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How to add captions in Premiere Pro, step by step

To add captions in Premiere Pro, transcribe your sequence, create captions from the transcript, style the caption track, and choose how to export it. Premiere includes Speech to Text; you do not need a separate plugin for standard subtitles.

This guide uses the current Text and Properties panels. Older Premiere tutorials may show Essential Graphics for styling.

1. Transcribe the sequence

Open your edited sequence and choose Window > Text. In the Transcript tab, transcribe the sequence if a transcript has not already been created during import. Choose the spoken language and the dialogue audio you want to transcribe. A language pack may need to download before local transcription can run.

Review names, numbers, and technical terms in the transcript before generating captions. If transcription fails or the transcript is empty, use the Speech to Text troubleshooting guide.

2. Create captions from the transcript

In the Text panel's Captions tab, select Create captions from transcript. Use the Subtitle format for ordinary on-screen subtitles, or the format specified by your delivery brief for broadcast closed captions.

Set the line length, duration, gap, and number of lines for the video you are making. Short lines can help a vertical video, but check the result at the intended viewing size rather than forcing every sentence into the same number of characters.

Create the captions. Premiere adds timed caption clips to a track above the video. Check that the track's eye icon is enabled, then play the sequence to review the text and timing. See what to check when captions are not showing if the preview is blank.

3. Style the captions in Properties

Select a caption clip and open Window > Properties. Set its font, size, fill, stroke, background, and position as needed. Keep enough contrast for the footage behind it, and check the frame edges on the final aspect ratio.

Save a reusable Track Style to apply a consistent look across the track. A style helps you avoid correcting the same appearance on every caption. The caption font and Track Style guide covers this in more detail.

4. Review timing and line breaks

Play the captioned section with sound. Correct spelling in the Captions tab and adjust clip boundaries where a caption appears too early or disappears before the phrase finishes. Keep a readable phrase together when possible.

For an existing subtitle file, import the SRT and add it to the timeline instead of transcribing again. Follow the SRT import workflow for that route.

5. Export visible captions or an SRT file

In Export mode, expand Captions and choose an export option:

• Burn Captions Into Video makes captions permanently visible in the picture.
• Create Sidecar File produces a separate caption file for upload or hand-off. Select SRT when that format is available and appropriate.
• Embed In Output File produces a selectable stream in supported formats.
• None omits captions.

Export a short sample and check it in the intended player before rendering the entire project. For visible social-video subtitles, see the burn-in export guide.

Can Premiere make word-by-word captions?

Current versions include a Single Word layout in Captioning Preferences. For a moving highlight across a multi-word line or animated graphics, compare the approaches in the animated caption guide.

References: Adobe's caption creation instructions, Properties and Track Styles, and export settings.