How to Remove Hardcoded Subtitles from a Video
When the subtitles are part of the picture, no player can switch them off. AI can paint them out.
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Hardcoded subtitles are subtitles burned into the video frames themselves, so no player setting can turn them off and VLC, HandBrake or FFmpeg cannot strip them out. You can still remove hardcoded subtitles: an AI tool repaints the pixels they cover, frame by frame. Here is how to check which kind you have, what each method costs you, and how to do it online.
First, check: hardcoded or soft?
Soft subtitles only need switching off. These three checks take under a minute.
1
Open the subtitle menu
In VLC, open Subtitle, then Sub Track, and choose Disable. If the subtitles disappear, they were soft and you are done.
2
Look inside the file
Run ffprobe on the file. A line starting with "Subtitle:" is a soft track; if there is none, any subtitles you see are in the picture.
3
Pause and zoom in
Hardcoded text shows the same compression blocks and blur as the picture around it, and it is still there with every subtitle track off.
Why VLC, HandBrake and FFmpeg cannot do it
They work with subtitle tracks. Hardcoded subtitles are not a track; they are pixels.
VLC
HandBrake
FFmpeg
ffmpeg -i in.mkv -map 0 -map -0:s -c copy out.mkv drops soft subtitle streams without re-encoding. The delogo filter can smear a fixed rectangle, but that leaves a smudge, not the original picture.Every way to deal with hardcoded subtitles
Each one hides the text. They differ in what they cost the picture.
| Method | What you get | What you lose |
|---|---|---|
| Find a clean source | The original picture | Only possible if a version without subtitles exists |
| Crop the frame | No subtitles in view | Part of the picture, and the aspect ratio changes |
| Blur or cover the area | Subtitles hidden | A visible smudge, blur or black bar |
| AI inpainting (this tool) | The full frame, with the area behind the text rebuilt | Time (about 10 to 14 minutes for a 30-second 1080p clip; longer videos take longer), and faint traces on busy backgrounds |
Which mode should I use?
Text that stays in one place: Select area. Captions that jump around the frame: Subtitles. Captions plus titles, labels or timestamps: All text. Every mode costs the same, 1 credit per second.
Select area
- Removes
- Everything inside the boxes you draw, text or not. The AI does not look for text; it repaints the whole box.
- Boxes
- Required, up to 6. Each is made 1.4 times as wide and as tall as you draw it, so no edge of a letter is left.
- Best for
- Text that stays in one place for the whole part, such as a subtitle band at the bottom or a title in a corner.
- Watch out
- A box covers the same spot in every frame, and anything else inside it, such as a face or a hand, is repainted too. Keep boxes as small as the text allows: large boxes give weaker results.
Subtitles
- Removes
- Subtitle and caption lines, found on their own in every frame.
- Boxes
- Not needed. You can limit the search to an area.
- Best for
- Film and series subtitles, and social captions that show up in a different place from one line to the next, as on TikTok or Reels.
- Watch out
- It looks for subtitle lines, so titles, labels or timestamps may be left in. Use All text when those should go too.
All text
- Removes
- Every word in the frame: subtitles and captions, plus titles, labels, timestamps and lower thirds.
- Boxes
- Not needed. You can limit the search to an area.
- Best for
- Clips with captions and other on-screen text to clear in one go, and large captions that pop up one or two words at a time.
- Watch out
- Text you want to keep, such as a brand name on a product, can go too. Turn on Limit to an area to keep it out.
Limit to an area, in Subtitles and All text
Turn it on and draw boxes, and the AI looks for text only inside them. Unlike Select area, nothing inside a box is touched unless it is text, and text outside the boxes stays. For example, to remove the subtitles at the bottom but keep a title at the top, choose Subtitles and draw one box over the bottom band.
Facts at a glance
Checked October 19, 2026
- Input
- MP4 or MOV, up to 500 MB and 10 minutes per upload
- Output
- MP4 at the same resolution as your upload, up to 1080p
- What it removes
- Burned-in subtitles and captions, found on their own; all on-screen text such as titles, labels and timestamps; or anything inside up to 6 boxes you draw (Select area)
- How long it takes
- Processing runs in the cloud: about 10 to 14 minutes for a 30-second 1080p clip; longer videos take longer
- Price
- 1 credit per second of the part you choose, about $0.030 per second on monthly plans, about $0.025 on yearly plans and about $0.033 to $0.040 with credit packs. Failed tasks are not charged.
- Free
- 30 seconds every month after you sign in with Google. Free monthly seconds are available to accounts created in the US, Canada, the UK, the EU/EEA, Switzerland, Australia, New Zealand, Japan, South Korea, Singapore, Taiwan, Hong Kong, Israel and the UAE, up to two accounts per network each month.
- Privacy
- Uploads and results are deleted after 7 days
- Account
- Sign in with Google to upload. No card is needed for the free seconds
- Not supported
- Subtitles that are a separate track you can simply switch off. Removing watermarks, logos or credits that identify a video's owner is against our Terms
When this is not the right tool
A clean copy of the video exists
The subtitles turn off
The text covers most of the frame
You do not have the rights to the video
Pay for the seconds you process
One credit is one second of video. You choose the part of the video to process, and a task that fails costs nothing.
Free
$0 every month
- 30 seconds of video every month
- Sign in with Google to get them
- Same quality as paid plans
Subscription
from $19.90 per month
- 666 seconds (11 min 6 s) every month
- About $0.030 per second
- Yearly billing: 2 months free
Credit packs
from $19.90 one time
- 500 seconds that never expire
- About $0.040 per second
- No subscription needed
Prices are in US dollars. No tax is added at checkout.
Frequently asked questions
Can you remove hardcoded subtitles?
Yes, but only by repainting the pixels they cover, which takes an AI inpainting tool; no player or converter setting can do it. The AI rebuilds the area from the surrounding pixels and nearby frames, one frame at a time.
Can VLC remove hardcoded subtitles?
No: VLC can only hide soft subtitle tracks, and hardcoded subtitles are part of the picture it plays. If Subtitle, Sub Track, Disable does not make them go away, they are hardcoded.
Can HandBrake remove hardcoded subtitles?
No: HandBrake can leave soft subtitle tracks out of a new file, but it cannot remove text that is drawn into the frames. It can only re-encode what it is given.
How do I remove hardcoded subtitles from an MP4?
Upload the MP4 here, pick Subtitles mode (or Select area for subtitles that always sit in the same band), choose the part to process and select Remove text; the result is an MP4 at the same resolution, up to 1080p. Files can be up to 500 MB and 10 minutes long.
How do I remove hardcoded subtitles from an MKV?
First check the MKV for a soft subtitle track, because MKV files often carry one that FFmpeg or MKVToolNix can drop without re-encoding. If the text stays with every track off, it is hardcoded; MKV uploads are not accepted yet, so convert the file to MP4 first, for example with ffmpeg -i in.mkv -c:v libx264 -crf 18 -c:a aac out.mp4.
Does removing hardcoded subtitles lower the quality?
The video keeps its resolution, up to 1080p, but it is re-encoded, and the area under the subtitles is a reconstruction. On plain backgrounds that is hard to notice; on busy, fast-moving ones it can look softer than the rest of the frame.
Can I remove hardcoded subtitles on my phone?
Yes: the site works in a mobile browser, so you can upload an MP4 or MOV from your phone. Processing happens in the cloud, and you can lock the phone and check Recent tasks later.
Try it on your own video
The first 30 seconds are free every month. Upload a clip, pick the part with the text, and see the result.
Remove text from a video