How to Generate Automatic Captions on YouTube Videos

YouTube creates automatic captions for many videos using speech recognition, so you usually do not need to do anything extra. After uploading, open YouTube Studio > Subtitles, select your video and check the automatic captions. Click More next to them to edit mistakes, then publish. Automatic captions support many languages, including English and Hindi.

How YouTube Automatic Captions Work

• YouTube uses speech recognition to turn spoken words into captions.
• If available, captions are published automatically after the video is processed.
• They may take some time to appear, especially for long videos or complex audio.
• Quality depends on clear speech, so always review them.

How to Check and Edit Automatic Captions

1. Sign in to YouTube Studio.
2. Select Subtitles from the left menu.
3. Click the video you want to check.
4. Under Subtitles, find the automatic captions and click More (three dots).
5. Edit any words that were transcribed incorrectly and save or publish your changes.

Other Ways to Add Captions

• Upload a file: add a ready-made subtitle file, such as .srt, from the Subtitles page.
• Auto-sync: paste a transcript and let YouTube match it to the timing of your video.
• Type manually: type captions as you watch the video in YouTube Studio.
• Translate: add subtitles in other languages to reach a wider audience.

Why Automatic Captions Might Not Appear

• The video is still processing.
• The language is not supported for automatic captions.
• The audio quality is poor or speech is hard to recognise.
• There is a long silence at the start of the video.
• Several people speak at the same time or mix languages.

Captions for Live Streams

YouTube can add English automatic captions to eligible live streams. When you go live, turn on Closed captions and choose Automatic captions as the source. These captions do not stay on the video after the stream ends, so review or add captions to the recording afterwards.

Tips for More Accurate Captions

• Record in a quiet place with a good microphone.
• Speak clearly and avoid talking over others.
• Keep background music low during speech.
• Always check names, brand names and technical words.

Why Captions Help Your Channel

Captions make videos accessible to deaf and hard-of-hearing viewers, help people watch without sound, and make it easier for viewers who speak other languages to follow along. This can improve watch time; see our tips to increase YouTube watch hours. On your own devices, you can also turn on Live Captions on iPhone, iPad and Mac for any audio.

Frequently Asked Questions

Are YouTube automatic captions free?

Yes. Automatic captions are created by YouTube at no cost for supported languages.

Does YouTube support Hindi automatic captions?

Yes. Hindi is one of the supported languages for automatic captions.

Can I remove automatic captions?

Yes. In YouTube Studio, open Subtitles, select the video, click More next to the automatic captions and choose the option to unpublish or delete them.

Final Takeaway

YouTube automatically creates captions for most videos. Review them in YouTube Studio, fix mistakes, and upload or translate subtitles when you need more accuracy or reach.