How to Add Subtitles to a YouTube Video (Free Guide)

How to add subtitles to a video in YouTube Studio

Sign in to YouTube Studio and click Subtitles in the left menu.
Click the video you want to add subtitles to.
If asked, set the video’s language, then click Add language and choose the subtitle language.
Under Subtitles, click Add and pick a method: Upload file, Auto-sync, or Type manually.
Check the captions in the preview, then click Publish.

Three ways to add your subtitles

Upload a subtitle file (SRT or VTT)

Choose Upload file, then “With timing” for SRT or VTT files that already contain timestamps, or “Without timing” for a plain text transcript. This is the fastest route when you already have a corrected subtitle file.

Auto-sync a transcript

Choose Auto-sync and paste or type the full transcript of what is said. YouTube matches the text to the audio and sets the timings for you. It works best when the transcript is accurate and in the same language as the speech.

Type manually

Choose Type manually and write each caption while the video plays, adjusting where every line starts and ends. It gives full control but takes the longest.

Edit YouTube’s automatic captions

For many languages YouTube creates automatic captions shortly after upload. In YouTube Studio, open Subtitles, select the video, and look for the row marked Automatic. Click Duplicate and edit, fix the misheard words, punctuation and names, and Publish. Your corrected track replaces the automatic one for viewers.

Use our SRT export as a starting file

Fixing captions inside YouTube Studio can be slow for a long video. A faster workflow is to download the automatic captions as a subtitle file, correct it in any text or subtitle editor, and upload it back.

Once YouTube has generated automatic captions for your video, paste its link into the box above and press Get Free Transcript.
Use the transcript view to spot errors, edit lines in place, and remove anything you do not want.
Download the result as SRT or VTT. The file keeps every caption’s timing.
Open the file in a text editor or subtitle editor and correct any remaining wording, names and punctuation.
In YouTube Studio, go to Subtitles, select the video, click Add under Subtitles, choose Upload file, then With timing, and select your corrected file.

How to add subtitles in other languages

Click Add language in YouTube Studio for each extra language. You can upload a translated SRT file, or use YouTube’s auto-translate option for some languages and then review it. To make a translated file yourself, translate the transcript here, keeping its timestamps, and download it as SRT.

How to add subtitles to a YouTube video on mobile

Adding and editing subtitles is fully supported in YouTube Studio on a computer. On a phone, the easiest way is to open studio.youtube.com in your mobile browser and use the desktop site, because the YouTube Studio app has limited subtitle tools.

Why you cannot add subtitles to someone else’s YouTube video

Only the channel that owns a video, or people it has given access to, can add subtitles. YouTube removed community-contributed captions in 2020, so viewers can no longer submit subtitles for other creators’ videos. As a viewer you can still turn on existing captions with the CC button, or read the transcript here.

Frequently asked questions

How do I add subtitles to my YouTube video?

In YouTube Studio, open Subtitles, select the video, click Add language, then Add under Subtitles. Upload a subtitle file, auto-sync a transcript or type the captions manually, then Publish.

How do I add a transcript to a YouTube video?

Choose Auto-sync and paste the transcript, or Upload file and choose “Without timing” for a plain text file. YouTube then works out the timings from the audio.

Can I add subtitles to a YouTube video for free?

Yes. Adding subtitles in YouTube Studio is free, and so is exporting your video’s automatic captions as an SRT file here.

How do I upload an SRT file to YouTube?

In YouTube Studio go to Subtitles, select the video and language, click Add under Subtitles, choose Upload file, select “With timing” and pick your SRT file.

Can YouTube add subtitles automatically?

Yes, for many languages YouTube generates automatic captions after upload. They are often good but rarely perfect, so it is worth correcting them with Duplicate and edit or by re-uploading a fixed SRT file.

Why can’t I add subtitles to my YouTube video?

Check that you are signed in to the channel that owns the video and that the video language is set. Auto-sync and automatic captions are not available in every language or for every video, so uploading a file is the reliable fallback.

How do I add subtitles to someone else’s YouTube video?

You cannot. Community contributions were removed in 2020, so only the channel owner can add captions. You can still read the captions it already has as a transcript.

Can this site create subtitles for a video with no captions?

No. It exports the captions YouTube already has, including automatic ones. If a video has no captions at all, there is nothing to export yet.

How to Add Subtitles to a YouTube Video