How to Turn On Closed Captions on Hulu

Hulu lets you turn closed captions on or off while a video plays, without leaving the player. Because Hulu runs on many devices and app versions, button names and positions differ. This guide covers the general process and tells you what to verify on your own screen.

Before you start

Hulu delivers captions through its service, so the setting lives in the Hulu app or web player. Nothing is processed locally on your device, and you cannot add your own caption files to Hulu content.

• An active Hulu account and a supported device, app or web browser.
• A title that offers captions. Availability depends on the specific show, movie or live channel.
• An up-to-date Hulu app, because older versions may place the caption controls differently.
• Access to your device's own accessibility settings. Some TVs and streaming players also have a system-wide caption option that works alongside Hulu's.

Step-by-step instructions

Hulu's caption options are part of the playback controls, so start a video before looking for them.

• Open Hulu and start playing the show, movie or live channel you want to watch.
• Bring up the player controls. On a computer, move the mouse over the video. On a phone or tablet, tap the screen. On a TV or streaming device, press a direction or select button on the remote.
• Open the player settings. This is usually a gear icon or a settings option in the control bar. On some TV apps you may need to press up or down to reveal it.
• Find the option for subtitles and captions and choose the language you want. The available languages vary by title.
• Close the menu and resume playback. Hulu generally keeps your choice for later videos on the same profile and device, but confirm this on your setup.

To turn captions off, repeat the same steps and choose Off. Some Hulu versions also let you change caption appearance, such as font, size or background. Where that option exists, it may be in the player settings or in your account or device settings. Look for it rather than assuming a fixed location.

Check the output

Play a section with dialogue and confirm that text appears and matches what is being said. If you changed appearance options, check that the text is readable against both bright and dark scenes. Caption timing and accuracy come from the content provider. On live channels, captions may lag behind speech or contain errors, which is a known limitation of real-time captioning rather than a problem with your settings.

Common problems and next steps

• No caption option appears: the title may not have captions, or the app may be outdated. Try another title, then update or reinstall the app.
• Captions stay on after you turned them off in Hulu: check your device's system accessibility settings, because a device-level caption setting can override the app.
• Captions appear twice or overlap: turn captions off either in the device settings or in Hulu, but not both.
• Captions are out of sync: restart the video or the app. If only one title is affected, the problem is likely with that title's captions.
• The setting does not carry over between devices: set captions on each device and profile you use.

If none of these fixes work, sign out and back in, or contact Hulu support with your device model, app version and the affected title.