How to Turn On YouTube Subtitles

Tap an item to see how it works.

Turn on subtitles on desktop

Click the "Subtitles/closed captions" icon (a CC in a rectangle) below the video player to turn subtitles on or off.

Turn on subtitles on mobile

While a video is playing, tap the screen once and then tap the subtitles icon to toggle captions on or off.

Change the subtitle language

Open the settings (gear) icon, choose "Subtitles/CC β†’ Auto-translate," and select the language you want your subtitles translated into.

A note on auto-generated captions

Automatically generated captions can contain typos or mistranslations depending on pronunciation or background noise, so it's best to treat them as a helpful reference rather than a perfectly accurate transcript.

Watch foreign-language videos without a language barrier

YouTube's auto-translate captions let you watch videos from around the world without needing to understand the original language. Just keep in mind that machine translation accuracy has its limits.

When you don't need the audio at all

If you just need the information from a video without listening to the audio, turning on subtitles and muting the sound is a quick way to watch in places where you can't play sound out loud.

Frequently Asked Questions

Do all videos have subtitles available?

Even if the uploader didn't add subtitles manually, YouTube often generates automatic captions by recognizing the video's audio.

Can I change the subtitle font size or color?

Yes β€” the "Subtitles/CC" settings menu lets you adjust font size, background color, text style, and more in detail.