🎬 SRT Encoding Converter

ℹ️ About

A PowerShell script that scans a folder (and subfolders) for .srt subtitle files and converts them from Windows-1250 (Central European) encoding to UTF-8.
Automatically creates backup .bak files before converting.

Ideal for fixing character encoding issues in media players like VLC, Plex, and Kodi.

✍️ Author: Miloš Perunović
🗓️ Date: 2025-07-16

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🌍 Opis na našem jeziku

PowerShell skripta koja pretražuje folder i podfoldere, pronalazi .srt fajlove i automatski ih konvertuje iz Windows-1250 (često korišćen kod starijih titlova na ex-YU prostoru) u UTF-8. Ako je fajl već u UTF-8, skripta ga preskače.

Koristite ovu skriptu kako bi:

• riješili probleme sa prikazom slova (č, ć, š, ž, đ…)
• pripremili titlove za moderni softver i uređaje (Plex, Kodi, VLC…)

📝 Napomena: Ako imate titlove u drugim kodiranjima (npr. Windows-1252), prilagodite skriptu u skladu s tim.

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🚀 Features

• Automatically detects if .srt file is already UTF-8 encoded.
• Converts all .srt files in a folder (including subfolders).
• Helps avoid character encoding issues in media players.
• Ideal for subtitle collections in ex-YU languages.

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⚙️ Usage

Run the script in PowerShell:

.\Convert-SrtEncoding.ps1 -Path "D:\Movies"

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✅ How It Works

• The script scans all .srt files under the specified folder.
• Checks the current encoding of each file.
• If file is Windows-1250:
  • Creates a backup of the original file with a .bak extension.
  • Converts the content to UTF-8.
  • Overwrites the original .srt file.
• Prints a summary of converted files.

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💡 Why Convert to UTF-8?

UTF-8:

• works everywhere (Windows, macOS, Linux)
• avoids garbled characters like Ä, æ, etc.
• is supported by modern media players like Plex, Kodi, VLC

Many older subtitles from ex-YU scene groups are still encoded in Windows-1250. Converting them to UTF-8 ensures correct display of all special characters.

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🔧 Requirements

• Windows PowerShell 5.1 or PowerShell Core (7.x)
• No additional modules required

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🤝 Contributing

Contributions, suggestions, and improvements are welcome!

• Open an Issue if you encounter bugs or have feature ideas.
• Create a Pull Request if you'd like to improve the script.
• Share feedback or examples of how you're using the script!

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ℹ️ Note

This script is tailored for Windows-1250 subtitles typical for ex-YU languages. If you have subtitles in other encodings (e.g. Windows-1252), adjust the script accordingly.

✅ Backup:
Before converting, the script automatically creates a .bak backup for each .srt file that needs conversion.
Keep or delete these backup files as needed once you verify your subtitles are working correctly.

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📜 License

MIT License – © 2025 Miloš Perunović