# Plex unnecessarily burning subtitles

**URL:** <https://forums.plex.tv/t/plex-unnecessarily-burning-subtitles/936828>\
**Category:** Plex Media Server\
**Tags:** server-windows, subtitles\
**Created:** [March 2, 2026, 11:04pm UTC](https://forums.plex.tv/t/plex-unnecessarily-burning-subtitles/936828 "2026-03-02T23:04:42Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 4\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![jmbelli8](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/3ec8ea/32.png) [@jmbelli8](https://forums.plex.tv/u/jmbelli8)\
**Post date:** [March 2, 2026, 11:04pm UTC](https://forums.plex.tv/t/plex-unnecessarily-burning-subtitles/936828/1 "2026-03-02T23:04:42Z")

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Server Version#:1.43.0.10492  
Player Version#:Multiple different clients

Why is Plex suddenly burning subtitles? None of these multiple clients on my server have changed their default settings, yet all of a sudden Plex keeps burning subtitles instead of playing them side cart. This creates a lot of unnecessary transcoding.

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**Author:** ![FordGuy61](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/22d042/32.png) [@FordGuy61](https://forums.plex.tv/u/FordGuy61)\
**Post date:** [March 2, 2026, 11:53pm UTC](https://forums.plex.tv/t/plex-unnecessarily-burning-subtitles/936828/2 "2026-03-02T23:53:53Z")

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Whether or not subtitles are burned depends on the client, not the server.

Supported subtitle types vary widely among Plex clients.

You will need to provide specific examples including client, Plex app version and subtitle type. Also details such as if the video or audio is transcoding due to format, bandwidth limits, etc.

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**Author:** ![ChameleonXtreme](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/a587f6/32.png) [@ChameleonXtreme](https://forums.plex.tv/u/ChameleonXtreme)\
**Post date:** [March 3, 2026, 9:03am UTC](https://forums.plex.tv/t/plex-unnecessarily-burning-subtitles/936828/3 "2026-03-03T09:03:52Z")

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I had to change all my plex clients from AUTO to Only Image Formats to get transcoding to work without forcing me into JPEG transcoding (I think that’s what it was).

I agree with you, I think the plex developers messed something up with 1.43 version.

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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:** [June 1, 2026, 9:04am UTC](https://forums.plex.tv/t/plex-unnecessarily-burning-subtitles/936828/4 "2026-06-01T09:04:27Z")

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