Two subtitles overlap when one starts before the previous one has ended. Players handle it differently: some show both lines stacked, some skip one, and YouTube and many streaming specifications reject the file outright.
Where overlaps come from
- Automatic subtitles where the end time was extended to make lines readable.
- Merging or shifting files by hand.
- Converting from formats that allow several lines on screen at once (ASS).
How to spot them
Compare each end time with the next start time:
00:00:05,000 --> 00:00:08,400 00:00:08,100 --> 00:00:10,000 ← starts 0.3 s before the previous ends
Fix them automatically
The free fix overlapping subtitles tool finds every overlap and makes each line end just before the next one starts. It runs in your browser and keeps everything else as it was.
When to fix by hand instead
If two people really talk at the same time, you may want both on screen. Merge them into one subtitle with a dash for each speaker:
- Are you coming? - In a minute!
You can edit lines and timing next to the video in Subtitle Studio.