How to add subtitles to videos: Step-by-step guide

In an increasingly global and digital world, making video content accessible and understandable to a broad audience is more important than ever. One crucial way to do this is by adding subtitles to your videos, enhancing their accessibility and user engagement. But what are subtitles? How do they differ from closed captions? Why are they so vital for your videos, and most importantly, how can you add them to your videos?

Here, we answer these questions, providing an in-depth look into the world of video subtitles and offering step-by-step tutorials on adding subtitles using various video editors and video hosting websites. Whether you're a seasoned YouTube content creator or a beginner TikTok influencer, this guide will equip you with the knowledge you need to make your videos more accessible and engaging.

What are subtitles?

Subtitles, often referred to as "subs," are a transcription of the dialogues or narrations present in a video. They are displayed as text at the bottom of the screen, providing a textual representation of the video's audio. Subtitles can be in the same language as the audio or in a different language, serving as a translation for non-native speakers.

Subtitles vs. closed saptions

While subtitles and closed captions serve a similar purpose of providing a text version of the audio, there is a subtle difference between the two. Subtitles, also known as open captions, are designed to cater to viewers who can hear the audio but prefer to have the dialogues in text form, often because they are in a noisy environment or watching a video in a foreign language. On the other hand, closed captions are meant for viewers who are hard of hearing or deaf. They not only transcribe dialogues but also include descriptions of important non-dialogue sounds such as "phone ringing" or "door creaking."

Why all videos should have subtitles

There are several reasons why adding subtitles or captions to all videos can be beneficial:

• Accessibility — Subtitles make video content accessible to individuals who are hard of hearing or who speak a different language.
• User engagement — Many viewers prefer watching videos with subtitles, especially when the video language isn't their first language or when they can't play the audio.
• SEO — Subtitles can boost video SEO as they are crawlable by search engines.
• Social media engagement — Many social media users, like those on Facebook or TikTok, watch videos without sound. Providing subtitles can increase viewer engagement on such platforms.

How to add subtitles with different video editors and video hosting platforms

Subtitles are an essential part of video content creation, making your content more accessible and engaging. Whether you're a YouTube content creator or a social media influencer on platforms like TikTok, subtitles can greatly enhance your content's reach and impact. It might require an extra step in the video editing process, but the benefits it offers make it a worthwhile effort.

Here is how to add subtitles to videos in the following platforms:

YouTube videos

1. Upload your video file to your YouTube channel.
2. Open YouTube Studio and choose the video you want to add subtitles to.
3. In the editor tab, click Add Subtitles.
4. You can either upload a pre-existing SRT file (a standard file format for subtitles with timestamps) or you can manually transcribe the video. YouTube also provides an automatic captions feature, but this might need some editing for accuracy.
5. Once you're done, save the changes.

Facebook videos

1. Upload your video to Facebook.
2. Once uploaded, go to the Video Library within Creator Studio.
3. Click on the three-dot icon next to the video you want to add subtitles to and then click Edit Video.
4. In the left column, click on Subtitles and Captions (CC).
5. Choose the language of your subtitles.
6. Now you can either upload a SubRip (.srt) file or create new subtitles manually by clicking Auto-Generate, Write, or Upload.
7. If you choose to upload an SRT file, click Upload and then Choose File to select your subtitle file. The format should be "filename.en_US.srt" (Replace “en_US” with your language's code if it's different).
8. Click Save.

Adobe Premiere Pro

1. Import your video file into Premiere Pro.
2. Use the Captions option in the Window menu.
3. Click Add Caption and start typing in the text box at the designated time.
4. After completing the transcription, you can export the caption files (SRT files), which can be used in different video editing software.

iMovie (Mac and iPhone)

1. Import your video file into iMovie.
2. Drag the video to your timeline.
3. Click the Titles button and choose a caption template.
4. Drag the template above the clip in your timeline and start typing the subtitles in the text box.
5. Repeat this for all dialogues in your video.

VEED

VEED is an online video editing tool that supports subtitles addition.

1. Upload your video to VEED.
2. Click on Subtitles and then Auto Transcribe.
3. Choose the video's language and let VEED autogenerate subtitles.
4. Manually correct any errors in the transcription.
5. Click Export to download the video with subtitles or just the SRT file.

Google Drive

Google Drive itself doesn't have a built-in feature to add subtitles to videos. However, you can use third-party video players that support subtitles, like VLC player, to watch your videos with subtitles. Here's how to do it:

1. First, you need a subtitle file (.srt) for your video.
2. Upload both the video file and the .srt file to Google Drive.
3. Download both files to your computer.
4. Open the video with a video player like VLC.
5. In VLC, click Subtitle on the menu bar and then click Add Subtitle File.
6. Select the subtitle file you downloaded from Google Drive. The subtitles will now appear on your video.

Note on adding subtitles on mobile devices (Android)

While apps like Adobe Premiere Rush can be used to add subtitles on Android, the process can be somewhat time-consuming and complex. An easier approach would be to edit videos on a computer or use online services that auto transcribe and add subtitles to your video.

Translate audio with Speechify Dubbing Studio

Adding subtitles in different languages is a great way to expand your audience, but you can reach even more people by translating audio from your video content. Speechify Dubbing Studio makes translation easy by automatically translating speech into different languages with a just a single click. The natural-sounding AI voices will save you time and money from hiring voice actors to dub your video content, and you’ll be able to customize the voices to your liking.

Try out Speechify Dubbing Studio today.