Captions on TikTok are a great way to make your videos more engaging and accessible to a wider audience. Whether you’re telling a story, sharing a tutorial, or lip-syncing to a trending sound, captions can help viewers follow along—especially those watching with sound off or who are hard of hearing. Thankfully, TikTok has made adding captions easy through both automatic and manual options.
Using Auto-Captions on TikTok
TikTok offers an automatic captioning feature that transcribes spoken words in your video and displays them as text on-screen. To use auto-captions, first record or upload your video and proceed to the editing screen. Once there, tap the “Captions” option located on the right side of the screen. TikTok will scan your audio and generate a transcription. You will be given the option to review the text and edit any incorrect words before publishing the video. Once confirmed, the captions will appear as part of your video content.
This method is the most convenient for creators who speak clearly and want fast, accurate subtitles. It’s also useful for improving video reach, as many users scroll through TikTok with their volume turned down and may skip videos without readable content.
Manually Adding Text as Captions
If you want more creative control or are adding text that isn’t based on spoken words, you can manually insert captions. After recording or uploading your video, tap the “Text” button on the editing screen. Type out your caption, then choose a font, color, and alignment. You can drag the text anywhere on the screen.
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To ensure your captions appear at the right time, tap the text box and select “Set duration.” Use the sliders to adjust when the text appears and disappears in the video. This is helpful for dialogues, explanations, or step-by-step guides. You can add multiple captions with different timings to match the flow of your video.
Tips for Effective Captions
Make sure the text is large enough to read and doesn’t blend into the background. Use contrasting colors and avoid placing text near the edges of the screen where TikTok’s UI elements like likes and comments may cover it. Keep the message short and clear so viewers don’t miss your point while scrolling quickly.
