How to Turn On Closed Captions on YouTube

YouTube can show closed captions on most videos, either from a caption track uploaded by the creator or from captions YouTube generates automatically. This guide explains how to switch captions on in the browser, the mobile apps and TV apps, how to choose a language, and what to do when the captions option is missing or unreliable.

Before you start

Captions are produced and delivered by YouTube, not by your device. Nothing is installed or processed locally: your device only displays a caption track that already exists for the video. Whether a video has captions depends on the uploader and on whether YouTube was able to generate automatic captions for it, so some videos have none at all.

• An up-to-date browser or the current YouTube app for your phone, tablet or TV.
• A video that offers at least one caption track; the captions control appears greyed out or is absent when none exists.
• Optional: a signed-in YouTube account if you want a default caption preference saved across sessions. How and where that preference is stored is set by YouTube, so check its current privacy and account settings if this matters to you.

Button positions and menu labels change between app versions and differ across smart TVs, consoles and streaming devices. If a label below does not match what you see, look for the CC icon or a Captions or Subtitles entry in the player's settings.

Step-by-step instructions

In a web browser

• Open the video and move the pointer over the player to reveal the controls.
• Select the CC (Subtitles/closed captions) button in the bottom-right controls. A line under the icon shows captions are on.
• To choose a specific track, open the gear (Settings) icon, select Subtitles/CC, and pick a language. Tracks marked auto-generated were created by YouTube rather than the uploader.
• If your language is not listed, an Auto-translate option may appear in the same menu for some videos; select it and choose a language.
• To turn captions off, select the CC button again. On a keyboard, pressing C while the player is focused toggles captions.

In the YouTube app on a phone or tablet

• Start the video and tap the player once to show the controls.
• Tap the CC icon near the top of the player if it is shown.
• If you do not see the icon, tap the gear or the three-dot menu, then choose Captions and select a language.
• Tap the same control again, or choose Turn off captions, to disable them.

On smart TVs, consoles and streaming devices

While a video plays, bring up the player controls with your remote and look for a CC icon or a settings icon with a Captions option. Some TV platforms also have a system-wide caption setting that can override or add to the YouTube app setting, so if captions behave unexpectedly, check the device's own accessibility menu as well.

Keep captions on by default

When signed in on a computer, open your YouTube account settings and look for the playback section, which offers an option to always show captions and, separately, to include automatically generated captions when available. This setting is reversible: clear the same checkboxes to return to normal behaviour. Mobile and TV apps may keep their own caption preference, so you might need to set it on each device.

Change how captions look

In the browser, open Settings, then Subtitles/CC, then Options to adjust font, size, colour, background and opacity. On phones and many TVs, caption appearance is often controlled by the device's accessibility or caption settings rather than inside YouTube. Resetting these options returns captions to their default style.

Check the output

Play a section with speech and confirm that text appears on screen and stays in step with the audio. Open the Subtitles/CC or Captions menu to confirm which track is active: the language name tells you what you selected, and an auto-generated label indicates machine-produced captions.

Automatic captions can mishear names, technical terms, accents and speech over music or background noise, and may lack punctuation or speaker labels. Auto-translated captions are built on top of an existing track, so errors in the source carry into the translation. If accuracy is important, prefer a track uploaded by the creator when one is available.

Common problems and next steps

The CC button is missing or greyed out: the video has no caption track available. This happens when the creator has not added captions and YouTube has not generated them, for example because of unclear audio, an unsupported language, or a very recent upload. There is no viewer-side setting that forces captions to appear in this case.

Captions show in the wrong language: open the Subtitles/CC or Captions menu and pick another track. If only one language exists, try Auto-translate where it is offered.

Captions turn on by themselves: check the always-show-captions option in your account playback settings and the caption or accessibility settings on your device, since either can enable them automatically.

Captions do not appear in an embedded video on another website: the site owner can configure the embedded player, so the controls may differ from the YouTube site. Opening the video on YouTube itself gives you the standard caption controls.

Live streams: captions during a live broadcast are available only if the streamer or YouTube provides them, and live captions may lag behind speech. After the stream ends, the saved video may gain captions later.

Your own uploads have no captions or poor ones: as the channel owner you can add, upload or edit caption tracks for your videos in YouTube Studio, in its subtitles section. Reviewing and correcting automatic captions there improves what your viewers see.