How to Add Subtitles to a Video: Auto Subtitles, CapCut, Canva

There are two ways to add subtitles to a video: create auto subtitles with a transcription tool, which gives you an SRT or VTT file to upload to YouTube, Facebook or Vimeo, or use the auto captions feature in an editor such as CapCut or Canva, which burns the text into the picture. This guide walks through the four most practical methods, which format to use when, how to translate your subtitles and how to keep them readable, including on vertical video for TikTok and Instagram Reels.

Before you pick a tool, it helps to know which kind of subtitle you need, because everything else follows from that.

What subtitles are and which format you need

A subtitle is a short piece of text with a start time and an end time, synced to what is said on screen. It can travel as a separate file or be "burned in" to the video itself.

A quick note on wording: in the US, "captions" usually means same-language text for viewers who cannot hear the audio (often with sound cues such as [music]), while "subtitles" often means a translation. In practice, the tools and file formats are the same, so this guide uses both words.

A simple rule: if the platform accepts subtitle files (YouTube, Vimeo, Facebook), upload an SRT so viewers can switch captions on or off and choose a language. If you are posting short-form video or sharing the file as is, burn them in. If a player asks for VTT and you only have SRT, the SRT to VTT converter fixes that in seconds, and our SRT vs VTT guide explains the differences in detail.

Downloading subtitles

People searching for "download subtitles" usually want one of two things. If the video is yours and it is on YouTube, YouTube Studio lets you download caption tracks in formats such as SRT or VTT from the options menu for each language (for auto-generated captions you may need to duplicate and save them first). If you are looking for subtitles for a movie, community sites such as OpenSubtitles exist; make sure they match the exact version of your file, because a drift of a few seconds is the most common problem.

Method 1: auto subtitles with a subtitle generator (Audiotexta)

This method works for any video, wherever you plan to publish it, because the result is a standard file. We describe it with Audiotexta, but other auto subtitle generators work in a similar way.

1. Upload the video. Open the web app and drag in the MP4, MOV or WebM file. If the file is very large, you can upload just the audio; the details are in our guide to transcribing video to text. On the free plan you don't need an account for files up to 30 minutes.
2. Choose the language. Set the language of the video or leave automatic detection on. If several people speak, turn on speaker labels.
3. Review. The editor plays the video and highlights each word as it is spoken. Fix names, brands, numbers and slang, which is where any automatic system makes most of its mistakes.
4. Export as SRT or VTT. Pick the format based on where the video is going. Both are included on the free plan.

Once the file is ready, add it to your platform:

• YouTube Studio: open Subtitles, choose the video, add the language, then select Upload file and With timing.
• Facebook: the video's settings (or Meta Business Suite) have a captions section where you can upload the SRT. Facebook sometimes expects the file name to end with a language code, for example video.en_US.srt.
• Vimeo: the video's distribution settings include a subtitles section that accepts SRT and VTT.
• Burned in: editors such as Premiere Pro, DaVinci Resolve and recent versions of CapCut for desktop can import an SRT, style it and export the video with the text in the picture.

If you do this often, the automatic subtitles page shows the available styling, segmentation and format options.

Method 2: how to add subtitles in CapCut

CapCut is the most popular choice for people who edit on their phone and post to social media. Its auto captions feature recognises speech and creates text blocks directly on the timeline. Menu names change between versions, but at the time of writing the general flow is:

• In the mobile app: open your project, tap Text and look for Auto captions. Choose the spoken language and generate.
• On desktop or the web: open the Captions tab, choose Auto captions, select the spoken language and generate. Desktop also offers a bilingual captions option in some versions.

You can then correct the text block by block, change the font, colours and animations, and export. The desktop version usually also lets you export the captions as an SRT file. Keep in mind that some advanced features may require CapCut Pro and that, according to CapCut itself, the web version works best with short videos.

CapCut is ideal for clips of a few minutes with eye-catching captions. For long videos such as lectures or interviews, reviewing text block by block on the timeline becomes slow.

