How to Turn On Closed Captions on a Samsung TV

Samsung TVs have a built-in caption setting in the Accessibility menu. It shows caption data that comes with what you watch through the TV's own tuner. Streaming apps and devices plugged into HDMI often handle captions separately, so check where your video comes from before you start.

Before you start

The TV turns caption data in the program into on-screen text itself. The caption setting does not need an account or an online service. Whether captions exist for a program depends on the broadcaster or content provider, not on the TV.

• Your Samsung remote, either the standard remote or a Smart Remote.
• The source you want captions on: antenna or cable through the TV's built-in tuner, a device connected over HDMI, or a streaming app.
• Your model code, if you have it. Menu names differ between model years. The code is on the label on the back of the TV and is also shown in the Support section of the settings menu.

Step-by-step instructions

Turn on captions from the settings menu

• Press the Home button on the remote and open Settings. On many recent models, choose All Settings to open the full menu.
• Open General. On newer models this is called General & Privacy.
• Select Accessibility, then Caption Settings.
• Switch Caption to on.
• If you need to, change Caption Mode. Default usually works. If no text appears, try another caption service, such as CC1 or Service1.
• Press Back or Return to exit. The setting stays on until you switch it off.

Use the accessibility shortcut

On many Samsung remotes, pressing and holding the Mute button opens an Accessibility Shortcuts menu where you can switch Caption on or off. On some Smart Remotes, you press and hold the volume button instead. Not every model supports this shortcut. If holding the button only mutes the sound, use the settings menu.

Adjust how captions look

Some models have Digital Caption Options inside Caption Settings. There you can change font size, font style, text color, background color and opacity. These options apply to digital captions only. To undo your changes, set each option back to its default value.

Captions in streaming apps and on HDMI devices

The TV's caption setting does not control subtitles inside apps such as Netflix or YouTube. Turn those on in the app's own playback or audio and subtitle controls. Cable and satellite boxes, game consoles and streaming sticks connected over HDMI usually do not pass caption data to the TV. Turn captions on in that device's own settings.

Check the output

Tune to a live program that usually has captions, such as a news broadcast, and check that text appears within a few seconds. Captions on live programs are often typed in real time, so they can lag behind the speech or contain errors. That comes from the broadcaster, not from your TV settings.

• Captions appear on the TV tuner but not on an HDMI input: this is expected. Turn them on in the connected device instead.
• Text covers too much of the picture: use a smaller font size or a more transparent background in Digital Caption Options.
• Captions are blank or in the wrong language: try a different Caption Mode.

Common problems and next steps

The Caption option is greyed out

This usually happens when you are watching an app or an HDMI input. Switch to the TV's own tuner source to change the setting. For other sources, use the caption or subtitle settings in that app or device.

Captions are on but nothing appears

The program may not have captions. Try a different channel, then try another Caption Mode. If captions stopped working on channels that used to show them, turn the TV off at the wall for about a minute. Then check for a software update in the Support section of the settings menu.

Captions will not turn off

Switch Caption off in Caption Settings. If text still appears in an app or from an HDMI device, that source is drawing the captions itself. Turn them off in its own settings.

If the menus on your TV do not match these steps, open the e-Manual built into the TV and search for captions. For a specific fault, contact Samsung support and give them your model code.