If you’re new to TikTok, the number of features the app offers can seem intimidating. For instance, when you create a video, you can add different songs, use a variety of filters, combine two videos, and more.

One incredibly popular feature is closed captions. Many creators choose to transcribe their videos and, by doing so, add more value to them. There are several methods to add closed captions to your videos, and we’re here to help you understand all of them and find the best option for you.

1. Use TikTok’s Built-In Auto Captions

The easiest way to add captions to TikTok videos is through the app itself. After you record your video and press the V to go to the next screen, there’s a button that reads Captions. When you choose it, the app uses speech recognition, auto transcribes what you said, and puts it on the screen.

The biggest pro of this method is its simplicity. It just takes a few clicks and you’re done, which is perfect for both beginners and busy creators alike. Another plus is that you don’t have to download the video from the app and edit it somewhere else. Finally, if you use this method, people can choose to turn the TikTok captions on or off when they watch your video.

With that said, this method is not perfect. For one, it only supports English right now—which might not be the language you use in your videos. But for a lot of creators, the worst thing about it is the lack of customization.

While it lets you correct the words and change the placement on the screen, you can’t pick the font, color, or size or adjust the timing for when the captions appear.

2. Auto-Captioning Apps

If you want more customization with your closed captions and to create something that will make your videos stand out, it’s best to use an external app. There are several captioning apps on the market, but here we chose to focus on Voicella, which is available on Android. This app only serves one purpose, and it does it quite well.

To start, you will need to record your video on TikTok and download it to your phone. If you’re not sure how to do that, read our tips for beginners on TikTok. Then upload it to Voicella and select the language of the video, as this app supports many languages.

Correct the timing of the text and the words, if necessary. After that, press the Aa button, where you can customize the text. There are multiple fonts, styles, colors, and sizes. You can create a unique style for your videos here and establish your brand.

The app even offers translations for your captions, so you can speak in one language and have subtitles in another. However, like Google Translate, it’s prone to mistakes. The best part about the app is that it’s free and doesn’t create a watermark when you export your videos.

3. Use an Online Video Editor

Voicella is great if you just want to add captions. However, a website like Veed.io offers auto-captions alongside multiple other editing tools, which is great for advanced users.

The auto-captions feature works similar to Voicella, with speech recognition software. It can detect multiple languages and also translate. The customizing features, however, are more limited than the app—though they still provide different colors, fonts, and sizes.

Where this website shines is in all of the other features. It lets you upload different audio to the original video, combine videos with transitions, add filters, text (other than the captions), and more. Basically, you can use it to create a video from start to finish and then upload it to TikTok.

While Veed.io doesn’t have an app, the mobile website works pretty well, which means you won’t have to download videos to your desktop. However, the free version will export your videos with a watermark.

4. Add Text Manually Through TikTok

Before TikTok released the auto-captions feature, people used to transcribe their videos and add the text by themselves. The biggest downside of this method is the fact that it takes a long time.

However, there are also several benefits. The first one is the fact that you can get everything done within the app itself—no need to export the video. Additionally, you can play around with the closed captions even more than with external apps with this method.

You can make the text pop up in different places on the screen, make it move with the action in the video, emphasize different words, and so much more. A lot of creators use this to add comedy to their videos or a dramatic effect. Here’s a step-by-step guide on how to add text to your TikTok videos.

Why You Should Add Captions to Your TikTok Videos

There are several reasons you’d want to go through the trouble and add captions to videos. First of all, it makes your content more inclusive, as it makes it accessible to deaf people, the hard of hearing, and those who are not native speakers.

Second, many people watch videos without any sound, whether they are at work, on the train, or on the toilet. The captions ensure that they won’t skip over your video and watch it all the way through. Closed captions also attract more attention to the video and can increase user engagement.

Finally, the closed captions will help your videos gain more exposure. The TikTok algorithm favors videos with captions and pushes them to more people. Additionally, if some people watch the video until the end, like it, and comment on it (for the reasons mentioned before), it will gain more traction, and you’ll be on your way to getting on TikTok’s “For You” page.

Explore All That TikTok Has to Offer

Closed captions, while important and can help you gain more viewers, are just one part of TikTok. This app grows and evolves every day, adding filters, sounds, and other cool add-ons to help you make your videos stand out from the crowd.

If you want to increase your view count and even make a viral video, keep checking the app and stay on top of all of the latest additions.