How to change the caption font in Premiere Pro

Select a caption on the timeline, open Window > Essential Graphics, and change the font in the Text section. To apply it to every caption on the track, save it as a Track Style. That's the whole procedure; the details below cover the parts that trip people up.

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Step by step

1. Click one caption on the caption track.
2. In Essential Graphics, pick the font family and style, set the size, and adjust fill, stroke and background box.
3. At the top of the panel, open the Track Style dropdown and choose Create Style. Name it. Every caption on the track now uses it.

Why the font only changed on one caption

Because you edited a single caption instead of the Track Style. Captions on the track follow the Track Style unless you override them individually. Set the style once at track level and the override problem goes away.

Why the font isn't in the list

Premiere reads fonts installed in the operating system. Install the font, restart Premiere, and it appears. Adobe Fonts activated through Creative Cloud also show up after a restart.

Size that reads on a phone

For vertical video, captions between 5 and 7 percent of the frame height read well on a phone. On a 1080 x 1920 sequence that is roughly 55 to 75 px. Smaller than that and viewers squint; larger and two lines eat the frame.

What you can't change

You can't give the spoken word a different color or size from the rest of the line, and you can't animate the font in. Those need a graphic layer rather than a caption track.