How to Add Subtitles to a Youtube Video?

Locate The Video And Click On It

At this stage, you just need to scroll to the video you want to add subtitles to and click on it. The videos are placed in chronological order, so your latest video is at the top. Knowing this makes it easier to find the video in question.

Click The "Add Language" Option

This option will allow you to select one of the languages in which the subtitles can be added. You can select English, which is the most accessible language. Alternatively, you can opt for the language that your primary audience consumes your content in. You can add multiple languages as well. Just make sure that the subtitles match the language.

Click "Add" Under The Subtitles

Here, you will have four options that fall into two broad categories: manually adding subtitles or having them generated automatically. We will cover the nuances, benefits, and drawbacks of each option later in this post. But if you already have your mind made up, you can simply choose the option that corresponds to your choice.

Choose One Of The Four Captioning Options

The four options you have for captioning on Youtube include uploading a file, auto-syncing preexisting subtitles, typing manually, and even auto-translating subtitles from another language! The best option is to type manually, at least in terms of accuracy. Editing auto-generated captions can speed up the process.

Upload Subtitles Manually

Uploading subtitles requires an SRT file. It is the file type in which transcription is saved. If you have an SRT file for the subtitles,** this is the quickest way to have them placed on your video**.

SRT files can be created by typing manually, auto-caption programs like the ContentFries subtitler, or by hiring a transcription expert. If you do not have an SRT file, then you might need to type subtitles manually into youtube studio subtitler.

Pro(s) of this option:

• Takes less time if you have an SRT file

Con(s) of this option:

• It takes time/money to get an SRT file

• The syncing might be inaccurate

Auto-Sync

This is an option that allows manual subtitling with automatic syncing. For your subtitles to auto-sync with the video, the audio language must match the subtitle language, and the quality of the audio must be good enough. This is one of the best methods of subtitling.

Alternatively, you can upload a transcript for auto-syncing. This is better than a subtitle file upload because subtitles can be off by a second based on the editing program used to generate them.

Pro(s) of this option:

• The subtitles get synced automatically, so you don't spend as much time per subtitle

Con(s) of this option:

• You need to transcribe the audio yourself

Type Manually

This is an option that is pretty feasible if you speak slowly. It entails typing out what's being said in the video as you watch the video. You can pause the video to catch up. What's absent in this option is the auto-sync feature, which means you're responsible for getting the timing right.

Since it takes just as much effort as typing manually, this option should be reserved only for subtitles that are in a different language or videos with poor audio quality. As someone with a foreign accent, I must also mention that Youtube isn't great at detecting words if you have an accent.

Pro(s) of this option:

• This is as accurate a captioning option as it gets

• You can be certain about the accuracy of the subtitles

Con(s) of this option:

• You spend time not just transcribing but also timing each subtitle

• It takes a lot more effort

Automatic Captions (Translation)

This is the final option, which, if available, means that Youtube will automatically produce captions for the language you add using the Google Translate engine. It works best for popular languages that Google has had the time to get right. The captions aren't always grammatically sound but are understandable.

Pro(s) of this option:

• It doesn't take any effort

• The work is done for you by technology

Con(s) of this option:

• Translation can be awkward or downright incorrect

Pre-Added Subtitles

The four options above aren't the only ones available to someone looking to auto-caption a youtube video. You can also edit the subtitles on the Youtube video. The main advantage of this method of subtitling is that you don't have to worry about people watching the video with subtitles turned off.

Since many people don't know how to turn on subtitles, there is a chance that your viewers might be watching youtube with the captions turned off. You can urge them to click the CC button on the player, or you can bake captions onto the video for them.

The drawback of editing captions onto the video is that you rob your audience of choice to turn off the captions. And that can be very distracting for some people.

To edit captions onto the video, you can use any video editor with subtitle-adding capabilities. From iMovie to Vdieopad, plenty of video editors today have caption-adding features. But adding subtitles this way can be time-consuming.

Generate Auto-Captions For The Long-Form Content

By uploading your long-form youtube video to the ContentFries platform, you can generate auto-captions within minutes. It takes just a few clicks, and the platform's powerful auto-captioning engine generates subtitles with over 90% accuracy. These captions can be exported as an SRT, which you can upload directly to Youtube.

Create Short-Form Content From The Long Video

The next step should be to produce short-form content from your video. This is what will actually increase the exposure of your Youtube channel. Short-form content is being pushed by Youtube to remove click-throughs from the decision-making process. By simply showing people a few seconds of your video in a TikTok-like scrollable feed, they can see if your channel is worth pushing or not.

So how do you retain viewership in the shorts format? You use subtitles! As mentioned earlier, Youtube Studio doesn't allow editing subtitles onto the video in a more prominent way. But the good news is that the captioning capabilities of ContentFries are actually designed around this demand.

Add Subtitles To The Short-Form Content

This is the single most important step in growing your Youtube channel with repurposed shorts. ContentFries has templates for subtitles, fonts, and sizes that work. These can engage your audience provided that the actual content in the video matches their interests. Make sure to use the right title and description so that your Youtube Shorts appear in the right people's feeds.

ContentFries vs. Other Subtitling Methods

If you have an SRT file and the only thing you're interested in is adding captions to your Youtube video, then you might not be interested in this section. The exact steps of executing that have already been covered. But if you plan to manually create subtitles, or get an SRT file from elsewhere, here is why you might prefer ContentFries over other methods.

ContentFries vs. Youtube Studio

ContentFries offers all the benefits of Youtube Studio subtitling because you can export a subtitles file from ContentFries and use it in Youtube Studio. Moreover, it offsets Youtube Studio's limitations on subtitle size, font, and positioning. Overall, ContentFries gives you more control over video captioning.

ContentFries vs. iMovie

While iMovie has a more accessible editor with more editing features, ContentFries is dedicated to better captioning and repurposing. You can create 30+ pieces of content from one video using ContentFries, and its captioning is more accurate and less time-consuming.

ContentFries vs. VideoPad

VideoPad is a broader-feature editor, but ContentFries is the most beginner-friendly content repurposing agent. It allows you to get accurate captions much quicker and has better placement templates for all video orientations.