How to add captions and subtitles to videos

Half of Americans consume content with captions on “most of the time.” Whether for accessibility, context, search optimization, or the ease of watching a video on mute — captions are a powerful way to add value to your video.

Whatever the case may be, adding subtitles or automated closed captions is an easy way to drive more engagement with your video. And while, on the surface, it may seem difficult or time consuming to add them, it’s actually surprisingly easy.

In this article, we’ll run through how to add captions to videos on various platforms like Vimeo, YouTube, TikTok, and Facebook and share a list of tools you can use to add captions and edit transcripts easily based on your video needs.

Why adding subtitles to video is important

Closed captions for videos are important for two main reasons:

🛗 Improved accessibility

One in eight people in the U.S. alone have hearing loss in both ears. Therefore, adding video captions makes it easy for people like them to enjoy your content. Subtitling videos also makes them more accessible to neurodivergent people, such as those with autism or ADHD.

By offering a second input system, captions provide neurodivergent viewers with more context, and a deeper understanding and help viewers process audio and video more effectively.

📼 Better reach and video completion rate

Three-quarters of people (75%) keep their sound off even when they’re watching a video. And three-quarters of all video ads (75%) are watched on mobile. What does this mean? Well, people are likely accessing your content on their phones and watching it on mute.

75% of people watch video with the sound off.

If you want more people to watch your videos, add captions to them. This way, viewers won’t scroll past your content simply because they’re in a public or quiet space.

Finally, captioning also helps you reach people who don’t understand your language but want to watch your content regardless. In fact, nearly one in five people regularly use captions to help them learn a new language.

👍 Captions are useful on all platforms

All major video platforms support subtitles or captions — and nearly one-third of people believe captions should be the “default” setting on TV and streaming services. So, adding subtitles to your videos on all platforms is an easy way to increase the preferability and accessibility of all your video content.

32% of people think captions should be the default setting.

How to add captions to video content on Vimeo

With Vimeo, you have two options for adding captions to your videos: (1) automatically and (2) manually.

🔤 Use the Vimeo caption generator

Seventy-eight percent (78%) of those who create video content use automatic captioning. With auto closed captions and transcription tools, paid Vimeo users can enable automated captions, edit transcripts, and adjust the look and feel of their video captions. For users not on paid plans, Vimeo offers the ability to upload transcripts and add captions manually.

Nearly 80% of video creators use automatic captioning

Make your videos more accessible and easier to find — add captions to your videos with Vimeo.

👇 Manually add subtitles to videos for free

To manually add captions to Vimeo, follow these steps:

1. Head to the video manager and open the video you want to caption.

2. Choose the “CC” icon for Closed captions from the menu on the right.

3. Choose Settings and select your language and file type.

4. Now click Choose File and upload the caption file. Toggle it on to activate video captions once the file finishes uploading.

Image source: Custom Vimeo screengrab

Paid users can edit their transcripts in-app with the transcript editing tool, while all other users can download, edit, and re-upload their transcript files. For more information, check out the Vimeo help center.

You aren’t limited to adding only SubRip Subtitle Files (SRT) for captioning videos on Vimeo. The platform accepts other files, too, including SAMI, SCC, DFXP/TTML, and WebVTT. Of these, WebVTT is the most recommended one.

How to add captions to video content on TikTok

Looking to add captions to your videos on TikTok? Good thinking. TikTok videos that use captioning get 55.7% more impressions than videos that don’t add anything additional on screen.

TikToks with captions get nearly 56% more impressions than those without.

With TikTok’s native tools, you have two ways to caption video content:

🔤 Auto-generate video captions on TikTok

Once you publish your content on the bite-sized video platform, you need to:

1. Click on Captions on the right side of your screen.
2. Let it process, check for accuracy, and you’re finished.

Auto-generated TikTok captions are a great option for someone looking to quickly add captions without too much customization.

👇 Manually add video captions on TikTok

Manually adding captions allows you to either create text from scratch or edit the auto-generated captions.

Simply follow these steps after you’ve shot your video:

1. Tap on Captions (same as above) and let your video process.
2. Click on the pencil icon in the corner now.
3. Edit the auto-generated captions or add new ones.

▶️ Add video captions after posting to TikTok

There’s no way to add captions to your TikTok video after having posted it. Quickly deleting the content and reposting with added captions is your best bet. Terrified you’ll lose all the music, effects, and edits? Save the video before deleting to reduce work. Follow these steps to save your TikTok video before deleting:

1. Tap the Me icon on the lower right side of your screen.
2. Select the video and click the horizontal dots on the right to open it.
3. Hit Save Video.
4. Repost the saved video with captions added.

