How to Fix Plex Subtitles Not Working on Roku? Complete Guide

Kevin Wood Updated on
plex subtitles not working on roku

You are seated there with the hope of enjoying your favorite TV show only to find Plex subtitles not working on Roku.

The disappointment kills your binge-watching intentions.

You don’t have to miss out on any detail of your favorite show because of this. This article will provide a step-by-step guide on how to get the subtitles back on your screen.

If plex subtitles are not working on Roku, download the Kodi media player then install Kodi Plex add-on. You can then watch your Plex library through Kodi.

Reasons Why Plex Subtitles Not Working on Roku

Some of the main reasons your plex app does not show subtitles include:

  • Closed captions is disabled
  • Non supported title format
  • Auto transcoding feature is off

How to Fix Plex Subtitles Not working on Roku

fix plex subtitles not working on roku

This is what to do when plex subtitles fail to work:

Solution 1#: Turn on Closed Caption

Activating captions mode on your Roku settings can turn on subtitles.

To activate closed caption;

  1. Press the Home button.
  2. Go to settings
  3. Select accessibility then captions mode.
  4. Select On always.

Solution 2#: Update Your Roku

update your roku device

The software version you are running on Roku might be outdated causing issues with your Roku.

Roku gets automatically updated in the background whenever you switch on your TV but you should try manually updating it to eliminate this as the possible cause.

Here’s how to manually update Roku:

  1. Press the Home button on your Roku remote.
  2. Go to Settings.
  3. Select System.
  4. Select System update.
  5. Select Check now.

The current software build and version will appear on your screen. The date and time of the last update will also be shown.

A confirmation will pop up indicating that All software is up to date. Select OK to exit the screen.

Solution 3#: Reset Your Roku

Since the problem could be software-related, resetting your Roku device might resolve the issue. There are two ways of resetting your Roku device: Through settings or by using the reset button.

This is how you reset your device through settings:

  1. Press the Home button on your Roku remote.
  2. Go to Settings– on the left sidebar of your screen. Highlight it by pressing the left directional button.
  3. Then select System– by pressing the right directional button or the ok button on your remote.
  4. Go to Advanced system settings and select Factory reset.
  5. A code will pop up in the bottom right corner of your screen. Enter the code and press ok.
  6. Select Start factory reset on the subsequent screen.

Your device will go off and back on. To reset your Roku device using the reset button follow these steps:

  1. Switch on your device.
  2. Locate the reset button– on the back or bottom of your device.
  3. To press it, look for something long and thin like a toothpick or paper clip.
  4. Press and hold the reset button for 10-15 seconds.
  5. An indicator light will start blinking rapidly as your device resets.
Note: After a factory reset of your Roku device, you have to set it up from scratch the same way you did when you bought it.

Solution 4#: Turn on Subtitles During Playback

Another possible solution to this issue could be turning on subtitles while your favorite show is playing.

To turn on subtitles during playback;

  1. Move your cursor or tap the screen for the settings bar to appear.
  2. Locate subtitles and click the drop-down menu.
  3. Select any of the available subtitles to turn it on.

Solution 5#: Transcode the Subtitle Format

Plex supports different subtitles but not all of them are compatible with plex apps.

Your issue could be emanating from such incompatibility.

Some external subtitles have to be transcoded by the media server to make it compatible with plex/web.

To resolve this, transcode subtitles to client-supported sub formats before streaming.

Alternatively, you can do this using a video converter that allows you to add external subtitles such as .ass, .ssa and .srt without transcoding.

The video converter has an easy-to-use interface that lets you put the external subtitles with ease.

Solution 6#: Configure Forced Subtitles

do forced subtitles

For plex to work properly, you have to configure language settings first. This enables the app to know available languages.  Subtitle mode controls whether subtitles are displayed or not.

Follow these steps to configure language settings on the Plex web app;

  1. Go to settings.
  2. Then select server.
  3. Then languages.

The forced subtitle refers to dialogue in the movie that’s different from the main dialogue. If your app has embedded subtitle tracks, it’s termed as a forced subtitle.

To configure forced subtitles on plex;

  1. Go to Settings.
  2. Check if Shown with Foreign Audio is enabled.
  3. If you select Always enabled, then plex will display subtitles in your preferred language.

Solution #7: Correct the File Names

Incorrect file names could be another reason behind subtitles not working on Roku plex. To resolve this, you can rename the subtitle file.

You can also try the following method:

  1. Transfer all subdirectories for TV shows and movies to a different drive where plex does not have access.
  2. Refresh both movies and TV shows.
  3. Copy both movies and TV shows back to the top-level movies directories.
  4. Refresh one more time both movies and TV shows.
  5. Confirm whether the media server sees external subtitles for movies and TV shows.
  6. Now play a movie to see if subtitles are showing.
Pro Tip: The latest version of the plex media server supports the ability to search for subtitles during playback or on the preplay screen.

This feature works for TV as well as Movie libraries.

The feature known as on-demand title search gets its subtitles from OpenSubtitles.org. The good thing about this feature is that Roku is among the player apps that support it.

Follow these steps to search for subtitles on a supported app:

  1. Search for the subtitle selector on the preplay screen.
  2. Select more to open a search window.
  3. In this window you have the option of selecting your preferred subtitle language.
  4. Pick your choice and use that subtitle.

Thus, to show plex subtitles on Roku during playback, move the cursor and click the three vertical bars at the bottom of the screen then select playback settings. Click subtitles then click the dropdown menu. Select the available subtitle to activate it.

Read Next: Why Does Roku Says Not Enough Space?

Conclusion

That’s how you fix Plex Subtitles Not Working on Roku.

More and more people are turning to Plex for its great features. Fix this problem so that you can enjoy your Plex experience.

If none of the above solutions work, contact Roku customer support for further advice.