PowerPoint gets SRT file support for captions and subtitles

Microsoft is rolling out a new accessibility feature for PowerPoint to improve the accessibility aspect of the presentation tool. With the latest updates, PowerPoint allows users to import SRT files to add captions and subtitles to presentations.

Besides adding SRT support (a popular file format for video captions), Microsoft implemented a clever way to make sure your presentations and their accessibility aspects are compatible with previous PowerPoint versions. The app automatically converts subtitles to WebVTT format for broader compatibility with older releases and popular web browsers.

Here is how you can add SRT files to your PowerPoint presentations:

Select the embedded video in the presentation that you want to insert captions for.

Select Playback > Insert Captions (or Video > Edit Captions > Insert captions from file in PowerPoint for the web), and then select the captions file in the SRT format you would like to insert. NOTE: You can insert multiple captions files for the same video.

When you play the video, click the captions button near the bottom-right corner of the video to select a captions track, then the words will appear as the video plays.

Microsoft also shared some tips and tricks to help you get started with the feature:

Use one of the many apps and services that support SRT, such as Clipchamp, to create and edit an SRT file.

If the app or service you are creating an SRT file with allows you to choose an encoding, use UTF-8 for compatibility with PowerPoint and many other apps and services.

When presenting a video with captions in PowerPoint in a Teams meeting, use PowerPoint Live for the most inclusive experience. Each participant in the meeting can turn on closed captions for videos for themselves even if the presenter doesn’t turn them on. No one else in the meeting will know or see the captions! This even works in the Teams mobile app.

SRT support is available in the following PowerPoint versions:

Windows: Current Channel Version 2411 (Build 18227.10000) or later.
macOS: Current Channel Version 16.91 (Build 24111020) or later.
Web: Build 16.0.18306.40500 or later on Windows or macOS.

Keep in mind that the feature is rolling out gradually, so it may not be available right away. You can learn more about SRT support in PowerPoint here.