How-to
Add subtitles to a TikTok video
TikTok will caption a clip for you, and on clear audio in a common language it does a reasonable job. The reasons to do it yourself are the wording, the languages, and keeping the text when the video goes somewhere else.
How to do it
Add the video
Upload an MP4, MOV, AVI, or MKV file up to 500 MB, or paste a link from a supported source.
Choose a language
The spoken language gives you captions. Any of the other 30 gives you a translated version of the same clip.
Read the text before you commit
Slang, brand names, and anything said over music are where a machine transcript slips, and a short clip gives an error nowhere to hide.
Download and post
The video comes back with subtitles burned into the picture, alongside SRT and TXT files in both languages.
Where platform captions fall short
- They are generated from the audio with no chance to correct a name, a brand, or a technical term before it is published.
- They are in the spoken language only, so they do nothing for a viewer who does not speak it.
- They belong to the post. Download the clip to put it on another platform and the words do not travel with it.
- Their look and position are the app's decision, and both change from release to release.
Translating a clip for a different audience
A clip that did well in one language is the cheapest thing to try in another, because the hard part is already done. Pick a target language and the transcript is translated and burned back onto the same video, with the timings preserved. What actually changes between languages is length and register rather than meaning, which is covered in how to translate subtitles well.
Keeping the words readable at speed
Short-form video cuts fast, and a subtitle that is still being read when the shot changes gets abandoned. The limit is reading speed rather than line count: if a line stays on screen for less time than it takes to read, it may as well not be there. Subtitle timing and reading speed covers where that boundary sits and how to tell when a line has crossed it.
Before you post
- Watch it muted on a phone. That is the viewing condition, so it is the only test that counts.
- Keep the lower centre of the frame clear of your own text, since that is where the burned subtitles sit.
- Check the first line hardest. It is the one every viewer sees and most of them decide on.
Frequently asked questions
Why not just use the built-in captions?
Use them if the clip is in one language and the audio is clean. Do it yourself when you need to fix wording before publishing, when you want another language, or when the clip is going somewhere else too.
Can it handle music under the voice?
Usually, but that is the hardest case for any speech recognition and the one worth reading through carefully. Loud music over quiet speech is where transcripts break down.
Will the subtitles look the same on every platform?
Yes. Burned-in text is part of the picture, so it does not depend on the player. That is the main reason to burn rather than to ship a subtitle file.
Can I get the words as text?
Yes. Every job returns SRT and TXT files in the original language and in the one you chose, so the same script can be reused as a caption or a post.