🔠 Bonus: Add video captions with the text tool

This option is perfect for captioning short videos. After you’ve recorded or uploaded your video, follow these steps:

1. Select the Text button from the bottom of your screen and add your caption.
2. Drag the text box to position it on the screen and add the text wherever you’d like — however, the top is the best to prevent the captions from blending with the video description text.
3. Select the text box and hit the clock icon to determine timestamps for the text (when it’ll appear in the video).
4. Preview by playing the video.

5. Finally, click Done from the upper right corner.

How to add captions to video content on YouTube

Compared to videos without on-screen text, captioned videos are more successful — according to Discovery Digital Networks, YouTube videos with subtitles are viewed 7.32% more than those without.

There are a handful of options for captioning YouTube videos: auto-generated captions, manually adding captions, uploading a caption file, and using auto-translate.

🔤 Auto-generate video captions for your YouTube video

As of this writing, YouTube’s automatically generated captions for some videos and shorts are available in 16 languages.

To auto-generate video captions in any of the available 16 languages, follow these steps:

1. Head to YouTube Studio.
2. Choose Subtitles from the left and select your video.
3. Click the three dots under Subtitles.
4. Review or Edit the auto-generated captions as needed.

👇 Add YouTube captions manually

To add captions by hand, follow these six steps:

1. Go to your YouTube Studio account.
2. Choose Subtitles from the left side of the screen and select your video.
3. Tap Add under Subtitles (like above).
4. Pick Type manually from the four options you see.
5. Play the video and add captions by typing them in, adjusting timestamps as needed.
6. Hit Publish.

📂 Add captions to YouTube videos by adding a caption file

To upload captions to YouTube, you’ll need a caption file. As with Vimeo, you aren’t limited to SRT files. YouTube also accepts SubViewer and LRC file types in addition to SubRip.

Here’s how caption files work:

1. Head to YouTube Studio.
2. Choose Subtitles from the left side of the dashboard and pick the video you want to caption.
3. Hit Add Language now and choose your preferred language.
4. Tap Add from the Subtitles section on the main screen.
5. Pick Upload file.
6. Choose whether you want to add captions With timing or Without timing, and press Continue.
7. Now choose the file to upload and either Save Draft or Publish.

🔃 Caption YouTube videos using the auto-sync option

The auto-sync captioning feature gives you the best of both YouTube captioning and subtitling options. You can add captions manually, but YouTube adjusts timestamps automatically.

Here’s how (the first three steps are the same as using a caption file):

1. Log in to your YouTube Studio account.
2. Pick Subtitles from the left sidebar and choose your video.
3. Tap Add under Subtitles.
4. Pick Auto-sync in the menu.
5. Type your video’s transcript in the text box. Or choose Edit Timings on the top right and select Upload file (instead of manually typing everything — just make sure the file is in a language supported by YouTube).
6. Select Edit Timings. Then, Save and Close.

How to add captions to video content on Facebook

Almost half of all the time users spend on Facebook is spent watching videos. So, thankfully, Facebook offers users both manual and automated options for captioning them. Let’s walk through the process:

🔤 Auto-generate captions for your Facebook videos

Before you can add captions, upload and save your video as a draft on your Facebook page.

To save your video as a draft, tap on the Share a photo or video icon on the page and add your video. Once uploaded, hit Save Draft in the drop-down menu next to the Publish button.

Next, take the following steps:

1. Open the saved video from Drafts found under Posts in Publishing Tools.
2. Tap on Edit Video from the Video options on the right side.
3. Select Captions and click Generate.

That’s all! But don’t forget to review the auto-generated captions. Play the video to see what captions show up. When editing, make the changes from the right side of the window. Scroll down to the exact caption and click on the text you want to modify.

👇 Add manual captions using SRT files

This is a useful option for adding captions to videos on your personal Facebook profile or in Groups.

Make sure you have an SRT file ready beforehand — save it as a plaintext .srt file. Read up on formatting and naming your SRT file the right way to minimize the odds of an error.

The rest of the steps are pretty similar to the ones above:

1. Upload and save your video, then click Edit Video.
2. Pick the Captions from available options.
3. Select Upload SRT File (instead of Generate).
4. Select the language to match with the SRT file’s language and press Save.

▶️ Add video captions after posting to Facebook

Add captions to existing or published Facebook videos by picking the post from your Page.

Next, click the three vertical ellipses (⋮) on the top right and tap Edit Post. Choose Captions and either auto-generate them or add an .srt file.

Tools for adding video captions

If you’re looking for third-party tools to help add closed captions or subtitles to videos, check out our list of providers:

1. Vimeo

Vimeo’s automatic closed caption and transcription tools allow users to easily add captions, upload and edit transcripts, fine-tune the caption styles to match the video content, and search key moments within the transcript of a video.

