Ijharul Islam
To add Arabic subtitles to a video, create an Arabic subtitle file by transcribing Arabic speech or translating existing subtitles into Arabic, save it as a UTF-8 SRT or VTT, then either upload it as an Arabic track (for example in YouTube Studio with Add language, Arabic) or burn it into the video with a tool and font that support Arabic’s right-to-left, joined script.
Arabic adds problems English subtitles don’t have: text runs right to left, letters join and change shape, and punctuation or English words can appear at the wrong end of a line. This guide covers how to avoid each.
The short answer
Get Arabic subtitles by transcribing Arabic audio or translating your subtitles into Arabic, then have a native speaker check them. Save as UTF-8 SRT or VTT. Upload the file as an Arabic track on YouTube or your player, or burn it in with a tool that shapes Arabic right to left and uses an Arabic font such as Noto Sans Arabic.
Key takeaways
- Save Arabic subtitle files as UTF-8, or the letters turn into symbols.
- Burn-in tools must shape Arabic: joined letters, right-to-left order. Test before you export a long video.
- Choose Modern Standard Arabic or a dialect on purpose; Netflix’s Arabic guide requires MSA for its subtitles.
- Punctuation and English words in an Arabic line are where display errors show up; check them on a phone.
- Keep lines short: Netflix’s Arabic guide uses 42 characters per line and two lines at most.
Disclosure: we make QuickVeed and show how to do this in it, along with other ways. Details about other products come from their public pages, checked in October 2026 and linked at the end.
3 ways to add Arabic subtitles to a video
| Your situation | Method | What to watch |
|---|---|---|
| The video is in Arabic | Transcribe the Arabic audio automatically, then proofread | Dialect words, names, English terms |
| The video is in English or another language | Transcribe it, then translate the subtitles into Arabic | MSA vs dialect, line length after translation |
| You already have subtitles in another language | Translate the SRT into Arabic, keeping the timing | Have a native speaker review |
Typing Arabic subtitles by hand is possible with an Arabic keyboard layout on any computer or phone, but slow for anything long. Whatever the route, the text must be Unicode Arabic in a UTF-8 file.
YouTube’s automatic captions support Arabic, so if the video is already on your channel you can start from those in YouTube Studio and fix them.
Right-to-left text: what goes wrong and how to fix it
Arabic is written right to left, and its letters connect and change shape depending on their position in a word. Subtitle software and players have to handle both. Most problems come from one of these:
| Problem | What you see | Cause and fix |
|---|---|---|
| Disconnected letters | Each letter stands alone, in its isolated form | The renderer doesn’t shape Arabic. Use a tool with complex-script shaping; in FFmpeg that means libass built with HarfBuzz |
| Words in reverse order | Text reads left to right | The tool treats Arabic as left-to-right. Use a tool with right-to-left support |
| Punctuation at the wrong end | A full stop or question mark appears at the start of the line | Mixed-direction text. Put the punctuation after the last Arabic word in the file; if a player still misplaces it, add a right-to-left mark (U+200F) after it |
| English words jump around | An English brand name moves to the other side of the line | Same cause. Keep the English word inside the sentence, not at the end, or add a right-to-left mark |
| Boxes or symbols | Squares or letters like ا | Missing font, or the file isn’t UTF-8. Re-save as UTF-8; use a font with Arabic, such as Noto Sans Arabic |
Use Arabic punctuation: the Arabic comma (،) and question mark (؟). Soft subtitles on YouTube or in a web player are drawn by the viewer’s device, which almost always handles Arabic well. Burned-in subtitles depend entirely on the tool you burn with, so check those carefully.
Test on the devices your viewers use. A file that looks right in a desktop browser can still put a question mark on the wrong side in an older TV app or media player. Play the subtitled video on an Android phone and an iPhone if you can, and look at lines that start or end with a number, an English word or punctuation; those are where problems show.
Write Arabic subtitles people can read
Netflix’s Arabic timed-text style guide is a useful reference even outside streaming. Its main rules:
- Line length: up to 42 characters per line, two lines at most, one line where it fits.
- Reading speed: up to 20 characters per second for adult programmes and 17 for children’s.
- Language: Modern Standard Arabic, with no dialect words, for translated subtitles.
- Diacritics (harakat): only where leaving them out would change the meaning.
- Line breaks: don’t separate pairs such as a verb and its subject, or a noun and its adjective.
For business videos, MSA reaches viewers across the Arab world. If your audience is in one country and the speaker uses a dialect, subtitles closer to that dialect can feel more natural; decide once and keep it consistent. Our free reading speed checker lets you set 20 characters per second, and subtitle reading speed explains the numbers.
Arabic translations are often a little shorter than English in characters but not always; recheck reading speed after translating, and split or shorten lines that run long.
How to add Arabic subtitles in QuickVeed
QuickVeed’s Captions & subtitles handles Arabic speech and translation into Arabic, and burns Arabic captions right to left.
