Add subtitles and captions

Subtitles and captions allow you to share your videos with a larger audience, including deaf or hard-of-hearing viewers and viewers who speak another language. Learn more about editing or removing existing captions.

Create subtitles and captions

  1. Sign in to YouTube Studio.
  2. From the left menu, select Subtitles.
  3. Click the video that you'd like to edit.
  4. Click ADD LANGUAGE and select your language.
  5. Under subtitles, click ADD.

Note: You can also add subtitles and captions during the upload process.

Upload a file

Subtitle and caption files contain the text of what is said in the video. It also contains timestamps for when each line of text should be displayed. Some files also include position and style info, which is especially useful for deaf or hard-of-hearing viewers.

Before you start, make sure that your file type is supported on YouTube.

  1. Select Upload file.
  2. Choose between With timing or Without timing, then select Continue.
  3. Choose a file to upload.
  4. Select Save.

Auto-sync

You can create subtitles and captions by entering them in as you watch the video. You'll need to set the timing to sync with your video with this option.

Note: Transcript text is automatically synchronized to your video. The transcript must be in a language supported by our speech recognition technology. The transcript must also be in the same language that's spoken in the video. Transcripts are not recommended for videos that are over an hour long or have poor audio quality.

  1. Select Auto-sync.
  2. Enter the words in the video or upload a transcript file.
  3. Select EDIT, then click SAVE AND CLOSE.

Setting the timings can take a few minutes. While you wait, you'll be brought back to the video tracklist. Once it's ready, your transcription will automatically be published on your video.

Type manually

You can choose to type or paste a transcript of your captions and subtitles. With this option, your subtitle and caption timings will be set automatically.

  1. SelectTypemanually.
  2. Play the video and enter your captions or subtitles. Don't forget to add text like[applause] or[thunder], so that viewers know what's going on in the video. You can also pause while typing.
  3. SelectPUBLISH.

To speed up your work, you can also use these keyboard shortcuts:

  • Windows/command + left arrow: Seek back 1 second.
  • Windows/command + right arrow: Seek forward 1 second.
  • Windows/command + space: Pause or play the video.
  • Windows/command + enter: Add a new line.
  • Windows/command + down arrow: Edit next subtitle.
  • Windows/command + up arrow: Edit previous subtitle.
  • Enter: Add the subtitle.

Auto-translate

YouTube can use speech recognition technology to automatically create captions for your videos. If automatic captions are available, they'll automatically be published on the video. Learn how to use automatic captions.

Watch how to add subtitles and captions

Check out the following video from the YouTube Creators channel on how to add subtitles and captions.

How to Add Captions While Uploading & Editing Your Videos

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