete the cue, or shorten its duration because those repairs alter the file’s behavior.
- Use a smaller shift, or edit the first cue intentionally in the source project when that is the actual correction.
- Offsets are rounded to the nearest millisecond to match SRT precision. Inspect the full preview before downloading.
Treat progressive drift as a different problem
When captions match near the beginning but move farther out of sync by the end, one offset cannot correct the pattern. Different edits, playback rates, or timeline conversion can make the error vary across the video. Compare several synchronization points in the source editor.
Subtitle Workbench applies one constant offset. Use a subtitle editor for time-axis stretching, frame-rate conversion, or matching captions to audio.