- Upload the video (up to 3 hours) and pick a caption style and position. Press Transcribe.
- For Arabic speech, transcription uses OpenAI’s whisper-1; if whisper writes the wrong script or repeats a line, the audio is transcribed again with gpt-4o-transcribe automatically.
- On the Edit tab, have an Arabic speaker check every line, then press Save changes.
- For a video in another language, go to the Translate tab and tick Arabic (up to 5 languages at a time). Each line keeps its timing.
- On the Download tab, get the Arabic SRT, VTT or TXT, all UTF-8.
- On the Burn in tab, choose Arabic and a style. Arabic captions are drawn with Noto Sans Arabic, right to left, at the bottom, middle or top.
The transcript costs 1.5 credits a minute, rounded up. Each burned-in copy is 1 credit a minute (3 minimum, videos up to 30 minutes), and translation is billed by AI use, usually a credit or two per language. New accounts get a 14-day trial with 75 credits, no card needed. A 5-minute English product video costs 8 credits to transcribe, about a credit or two to translate into Arabic, and 5 credits for the Arabic captioned copy.
Want Arabic audio instead of text? AI dubbing speaks Arabic in the speaker’s cloned voice (with their consent) or a stock voice; see how to dub a video.
Subtitling Arabic speech: what to expect
Automatic speech recognition handles Arabic, but the result needs more checking than English. The usual issues:
- Dialect. Egyptian, Gulf, Levantine and Maghrebi Arabic differ a lot in spoken words. Models trained mostly on MSA mishear dialect words or write them in MSA spelling.
- Code-switching. Many speakers mix in English or French words, especially in business and tech. Decide whether they appear in Latin letters or Arabic script.
- Missing hamza and letter variants. Automatic text may write ا for أ or ه for ة. A native reader catches these quickly.
- Names. Arabic names have several common Latin spellings, and foreign names have several Arabic ones. Ask people how they write their own names.
A worked example
A 3-minute Arabic customer interview in Gulf dialect, for a website and Instagram. Transcribe it automatically (5 credits in QuickVeed), then have a native speaker spend about ten minutes correcting dialect words and names. Download the Arabic VTT for the website player and burn in an Arabic copy for Instagram (3 credits). Translate the corrected Arabic into English for a second track, and have it checked too. The careful step is the human review in the middle; everything else is quick.
Testing before a long export
Before burning Arabic into a 30-minute video, burn a short test clip that includes a question, a number and an English name. If those three render correctly, the rest of the file almost certainly will.
Uploading Arabic subtitles and a final checklist
- YouTube: in YouTube Studio, open Subtitles, choose the video, click Add language, select Arabic and upload the SRT. YouTube requires SRT files in plain UTF-8.
- Your website: add a VTT file with a <track> element, srclang="ar" and a label such as العربية. Convert SRT to VTT with our SRT to VTT converter.
- Social feeds: burn the Arabic subtitles in so they look the same on every phone.
Before you publish
- Letters are joined, and every line reads right to left.
- Question marks and full stops sit at the end (left side) of the line.
- English names and numbers appear in the right place in the sentence.
- Consistent digits: Western (123) or Arabic-Indic (١٢٣), not both.
- MSA or dialect, used consistently.
- No cue longer than two lines; nothing a native reader can’t finish.
- Watched on a phone with the sound off.
For several languages on one video, see subtitles in multiple languages.
Keep the corrected Arabic SRT as your master file. If you later re-edit the video, shift or re-time that file rather than starting a new translation, so the reviewed wording isn’t lost.
Frequently asked questions
How do I add Arabic subtitles to a video?
Make an Arabic subtitle file by transcribing Arabic speech or translating existing subtitles, check it with a native speaker, save it as UTF-8 SRT, then upload it as an Arabic track or burn it into the video with an Arabic-capable tool.
Why are my Arabic subtitles showing backwards or disconnected?
The tool rendering them doesn’t support right-to-left text or Arabic letter shaping. Use a player or burn-in tool with Arabic support and an Arabic font.
Why is the punctuation on the wrong side in Arabic subtitles?
Lines that mix Arabic with punctuation, numbers or English words confuse some players. Place punctuation after the last Arabic word and, if needed, add a right-to-left mark (U+200F).
Can I translate English subtitles to Arabic automatically?
Yes. AI subtitle tools translate each line into Arabic while keeping the timing. Have a native speaker review the result, especially names and tone.
What is the best font for Arabic subtitles?
A clear sans-serif with full Arabic support, such as Noto Sans Arabic. Netflix uses Arial as its placeholder for Arabic subtitles.
Try it with your own video
Upload a video and get Arabic subtitles you can download or burn in right to left. Upload a video, translate it into Arabic, and check the burned-in captions yourself. QuickVeed plans start at $18/month, and new accounts get a 14-day trial with 75 credits, no card needed. Sign up or see pricing.
Sources
Competitor details in this post were checked against these public pages in October 2026. Products and prices change, so confirm with each vendor before you decide.
