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How to Add Captions to Video
Upload, transcribe, style, and export, captions and subtitles added to your video in under 3 minutes.
Time estimate: under 3 minutes
By Sumit DeyUpdated
How to Add Captions to Video, Step by Step
Step 01
Upload your video file
Drag and drop your video into VideoCaptions.AI. The tool accepts MP4, MOV, WebM, and other common video formats. Only the audio track is sent for AI transcription.
Tip: Trim your video to the relevant section before uploading for faster transcription and a cleaner editing experience.
Step 02
Our AI transcribes your audio
The tool extracts audio from your video and sends it to our AI for transcription. You get word-level timestamps for every spoken word in seconds, fast, accurate, and supporting 99+ languages.
Step 03
Style your captions
Choose from animated effects including fade, bounce, glitch, karaoke, and typewriter. Pick a font, set colors, adjust caption position with drag-and-drop. See changes in the live preview instantly.
Tip: Start with the flash category and scale-up effect for bold social media captions. Switch to karaoke for longer, dialogue-heavy content.
Step 04
Export your captioned video
Hit export and the tool renders an MP4 with the captions burned in, in 1080p on the free plan and up to 4K on Studio. The file downloads straight away, with no watermark and no branding.
How to add captions to a video automatically
Typing captions by hand takes several times longer than the video itself, which is why most people now start from automatic captions. Upload the video, let the speech recognition write every word with its own start and end time, and read through the result once. Fix the names, brand words and slang it got wrong by clicking the word and retyping it. The timing does not move when you edit, so the captions stay in sync. Then pick a style, check the first five seconds on the preview, and export. For a one-minute clip the whole thing usually takes two or three minutes, most of it spent reading the transcript. If your video has music or several people talking over each other, expect a few more fixes.
How to add captions to a video on iPhone or Android
You do not need an app. Open videocaptions.ai in Safari or Chrome on your phone, sign in, and upload the video from your camera roll. The editor works the same way it does on a laptop: the captions appear word by word, you tap a word to fix it, and you pick a style from the list. Export saves the MP4 back to your phone, ready to post. Instagram and TikTok offer their own basic auto captions inside the app, but you cannot style them much and they do not travel with the file when you post it somewhere else. Burning the captions into the video keeps them on every platform you share it to.
Built-in auto captions vs captions burned into the video
TikTok, Instagram and YouTube all offer automatic captions, and they are fine for a quick post. They share three limits: the look is fixed, viewers can switch them off, and they stay on that one platform. Captions burned into the video are part of the picture, so they show everywhere, including WhatsApp, LinkedIn and X, and they look the way you designed them. Use the built-in option when you only post in one place and do not care about the look. Burn them in when the captions are part of the style of the video, when you post the same clip to several platforms, or when your audience watches with the sound off, which on Reels and Shorts is most of them. For long YouTube videos, many creators upload an SRT file as well so viewers can turn subtitles on and off.
How to add captions to video, answered
Is it really free with no watermark?
Yes. Exported videos have no watermark, no branding, and no visual artifacts on any plan. A generous free plan lets you get started, and paid plans are available for heavier usage.
Do I need to create an account?
A free account is all you need to get started, quick signup, no credit card required. Your projects are saved to your account, so you can reopen them later.
What video formats are supported?
MP4, MOV, WebM, and most common video formats are supported. The tool uses your browser's native media decoders, so any format your browser can play can be captioned. Audio-only formats like MP3 and WAV are also accepted.
Can I edit captions after transcription?
Yes. After AI transcribes your video, you have full editorial control. Edit any word, fix typos, remove filler words, split or merge word groups, and adjust timing. Changes are reflected in the live preview immediately so you can see exactly how your edits look.
How do I put captions on a video automatically?
Use the AI caption generator: upload the video and the captions are generated automatically with word-level timing, no typing required. You only step in to fix the occasional name or brand word.
Can I add captions to a video on my phone?
Yes. The editor runs in the mobile browser, so the same upload, transcribe, style, and export flow works on a phone without installing an app.
More How-To Guides
Use cases and caption styles
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