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Rescreen / Free tools / Add captions to video

Add captions to video

Put word-by-word captions on your video in the style you like, free.

Add captions to a video

Drop a video here

or choose one from your device

MP4, MOV, WebM or MKV, up to 4.0 GB.

How to add captions to a video

From a video file to an MP4 with captions on it, without sending the video anywhere.

  1. Choose your video

    Drop a video and press Add captions. The speech model downloads the first time and hears the words on your device.

  2. Pick a caption style

    Try any of the 20 styles on your own video. Change the colours, drag the captions where you want them, and correct any word.

  3. Download the MP4

    Download the video with the captions burned in, ready for TikTok, Reels, Shorts or LinkedIn.

Caption styles

Each style shows the words as they are said. Pick the one that suits your video:

  • Classic. Anything: the plain white-on-black look people know from auto captions.
  • Outline. Busy pictures: a thick outline keeps every word readable.
  • Bold Pop. Business and advice clips: big, loud and easy to follow muted.
  • Loud. Entertainment and challenges: words land one by one with a bounce.
  • Karaoke. Music, poems and quotes: the colour follows each word as it is said.
  • Highlight Box. Talking to camera: a coloured box marks the word being said.
  • One Word. Fast edits and hooks: one big word at a time.
  • Word Pop. Tips and lists: each word bounces in and stays for the line.
  • Neon. Night scenes, music and lifestyle: thin text with a coloured glow.
  • Gamer. Gaming and reactions: condensed, bright and explosive.
  • Typewriter. Stories and tutorials: letters type out on a dark box.
  • Minimal. Product demos and calm videos: plain text with a soft shadow.
  • Subtle. Interviews and talking heads: small captions that stay out of the way.
  • Modern Gradient. Brand and design content: bold text that fades between two colours.
  • Color Block. Explainers and promos: dark text on a solid block of colour.
  • Podcast. Podcast and interview clips: the spoken word lights up in gold.
  • News. Updates and announcements: yellow capitals on a dark bar.
  • Cinematic. Films, travel and storytelling: a quiet serif with wide spacing.
  • Comic. Kids, comedy and fun: round letters with a thick coloured outline.
  • Emphasis. Teaching and coaching: the important words grow and change colour.

Captions on the video or a subtitle file?

Captions burned into the picture, called open captions, show everywhere the video plays, including feeds that play muted and players that ignore subtitle files. They cannot be switched off or translated.

A subtitle file sits next to the video and viewers turn it on. For YouTube or a course, where viewers choose, make an SRT file with the subtitle generator instead. For more on captioning tutorials, read how to caption a screen recording.

Frequently asked questions

What are open captions?

Open captions are burned into the picture, so they show on every player and in every feed, sound on or off. Closed captions are a separate file viewers can turn on or off. This page makes open captions.

Is it free?

Yes. Classic and Outline captions export free with no account and no watermark. The other 18 styles preview on your video here and come with a free Rescreen account.

Is this like CapCut’s auto captions?

It does the same job without an app: the words are heard automatically and shown as they are spoken, in styles like the ones short-video editors offer. It runs in your browser instead of an editor you install.

Can I add captions to an MP4?

Yes. Drop an MP4, MOV, WebM or MKV file, and you get an MP4 back with the captions in the picture and the sound unchanged.

Which languages does it work in?

The speech model hears about 100 languages and can detect which one is spoken. The caption fonts cover languages written in the Latin alphabet, such as English, Spanish, French, German, Italian, Portuguese and Dutch.

Is my video uploaded?

No. The words are heard, the captions drawn and the MP4 made inside this page; the video never leaves your device. The only things downloaded are the speech model and the page’s own code. We count anonymous page views, the style picked and whether an export finished or failed, never the video, its name or its words. See the privacy policy.

More caption tools

Caption toolSubtitle generatorMake subtitles from your video’s speech.Caption toolSRT editorCorrect subtitle words and timing.Caption toolSubtitle translatorTranslate an SRT or VTT file and keep its timing.Transcript toolVideo to textGenerate a timed transcript from a local recording.

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