Method 3: how to add captions in Canva

Canva's video editor includes a tool for generating automatic captions. At the time of writing it lives in the Apps panel: search for Captions, select your video and generate the text. Canva creates an editable text layer on the timeline where you can fix words and adjust timing, and you can change the font, size and colour to match your brand. The captions are exported together with the video as an MP4, so they end up burned in.

Some options, such as caption translation, may depend on your plan, so check what your account includes. Canva makes the most sense if you already design your social posts there: your brand fonts and colours stay in one place. If you need a separate SRT file, it is easier to create it with another tool.

Method 4: YouTube Studio automatic captions

If the video is going to YouTube, the platform creates automatic captions at no cost for supported languages, including English. They appear as "English (auto-generated)" some time after upload; for long videos this can take a while.

The advantage is that you don't have to do anything. The drawback is that they don't always get names, punctuation and line breaks right. In the Subtitles section of YouTube Studio you can duplicate the automatic track and edit it, or replace it with a reviewed SRT. There is also an auto-sync option: you paste a transcript of what is said and YouTube works out the timing. YouTube's help page on adding subtitles has the current button names.

How to translate subtitles into Spanish or other languages

Subtitling in another language is one of the simplest ways to reach more people: Spanish- or Portuguese-speaking viewers can follow your video without dubbing. The recommended process is always the same:

1. Review the original-language subtitles first. A mistake in English gets multiplied in the translation.
2. Translate the text while keeping the timing. Audiotexta (on Pro) translates subtitles into 50+ languages and keeps the same cue breaks as the original. YouTube can also offer auto-translated captions to viewers, and CapCut has a bilingual captions option.
3. Check the length. Spanish and Portuguese usually take up noticeably more space than English. If a line ends up too long, split it.
4. Ask a native speaker to read it if the video matters. Machine translation handles the overall meaning well, but idioms and humour often slip through.

On YouTube and Vimeo you can upload each language as a separate track and let viewers choose. On TikTok or Reels you'll have to pick one main language or post separate versions.

Subtitles for vertical video: TikTok, Reels and Shorts

On vertical video, subtitles are almost always burned in, and the format changes the rules:

• Shorter lines. The screen is narrow; two or three large words per line read better than a full sentence in small type.
• Stay clear of busy areas. On TikTok and Reels, the bottom and right side of the screen are covered by the caption text and buttons. Place your subtitles a little above the lower third.
• Large, high-contrast text. Many people watch these videos with the sound off, so the subtitles do the work of the audio.

TikTok and Instagram also offer their own auto captions when you post (in TikTok via the Captions option on the editing screen, in Instagram via the Captions sticker or a "Show captions" setting under the Reel's advanced settings; labels vary by app version). Viewers can turn these on or off. They are handy, but give you little control over styling; if the text is part of your video's design, burn it in from your editor.

Checklist: subtitles that are easy to read

Before you publish, run through this list:

• Two lines at most per subtitle.
• Roughly 37 to 42 characters per line on horizontal video, a common reference in professional style guides; fewer on vertical video.
• Sensible duration: roughly one to seven seconds per subtitle. If the text flashes by too fast, nobody can read it.
• Natural breaks: split at phrases or pauses, not in the middle of "the house / of my grandmother".
• Enough contrast: white text with a black outline, or a semi-transparent box behind it, works on almost any background.
• Don't cover what matters: faces, charts or text that is already on screen.
• Sync: the subtitle should appear when the sentence starts, not a second later.
• Names and numbers checked, every time.
• Relevant sounds in brackets, such as [music] or [laughter], if your audience includes Deaf or hard-of-hearing viewers.

For more on formats and segmentation, see our guide to the SRT and VTT subtitle generator.

How to add subtitles to a video: which method to choose

• Video for YouTube, Vimeo or Facebook, with several language tracks: generate an SRT, review it and upload it as a file.
• Short clip for TikTok or Reels edited on your phone: CapCut, with burned-in captions.
• Branded content designed in Canva: Canva's captions, so you stay in your workflow.
• You just need something quick on YouTube: YouTube Studio's automatic captions, reviewed if the video matters.

What separates good subtitles from mediocre ones is rarely the tool. It is the five minutes of review before you hit publish.