How to add subtitles to a video

Step by step

1. Open your videoGo to the editor — no account needed — and drop in your MP4, MOV or WebM file. It opens straight away in your browser.
2. Choose how to write the subtitlesFor a short clip, type them yourself: open the Text tab, click a style and type the first line. For anything longer, use Auto captions in the same tab (paid plans) to transcribe the speech in one of 17 languages.
3. Pick a style and caption lengthAuto captions offers eight styles, such as Spotlight, Boxed word and Clean, and lets you choose how many words show at once — from one word to full sentences. About three words at a time suits vertical video.
4. Fix the wording and timingPlay it back and click any caption to correct a word. Drag a caption’s edges on the timeline to change exactly when it appears and disappears.
5. Make them readableTurn on an outline or a background box, keep to one or two lines, and keep subtitles clear of the bottom edge on vertical video. Restyle one caption, then apply its look to all of them with one click.
6. ExportClick Export and download the MP4. The subtitles are burned into the picture, so they show on every platform and player.

Burned-in captions or a subtitle file?

There are two kinds of subtitles. Open captions are burned into the video: everyone sees them, on every app, with exactly the font and position you chose. Closed captions are a separate file (usually .srt or .vtt) that viewers switch on and off, and that only some players support.

For social video, burned-in captions are the safe choice: feeds autoplay with the sound off, and many apps don’t let you upload a subtitle file at all. CutLuma burns subtitles into the exported MP4; it doesn’t create a separate subtitle file.

The free way: type the subtitles yourself

Typing works well for short clips, quotes, a title or a few key lines. In the Text tab, click a style to add a text clip at the playhead, type the words and drag the clip on the timeline to set when it shows. Style one line the way you like, then copy and paste it (Ctrl+C, Ctrl+V) for the next line so every subtitle matches.

Everything here is part of the free editor. Free exports carry a small watermark; any paid plan removes it. Start from any text style; many come with animations such as pop, slide and typewriter.

The fast way: AI auto captions

For interviews, tutorials and talking-head videos, typing every word takes far too long. Auto captions transcribes the speech and times every word, then lays the captions out on their own track. Choose the spoken language or let it detect the language automatically.

Auto captions is an AI feature, part of the paid plans (from $6 a month), and uses your monthly AI time — roughly one AI minute per minute of speech, with silent parts skipped. Four styles highlight each word as it is spoken (colour, box, pop or a word-by-word reveal), which is the look viewers expect on TikTok and Reels.

Readability rules that work in any editor

• One or two lines at a time. Three lines cover too much of the picture and are hard to read on a phone.
• Short lines. Around 40 characters a line is a common rule of thumb; break at natural pauses, not in the middle of a phrase.
• High contrast. White or yellow text with a dark outline, or a semi-transparent box behind it, stays readable over any footage.
• Enough time on screen. Don’t flash a caption for less than about a second unless it’s a deliberate one-word style.
• Clear of the interface. On vertical video keep subtitles above the bottom ~20% — see the safe-zone notes.
• Check names and numbers. Even good transcription gets brand names and figures wrong; read it through before you export.

Subtitles in other languages

Auto captions understands 17 spoken languages, including English, Spanish, French, Hindi and Arabic. Once a video is captioned, Translate captions turns the subtitles into another language and keeps each line’s timing and style. Arabic and Urdu need right-to-left layout; our Arabic subtitles guide covers what can go wrong and how to avoid it.

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