# Move every SRT subtitle earlier or later

Choose the correct offset, understand negative-time protection, and recognize drift that a fixed shift cannot solve.

Source: https://subtitleworkbench.com/guides/shift-srt-subtitles

## 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.

## Check the same offset near the start, middle and end

Choose three short phrases that you can locate in both your subtitles and the video. Record each cue start and the matching phrase start in the video. Subtract the cue start from the video time. Keep your original file while you check.

These are invented practice measurements, in seconds:

| Reference | Cue start (s) | Video phrase start (s) | Video minus cue (s) |
| --- | --- | --- | --- |
| Near the start | 10.800 | 12.000 | +1.200 |
| Near the middle | 300.800 | 302.000 | +1.200 |
| Near the end | 600.800 | 602.000 | +1.200 |

## Compare a changing offset

Here, +1.200 seconds is consistent at all three points. Enter 1.2 in Time shift, seconds, then watch the exported subtitles at these points. The offset moves each start and end by the same amount, preserving cue durations and gaps. Three matching points are a useful check, not proof that every cue is correct.

Now keep the same video references, but use cue starts of 10.800, 300.400 and 600.000. The required shifts become +1.200, +1.600 and +2.000 seconds. Applying +1.200 fixes the first reference while the other two remain 0.400 and 0.800 seconds early. Do not keep increasing the global shift to fix only the ending: that also moves the beginning.

For your own file, use the delivery specification and actual playback to judge small differences; these examples do not define an allowed timing tolerance. A changing offset can also reflect different edits or an incorrectly matched phrase. It does not identify a frame-rate conversion by itself. Resolve the cause in the source project or an editor that supports multiple synchronization points. Subtitle Workbench applies a constant offset only.

## 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.

## Sources

- [Subtitle Edit: timing and batch processing reference](https://github.com/SubtitleEdit/subtitleedit/blob/main/docs/reference/command-line.md)

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