Can I add subtitles to a YouTube video online?
You can add subtitles to a YouTube video automatically using speech recognition technology. However, such subtitles are not adequate. People search for additional tools that can help them add subtitles to YouTube videos online. Luckily, the tech-world has various solutions for this query, including some confusing ones. We, as a team, came with this post to eliminate the confusion and focus on all the basic requirements, like adding own closed captions, step-by-step tutorials to add subtitles to YouTube videos, and awareness about an online and creative YouTube subtitles adder.
Part 1. How to Add Your Own Closed Captions
Closed captions are great to make your videos more inclusive and add metadata for overall engagement. They also help share your video content with a significant audience. Yet, people tend to use captions and subtitles interchangeably without knowing their difference. So, let's first understand what captions stand for. Captions use the same language used in the video content, whereas subtitles are for those who can't comprehend as is present in the video content. So, they are slightly different in terms of the user's understanding point of view.
After going through a brief knowledge of these terms, it's time to reveal the steps you need to add your closed captions.
Step 1: Go to YouTube Studio and Sign In.
Step 2: Choose Subtitles from the menu bar on the left-hand side.
Step 3: Select the video you’d like to add closed captions to.
Step 4: Choose your language by hitting the Add Language tab.
Step 5: Then, select Add under Subtitles.
Now, you have three options to add the Captions file. Let's discuss these ways one by one below!
01 Directly Upload Captions File
It is the file containing the exact text, as is said in the video. Thus, the file also consists of timestamps to be useful for hard-of-hearing viewers.
Step 1: Choose Upload File.
Step 2: Select between ‘Without Timing’ or ‘With Timing’ and confirm using the Continue tab.
Step 3: Select the file you want to upload and hit the Save button.
02 Type Captions Manually
It is the process commonly called video transcription, where timings of subtitles get set automatically.
Step 1: Choose Type Manually
Step 2: Play the video to enter captions correspondingly.
Step 3: Hit Publish after you finish
03 Captions Auto-Synchronization
This way is pretty similar to the method mentioned above.
Step 1: Choose Auto-Sync.
Step 2: Enter the respective text as represented in the video or upload a transcript file.
Step 3: Choose Assign Timings and confirm with Save and Close tab.
Part 2. Steps to Add Subtitles to YouTube Videos Automatically
Here are some quick steps to add subtitles to a YouTube video using the Automatic Captioning feature.
Step 1: Directly Upload Captions FileSelect the video language
After you completed uploading the video in YouTube Studio and passed the Monetization step, it's time to select the language the video is present in, which is English in this reference. After that, you can set the visibility of the video as well.
Step 2: Wait for automatic transcription
You should now wait a few minutes to let YouTube automatically transcribe your video. Meanwhile, you must be aware of specific troubleshooting issues. Those issues could be as follows.
- Too long video.
- Complex processing of audio in the video due to which the captions aren’t available.
- Poor quality of sound.
- Presence of multiple speakers.
- Long duration of silence in the video.
Step 3: Review and Make Corrections
It is the final step to check your subtitles. The subtitles by automatic speech recognition of YouTube may be accurate but still need few edits for correct punctuation. For this purpose, go to YouTube Studio and hit the Videos section, as shown in the image below.
Then, go to Video Details > More Options tab.
As you scroll below, you will see there is an automatic captions file by YouTube. Click on the three dots given beside and select the first Edit on Classic Studio option.
Now, click the Edit tab and utilize few keyboard shortcuts, especially when you edit long-duration videos. You can select Publish Edits option, finally.
So, these were all the steps and images to add subtitles to a YouTube video. The last step of editing is reasonably necessary for review.
Part 3. Easy Online YouTube Video Maker to Add Text Effects
If you don't want to add subtitles to YouTube videos, you can choose to add text effects to make your video more attractive. This asks for less copy but maybe get better results. Here, we recommend Wondershare VidAir for you, which is an online video editor with kinds of text effects. It also provides you stickers, free image and video resources, and background music. Just open it from your browser. It's easy to use even for beginners.
After discussing how to add subtitles to a YouTube video, you can have a try now. The essential aspect comes when you can add subtitles to YouTube videos online via a creative video maker by Wondershare. Yes, the invention of VidAir is pretty rocking and helps young creators like you discover a quick yet effective solution to post projects on social media platforms. These tools let you stand apart from others in the competition. Besides these facts, creatively adding subtitles is an excellent way to get attention.
