diff --git a/files/file.go b/files/file.go
index e0fdb162..164f9fc5 100644
--- a/files/file.go
+++ b/files/file.go
@@ -14,6 +14,7 @@ import (
 	"os"
 	"path"
 	"path/filepath"
+	"regexp"
 	"strings"
 	"time"
 
@@ -307,8 +308,23 @@ func (i *FileInfo) detectSubtitles() {
 	}
 
 	base := strings.TrimSuffix(i.Name, ext)
+	subDirsRegex := regexp.MustCompile("(?i)^sub(s|titles)$")
 	for _, f := range dir {
-		if !f.IsDir() && strings.HasPrefix(f.Name(), base) && strings.HasSuffix(f.Name(), ".vtt") {
+		// load all .vtt/.srt subtitles from subs directories
+		if f.IsDir() && subDirsRegex.MatchString(f.Name()) {
+			subsDir := path.Join(parentDir, f.Name())
+			var err error
+			dir, err = afero.ReadDir(i.Fs, subsDir)
+			if err == nil {
+				for _, f := range dir {
+					if !f.IsDir() && (strings.HasSuffix(f.Name(), ".vtt") ||
+						strings.HasSuffix(f.Name(), ".srt")) {
+						i.Subtitles = append(i.Subtitles, path.Join(subsDir, f.Name()))
+					}
+				}
+			}
+		} else if !f.IsDir() && strings.HasPrefix(f.Name(), base) &&
+			(strings.HasSuffix(f.Name(), ".vtt") || strings.HasSuffix(f.Name(), ".srt")) {
 			i.Subtitles = append(i.Subtitles, path.Join(parentDir, f.Name()))
 		}
 	}
diff --git a/frontend/src/components/files/VideoPlayer.vue b/frontend/src/components/files/VideoPlayer.vue
index e1b18a27..4f96e993 100644
--- a/frontend/src/components/files/VideoPlayer.vue
+++ b/frontend/src/components/files/VideoPlayer.vue
@@ -6,14 +6,6 @@
     style="width: 100%; height: 100%"
   >
     <source :src="source" />
-    <track
-      kind="subtitles"
-      v-for="(sub, index) in subtitles"
-      :key="index"
-      :src="sub"
-      :label="'Subtitle ' + index"
-      :default="index === 0"
-    />
     <p class="vjs-no-js">
       Sorry, your browser doesn't support embedded videos, but don't worry, you
       can <a :href="source">download it</a>
@@ -22,64 +14,81 @@
   </video>
 </template>
 
-<script>
+<script setup lang="ts">
+import { ref, onMounted, onBeforeUnmount } from "vue";
 import videojs from "video.js";
+import Player from "video.js/dist/types/player";
 import "videojs-mobile-ui";
 import "videojs-hotkeys";
+import { loadSubtitle } from "@/utils/subtitle";
 
 import "video.js/dist/video-js.min.css";
 import "videojs-mobile-ui/dist/videojs-mobile-ui.css";
 
