How to add or fix captions on your own YouTube video

Why creator captions are worth the effort

Accurate captions make a video usable for deaf and hard-of-hearing viewers, people watching without sound and viewers who speak another language. They also give you a clean transcript you can reuse in descriptions and articles. Automatic captions are a starting point, but they often misspell names and terms that matter to your audience.

Open the subtitles editor

Sign in to YouTube Studio and choose Subtitles in the left menu. Select the video, then choose the language of the video if YouTube asks for it. Each language row shows the tracks that already exist, including automatic captions once YouTube has created them.

Choose how to add captions

Choose Add next to a language. YouTube Studio offers several methods:

1. Upload file: use an SRT or VTT file with timing, or a plain text transcript without timing.
2. Auto-sync: paste or type the transcript, and YouTube matches the text to the audio. This works best with clear speech in a supported language.
3. Type manually: write captions while the video plays.
4. Auto-translate: create a machine translation from an existing track, then review it before publishing.

Correct automatic captions

To fix an automatic track, open it in the subtitles editor and choose Duplicate and edit. Your edited copy is published as a separate track, and viewers see it instead of the automatic one. Fix names and terms first, then play the video and check the timing of each line.

Prepare a subtitle file with this site

If your video already has automatic captions, you can open it here, use Edit mode to correct lines and download an SRT or VTT file. Upload that file in YouTube Studio as a new track. Removing a line in Edit mode leaves a gap rather than shifting the remaining cues, so review the timing in YouTube’s preview before you publish.

Caption style tips

Readable captions follow a few simple rules.

1. Keep each caption to one or two short lines.
2. Break lines at natural pauses, not in the middle of a phrase.
3. Describe meaningful sounds in square brackets, such as [laughter] or [door slams].
4. Identify speakers when it is not obvious who is talking.
5. Leave captions on screen long enough to read.

Add more languages

Translated captions help viewers in other countries find and follow your videos. Translate the corrected transcript, review it with a fluent speaker if you can, and upload it as a separate language track.