How to Add Subtitles to a TikTok or Reel
Updated November 5, 2026
To add subtitles to a short video, generate them from the speech, correct any mistakes, then burn them into the picture so they show everywhere. Burned-in captions are part of the video, so they work on any app, and nobody has to turn them on.
The steps
This takes a few minutes for a short clip.
- 1Open the video in a subtitle tool. Speech recognition turns what's said into timed lines.
- 2Read through and fix names, numbers and slang. Recognition is good, but it isn't perfect.
- 3Choose a caption style and position.
- 4Save the video with the captions in it, then upload that to TikTok or Instagram.
Keep captions out of the way
Short-video apps put buttons along the right side and text at the bottom, which can cover captions placed low in the frame. Placing captions near the middle keeps them clear of both.
Keep lines short. One to four words at a time is easier to read on a phone than a full sentence.
Burned-in or a subtitle file?
Burned-in captions can't be turned off, which is what you want on TikTok and Reels. A separate SRT or VTT file suits YouTube and video players, where viewers can switch captions on, off or to another language.