How to Get Captions on TikTok
Watching a video? On app versions that offer it, press and hold a clear area of the video, open Captions and translations, and switch on Show captions. Adding captions to your own post? Create or upload the video, open its preview/editing screen, tap Captions, review the generated lines, and save before posting. The viewer control only works when captions are available for that video; menu names and availability can vary.
First decide which job you mean: showing a caption track while watching, generating captions for a draft, or reading text already printed into the picture. They are different layers and one control cannot fix all three.
Show captions on a video you are watching
- Open the video in the TikTok app.Use the phone app first if the caption control is missing in a browser.
- Open the video options.Press and hold an uncluttered part of the video. If your version shows “Captions and translations,” open it.
- Turn on “Show captions.”If the option says captions are unavailable, there may be no usable caption track for that clip. A setting cannot create one for a viewer.
These labels reflect a commonly reported app path, not a guaranteed control on every account or release. TikTok’s available options can differ; follow the controls actually shown in your app.
Generate captions before you post
- Tap Add post +, then record or upload your video.Continue to the preview screen.
- Tap Captions in the side panel.For a first use, accept the feature prompt if TikTok shows one.
- Review every line against the audio.Correct names, numbers, short negatives, and words under music before saving.
- Save, then finish the post.For automatic captions, TikTok’s help page also describes choosing the video language under More options on the posting screen; only eligible videos will receive them.
These are creator captions, not the post description. A description is the text accompanying a post; it does not transcribe the spoken audio.
Captions are missing: identify which layer failed
- Only one watched video has no captions: check whether the viewer menu marks captions unavailable. If so, try another video with speech; repeatedly changing your setting will not add a missing track.
- Your own draft has no generated lines: return to the preview/editor and look for Captions there. Check that the video contains audible speech and that the selected video language matches it.
- Words remain visible when captions are off: those words may be part of the video image itself. A viewer captions toggle does not erase text baked into the picture.
- The transcript looks right but appears at the wrong moment: that is a timing/layout issue, not a speech-recognition issue. Recheck the caption editor or video project rather than rewriting a correct word.
A quick isolation test: compare one clip with clear speech and one with no speech, then compare the same clear-speech clip on app and web. Note whether the problem follows the clip, the device, or your draft. That tells you what to check next without assuming every missing caption is an account setting.
Need the words from a saved video?
Local Video Text can create English transcript text from one supported video file already on your device: MP4, MOV, or WebM, up to 25 MB and 60 seconds. Processing happens in your browser. It does not accept TikTok links, access an account, turn on TikTok captions, read text printed in frames, edit a post, or create an SRT/VTT caption track. Open the local transcript tool.
Only process a video you own or have permission to use. A transcript does not grant permission to reuse another creator’s speech, music, or footage.
Questions about TikTok captions
How do I get captions on TikTok while watching?
On versions that offer the viewer control, press and hold the video, open Captions and translations, and turn on Show captions. If the control is missing or unavailable, the menu may differ or that video may not have a caption track.
How do I add captions to my own TikTok video?
Record or upload your video, continue to the preview screen, tap Captions in the side panel, review and edit the generated lines, then save. TikTok notes that availability can depend on the video.
Why do captions not appear when I turn them on?
Separate a viewer toggle from a creator caption track. If the video has no available track, turning on the toggle cannot generate one. For your own draft, use the editor’s Captions feature instead.
Can this website turn captions on or add them to TikTok?
No. It creates plain English transcript text from a supported local file only. It does not control TikTok or place captions over a video.
Check the current app guidance
See TikTok’s accessibility guide for your videos for creator captions, and the RNID guide to TikTok video captions for the reported viewer menu path. App controls can change.
Related workflows
For spoken words from a saved clip, see TikTok video captions. For the difference between speech and post text, see TikTok captions. For the homepage tool, create a transcript locally.