# External Subtitle File Naming Query

**URL:** <https://forums.plex.tv/t/external-subtitle-file-naming-query/859569>\
**Category:** Plex Media Server\
**Tags:** server-nvidia-shield, library-management, subtitles\
**Created:** [November 14, 2023, 11:06am UTC](https://forums.plex.tv/t/external-subtitle-file-naming-query/859569 "2023-11-14T11:06:13Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 3\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![Phoenix501](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/plex/user_avatar/forums.plex.tv/phoenix501/32/288433_2.png) [@Phoenix501](https://forums.plex.tv/u/Phoenix501)\
**Post date:** [November 14, 2023, 11:06am UTC](https://forums.plex.tv/t/external-subtitle-file-naming-query/859569/1 "2023-11-14T11:06:13Z")

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Hi all, qick question about naming external (sidecar) subtitles.

For hearing impaired, is “theepisodetitle.eng.sdh” or “theepisodetitle.sdh.eng” the correct suffix? Any chance of parsing errors either way?

Also, should .eng and .sdh be capitalized?

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**Author:** ![OttoKerner](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/plex/user_avatar/forums.plex.tv/ottokerner/32/10079_2.png) [@OttoKerner](https://forums.plex.tv/u/OttoKerner)\
**Post date:** [November 14, 2023, 11:10am UTC](https://forums.plex.tv/t/external-subtitle-file-naming-query/859569/2 "2023-11-14T11:10:57Z")

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> [@Phoenix501](#):
>
> For hearing impaired, is “theepisodetitle.eng.sdh” or “theepisodetitle.sdh.eng” the correct suffix?

The former.

> [@Phoenix501](#):
>
> Also, should .eng and .sdh be capitalized?

No.

> [@Phoenix501](#):
>
> Any chance of parsing errors either way?

Make sure that the file names of video and subtitle are 100% the same – except for the language code and the file name extension.  
e.g.

```auto
theepisodetitle.mkv
theepisodetitle.eng.sdh.srt

```

If you are using a Windows machine to prepare your files, verify that the Windows file explorer is set to _show_ file name extensions. (Which is not the default.) Otherwise you may be setting double file name extensions without being aware of it. Which then can violate the above requirement about identical file names.

After adding new external subtitles, you may need to trigger Refresh Metadata for the whole show before Plex is taking note of the added subtitles.

When adding external subtitles to tv shows, you _must_ stick to the recommended naming schema. Most important are these rules:

- no arbitrary subfolders (for instance for grouping several shows together, or no subfolders _per episode_)
- you must use subfolders per season – even if the show has only one season

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**Author:** ![system](https://global.discourse-cdn.com/plex/original/3X/2/a/2acb9765406f63293d357b4ec509ec39aa28f2ad.png) [@system](https://forums.plex.tv/u/system)\
**Post date:** [February 12, 2024, 11:11am UTC](https://forums.plex.tv/t/external-subtitle-file-naming-query/859569/3 "2024-02-12T11:11:59Z")

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