2. Kapwing

Kapwing, an online video editor for captioning videos, comes with both a free and paid version. The freemium editor allows users to caption videos no longer than seven minutes. The freemium editor also saves edited content for up to one month and allows users to publish three hours of video content each month.

However, if you’re looking to caption hours of videos, it may be worth it to try the pro version with a six-gigabyte (GB) file upload limit and many more features.

3. Rev

Rev is a speech-to-text platform that allows users to transcribe or caption audio and/or video as accurately as possible (it’s now also the sole provider of Vimeo’s automated captions!). The platform includes a variety of resources like human transcription, AI transcription, on-screen captions for videos in English, and more.

Vimeo and Rev have teamed up! With the Vimeo and Rev integration, it’s now easier than ever to transcribe and caption your videos. The Rev integration lets Vimeo users order human-generated (and more than 99% accurate) subtitles and captions in multiple languages, and transcripts are ready within 24 to 48 hours. Video subtitles or captions not only make your content more accessible but also improve SEO value.

Pricing is based on transcriptions, captions, or subtitles per minute.

5. Zubtitle

Zubtitle is another web app for captioning videos. Once you upload your video to Zubtitle, it auto-generates subtitle text, which you can then edit for style and clarity.

Keep in mind the free version only allows you to add subtitles to one video. For more video captioning options, check out a paid plan.

6. Subly

Subly is another easy-to-use web app. It comes with a convenient seven-day free trial. Subly allows users to auto-generate subtitle text for about 67 languages, generate and style captions, and convert audio files to video.

Once you have uploaded a video, your captions will be generated, and you can edit their position, color, font, and size. Plus, you can download the transcribed file in three different file types.

7. Amara

Amara lets you add captions to your videos with its free online editor. It also offers video subtitling and text translation service for more than 50 languages.

The platform also easily integrates with video hosting platforms such as Vimeo. This integration makes exporting and importing subtitles simple.

8. MixCaptions

MixCaptions is an Android and iOS app for video subtitling. It can automatically add captions in seven languages. Once captioned, you can edit the subtitle text and change its position.

The free version of MixCaptions can auto-generate subtitles for up to 30-minute videos.

How to add subtitles to video: FAQ

Check out our answers to frequently asked questions about adding captions and subtitles to your videos.

How do I add captions to video for free?

To add captions to your video for free, take advantage of your favorite platform’s built-in tools (several are mentioned in this article).

Vimeo, for example, has both manual and auto-generated captioning capabilities that are not only user-friendly but also free of charge. If you’d like more powerful tools, you can opt for a paid account.

How do I add subtitles to a video on iPhone?

Unfortunately, iPhone doesn’t have a native tool for adding captions and subtitles to videos. If you’re looking for a workaround, you have a couple of options:

Use iMovie: Import your video and move the timeline to the point at which you want to add a subtitle or caption. Click the “T” in the toolbar to add text and customize the font, text size, positioning, etc.

Image source: Custom iMovie screengrab (from iPhone)

Use a third-party app: Apps like Vimeo, CapCut, and VEED let you add subtitles and captions to videos for free with a few clicks. You simply download and open one of the free apps, choose the video you’d like to caption, select the language, auto-caption, and edit as needed. You can also export the captioned video to share on other platforms.

How do I add subtitles to a video in iMovie?

Adding captions and subtitles to a video in iMovie is a manual process. Follow these steps to add captions and subtitles in iMovie:

Image source: Custom iMovie screengrab (from laptop)

Open iMovie.
Click the video you want to import and then click the + to add it to your video timeline for editing.
Determine the position in which to add the caption or subtitle, move your cursor to the position within the video, and click Titles from the media menu.
Choose the positioning and style of text you’d like to use (you can also change the font, size, color, and more), and double-click (or drag) to add the text box to the correct position within the video.
Double-click the text box to edit the text.
Where the text box connects to the video file in the iMovie timeline, drag the end of the text box to set its on-screen time.
When you’re finished adding all your subtitles, “Export File” using the square with arrow icon in the top right corner.

How do I add subtitles to a video permanently?

If you want to embed captions or subtitles into a video permanently, you need an SRT file that contains the subtitle script, along with a video editor that can allow you to overlay the file.

Platforms like Vimeo, iMovie, and VLC media player have these capabilities, so choose the one that works best for you and your project.

Once you have those components, follow our steps for adding manual captions using SRT files. The specific names and functionalities of the tools in each platform may vary slightly, but the overall process is the same.

Enjoy more reach with video captions

With this step-by-step guide on how to add captions to video, we’re confident you’re ready to add subtitles to your video content. Just remember: closed captions improve video accessibility and reach — so they’re important to add to most, if not all, of your video content.

What are you waiting for? Start captioning videos today!