-export default {
-  name: "VideoPlayer",
-  props: {
-    source: {
-      type: String,
-      default() {
-        return "";
+const videoPlayer = ref<HTMLElement | null>(null);
+const player = ref<Player | null>(null);
+
+const props = withDefaults(
+  defineProps<{
+    source: string;
+    subtitles?: string[];
+    options?: any;
+  }>(),
+  {
+    options: {},
+  }
+);
+
+onMounted(() => {
+  player.value = videojs(
+    videoPlayer.value!,
+    {
+      html5: {
+        // needed for customizable subtitles
+        nativeTextTracks: false,
       },
-    },
-    options: {
-      type: Object,
-      default() {
-        return {};
-      },
-    },
-    subtitles: {
-      type: Array,
-      default() {
-        return [];
-      },
-    },
-  },
-  data() {
-    return {
-      player: null,
-    };
-  },
-  mounted() {
-    this.player = videojs(
-      this.$refs.videoPlayer,
-      {
-        ...this.options,
-        plugins: {
-          hotkeys: {
-            volumeStep: 0.1,
-            seekStep: 10,
-            enableModifiersForNumbers: false,
-          },
+      plugins: {
+        hotkeys: {
+          volumeStep: 0.1,
+          seekStep: 10,
+          enableModifiersForNumbers: false,
         },
       },
-      () => {
-        // this.player.log("onPlayerReady", this);
-      }
-    );
-    this.player.mobileUi();
-  },
-  beforeUnmount() {
-    if (this.player) {
-      this.player.dispose();
+      ...props.options,
+    },
+    // onReady callback
+    async () => {
+      // player.value!.log("onPlayerReady", this);
+      addSubtitles(props.subtitles);
     }
-  },
+  );
+  // TODO: need to test on mobile
+  // @ts-ignore
+  player.value!.mobileUi();
+});
+
+onBeforeUnmount(() => {
+  if (player.value) {
+    player.value.dispose();
+    player.value = null;
+  }
+});
+
+const addSubtitles = async (subtitles: string[] | undefined) => {
+  if (!subtitles) return;
+  // add subtitles dynamically (srt is converted on-the-fly)
+  const subs = await Promise.all(
+    subtitles.map(async (s) => await loadSubtitle(s))
+  );
+  // TODO: player.value wouldnt work here, no idea why
+  const _player = videojs.getPlayer(videoPlayer.value!);
+  for (const [idx, sub] of subs.filter((s) => !!s.src).entries()) {
+    _player.addRemoteTextTrack({
+      src: sub.src,
+      label: sub.label,
+      kind: "subtitles",
+      default: idx === 0,
+    });
+  }
 };
 </script>
diff --git a/frontend/src/utils/subtitle.ts b/frontend/src/utils/subtitle.ts
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..dfeaeca3
--- /dev/null
+++ b/frontend/src/utils/subtitle.ts
@@ -0,0 +1,72 @@
+import { StatusError } from "@/api/utils";
+
+export async function loadSubtitle(subUrl: string) {
+  let url: URL;
+  try {
+    url = new URL(subUrl);
+  } catch (_) {
+    // treat it as a relative url
+    // we only need this for filename
+    url = new URL(subUrl, window.location.origin);
+  }
+
+  const label = decodeURIComponent(
+    url.pathname
+      .split("/")
+      .pop()!
+      .replace(/\.[^/.]+$/, "")
+  );
+  let src;
+  if (url.pathname.toLowerCase().endsWith(".srt")) {
+    try {
+      const resp = await fetch(subUrl);
+      if (!resp.ok) {
+        throw new StatusError(
+          `Failed to fetch subtitle from ${subUrl}!`,
+          resp.status
+        );
+      }
+      const vtt = srtToVttBlob(await resp.text());
+      src = URL.createObjectURL(vtt);
+    } catch (error) {
+      console.error(error);
+    }
+  } else if (url.pathname.toLowerCase().endsWith(".vtt")) {
+    src = subUrl;
+  }
+  return { src, label };
+}
+
+export function srtToVttBlob(srtData: string) {
+  const VTT_HEAD = "WEBVTT\n\n";
+  // Replace line breaks with \n
+  let subtitles = srtData.replace(/\r\n|\r|\n/g, "\n");
+  // commas -> dots in timestamps
+  subtitles = subtitles.replace(/(\d\d:\d\d:\d\d),(\d\d\d)/g, "$1.$2");
+  // map SRT font colors to VTT cue span classes
+  const colorMap: Record<string, string> = {};
+  // font tags -> ::cue span tags
+  subtitles = subtitles.replace(
+    /<font color="([^"]+)">([\s\S]*?)<\/font>/g,
+    function (_match, color, text) {
+      const key =
+        "c_" + color.replace(/^rgb/, "").replace(/\W/g, "").toLowerCase();
+      colorMap[key] = color;
+      return `<c.${key}>${text.replace("\n", "").trim()}</c>`;
+    }
+  );
+  subtitles = subtitles.replace(/<br\s*\/?>/g, "\n");
+  let vttSubtitles = VTT_HEAD;
+  if (Object.keys(colorMap).length) {
+    let vttStyles = "";
+    for (const cssClass in colorMap) {
+      const color = colorMap[cssClass];
+      // add cue style declaration
+      vttStyles += `::cue(.${cssClass}) {color: ${color};}\n`;
+    }
+    vttSubtitles += vttStyles;
+  }
+  vttSubtitles += "\n"; // an empty line MUST separate styles from subs
+  vttSubtitles += subtitles;
+  return new Blob([vttSubtitles], { type: "text/vtt" });
+}