In the last decade, captions have become an important part of our social media experience. For example, picture this… You’re unwinding in a nearby cafe, scrolling through your daily TikTok videos and memes. However, the noise is deafening, making it impossible to watch videos that rely on sound. I am guessing this rings a bell or triggers an experience you’ve had in the past– or something similar.
The good news is that users can quickly and easily generate TikTok video captions.
TikTok has a feature that generates auto-captions for you when watching videos, which is generally useful if you have a hearing defect or prefer to read rather than listen.
So, this article will show you how to enable TikTok auto-captions and all you need to know about this function.
What are TikTok Auto-captions?
TikTok auto-captions are subtitles that are made automatically and shown on a video so that a user can read the transcript of what is being said.
Auto captions make your videos more accessible and inclusive by letting people read or listen to the content. This is helpful not only for people who have difficulty hearing or are deaf but also for people who watch videos without the sound on.
Creators can turn on this feature while making content and can even change the captions to make sure they are correct before publishing. Viewers can also choose to turn on or off the subtitles. Let’s talk about how to set this up for both situations.
Whether you’re making or watching videos on TikTok, it’s pretty easy to turn on captions.
Creating a Video With TikTok Subtitles
The auto caption feature on TikTok makes it easy for creators and social media managers who are busy to add and change subtitles while making content. This is how:
- Tap the Captions button on the right side of the screen when you’re uploading your video. Any audio in the video will be automatically transcribed by TikTok. If you want to spend less time editing text, try to upload videos with clear speech and as little background noise as you can.
- Once TikTok generates your caption, check it to make sure it is correct. Did it pick up sounds in the background? Do you see too many unnecessary words you want to eliminate? Don’t worry. You can change the subtitles that were made for you by tapping on the pencil icon.
- When you’re done making changes, click “Save,” and your captions are ready to be seen.
How to Turn Captions On in TikTok
Follow these steps to start putting captions on videos from other users:
- Open the app TikTok.
- Find the video whose captions you want to turn on.
- Click on the captions icon on the left side of the screen, just above their username.
- If the icon doesn’t show up, it’s likely because there are no words in the video that could be turned into captions or because the person who made the video has turned off the captions feature.
- Right after that, captions for the video and all other videos will start to appear.
How to Stop Captions From Showing on TikTok
If you don’t want captions to show up when you watch TikToks anymore, it’s just as easy to turn them off as it is to turn them on.
Follow these steps to get going:
- Open the app TikTok.
- Find the video whose captions you want to turn off.
- Click on the words that appear as the video’s caption on the left side of the screen, just above their username.
- Click on “Hide captions.”
- The video and all other videos will no longer have captions.
How to Make Your Own TikTok Videos Have Auto-Captions
If you make videos and want people to be able to watch them with the captions on, it’s pretty easy to do.
- Once your video has been produced or uploaded, click the checkbox to signal that you are prepared to start editing it.
- On the right side of the screen, locate and tap the “Captions” icon.
- The first time you enable captions, a screen will appear explaining how they work and requesting your permission for the “collection and use of the audio.”
- It might take a few seconds for TikTok to process your captions, depending on the length of your video and the processing speed of your phone. Remember that auto-captions are only available for speech; they will not work for any added sung music.
- After your audio has been processed, a screen with a condensed version of the video and a list of the video’s captions will appear.
Read Also: Can You See Who Viewed Your TikTok Stories?
- Click the “Save” button in the top right corner when you’re satisfied with the captions.
- You can edit them if you’re not satisfied. They may contain typos or the wrong words. The edit icon, which looks like a pencil and a piece of paper, is located just to the right of the word “Captions.” The keyboard on your phone can then be used to correct any text errors.
- You can join lines that you believe to be too short, and you can split lines that you believe to be too long. You’ll need to press the back button on your phone to undo your edits if you accidentally split a line and decide to try again.
- When finished, click “Save.”
You’re essentially stuck with what you get, which is typically white lettering on a slightly darker rectangle, since you can’t style your captions. Using the Text feature, which is located at the bottom of the edit screen, you can manually create captions in a variety of colors, sizes, and typefaces if you want to get fancy with your captions. To do this, simply disable the auto caption feature (using the same Caption icon as before).
How to Turn on Captions in Settings for TikTok
Now that you know how to manage auto-captions right away while looking through the TikTok feed, let’s talk about how to turn them on in the app’s settings.
Follow these steps if you turned off the setting or didn’t get the message:
- In the TikTok app, tap Profile.
- Choose the menu with the three lines in the upper right corner of the screen.
- Click Settings and Privacy.
- Click on the option for Accessibility.
- Turn on the Captions feature. (The wording may be a little different if you have an iPhone or an Android.)
Note that, unlike when TikTok first started offering this feature, you can now watch videos with automatic captions even if the person who made the video didn’t choose to include them when they posted it.
How to Disable Captions on TikTok in Settings
Auto-captions might not work well if they are wrong or if they always cover up parts of the videos you are streaming. This could make you want to turn off the feature.
There is a way to turn off captions that are made automatically:
- Open the TikTok app and go to the Profile tab.
- Click on the three lines in the upper right corner of your profile.
- Click Settings and Privacy.
- Click on the menu called “Accessibility.”
- Turn off captions.
What does it mean on TikTok when it says “auto-generated captions”?
On TikTok, auto-generated captions are subtitles that are made from the sound and shown on your video.
How do I set TikTok to automatically add subtitles?
TikTok’s auto-caption feature can be turned on by going to Settings and Privacy and tapping the Accessibility tab. Turn on the Always Show captions that were made automatically switch.
Conclusion
For the average scroller, auto-captions on TikTok might not seem like a big deal, but for some, it might be the best thing a video app has ever added. This feature might be perfect for you if you like to have subtitles on for everything or if you can’t hear well.
Using what you’ve learned in this blog post, decide if you want captions when you’re scrolling through TikTok.
Related Articles
- How to Hide Offensive Words and Phrases in Threads
- How to Use Instagram Threads, Explained!!!
- Threads vs Instagram: How is Threads Different from Instagram?
- How to Do a Voiceover on TikTok
- How to Change Your Name on TikTok: Best 2023 Practices
References
