How to Import SRT to Premiere Pro (2026): Workflow Guide

Adobe Premiere Pro is the industry standard for video editing, but its relationship with subtitle files (SRT) can sometimes be... complicated.

In this guide, we'll cover the flawless workflow for importing, editing, and burning in subtitles in Premiere Pro 2026, and how to fix the dreaded "Header Error" or generic import failures.

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Step 1: Prepare Your SRT File

Premiere Pro is strict. If your SRT file has a stray comma, a missing timestamp, or weird character encoding, Premiere might reject it or import it as an empty file.

Best Practice: Always "clean" your file before import.

Step 2: Import into Premiere Pro

1. Open your project.
2. Go to File > Import (or press Cmd+I / Ctrl+I).
3. Select your .srt file.
4. The file will appear in your Project Panel like a video clip.

Step 3: Add to Timeline

1. Drag the subtitle clip from the Project Panel onto your timeline.
2. Crucial Step: Premiere will ask "Create Caption Track Format".
   • Format: Select Subtitle (this gives you the most styling freedom).
   • Start Point: Select Source Timecode (to keep it synced) or Playhead (if you want to manually place it).
3. Your subtitles will appear on a dedicated "C1" (Caption 1) track above your video.

Step 4: Styling (The "Essential Graphics" Workflow)

Imported SRTs usually look ugly by default (small, generic font).

1. Open the Text panel (Window > Text) or Essential Graphics.
2. In your timeline, select all caption clips (draw a box around them or click the track header).
3. Change the font, size, color, stroke, and background box (perfect for readability).
4. Since you selected all clips, the style applies to the entire video instantly.

Step 5: Exporting (Burn-in vs. Sidecar)

When rendering your video (Cmd+M), go to the Captions tab in the Export settings.

• Option A: Burn Captions into Video
  • Select "Burn Captions Into Video".
  • This "bakes" the text onto the image. This is required for Instagram, TikTok, and Twitter.
• Option B: Create Sidecar File
  • Select "Create Sidecar File".
  • This saves a separate .srt file along with your video. Good for YouTube and Facebook uploads where you want toggleable CC.

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Common Import Errors & Fixes

"File Format Not Supported"

Premiere sometimes hates specific character encodings.

• Fix: Upload your file to our Converter. Select "SRT" as the output (even if the input is SRT). This forces a re-write of the file structure, cleaning up invisible errors. Download the new file and try importing again.

"Captions are drifting out of sync"

This is often a framerate mismatch (e.g., file thinks it's 24fps, timeline is 30fps).

• Fix: Use our Subtitle Editor. It allows you to visually slide the entire track left or right to re-sync it, then export a corrected file.

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Summary

Premiere Pro is powerful, but it needs clean data. By preparing your SRT files with dedicated tools first, you save hours of troubleshooting "generic errors" inside Adobe.

• Validate your SRT before import.
• Import > Drag to Timeline > Style All.
• Export Burned-in for Socials, Sidecar for YouTube.