How-To

How to Add Subtitles to Instagram Reels

By Brian Burgess

Updated January 25, 2024

If you are hard of hearing or want an audio-free viewing experience, you can add subtitles to Instagram Reels. Here’s how to manage them.

Reels are popular short-form videos people use to share their ideas. But if you have difficulty making out what’s being said in the audio, you can add subtitles to Instagram Reels. In addition to turning on captions for other Reels, you can add custom subtitles to your Reels.

Adding captions and subtitles to Instagram Reels is a straightforward process. You can add them to individual Reels or Instagram Stories and Reels globally. Once subtitles or captions are enabled, you can enjoy Reels without turning up the volume.

The subtitle experience on Instagram Reels is like using captions on TikTok or live captions on a PC. So, if you need help understanding what’s happening in an Instagram Reel, we’ll show you how to add subtitles in this guide.

Enable Captions on Instagram

You can enable auto-generated captions for any of the Reels on Instagram and showcase them as subtitles.

1. Launch the Instagram app on your iPad, iPhone, or Android device.
2. Locate the Reel you want to view and tap the three-dot menu button in the bottom right corner of the video.
3. Tap the Manage captions option when the menu appears.
4. Toggle on the Captions switch.
5. Once enabled, you can see the subtitle-like experience of captions on Instagram Reels.

Show Captions on Your Created Reels

Once you create a Reel on Instagram, you may want to have it automatically add captions so hard-of-hearing persons can understand it. It’s also helpful if someone is in a situation where they can’t turn up the volume. You can enable captions when creating a Reel or add them later to an existing one.

To Manually Add Captions on the Reels You Create

1. Create a new Reel or select one you’ve already made and want to add captions.
2. Tap the three-dot button in the top right corner of the Reel.
3. Select Edit from the menu that appears.
4. Tap Advanced settings from the menu on the following screen.
5. Toggle on the Show captions switch to enable the feature.

Add Customized Subtitles to Instagram Reels

You can add customized subtitles to your videos if you want a varied subtitle experience on your Instagram Reels.

1. Tap the Create button at the bottom of the screen.
2. Scroll over to Reel from the menu at the bottom of the screen.
3. Record what you want to include in the Reel and tap the Next button.
4. Select the Captions button from the menu of items to include in your Reel.
5. Scroll through the different formats you can choose for the subtitle text. You will see your selections in real time as you move between them.

Disable Subtitles on Instagram Reels

Sometimes, you might not want viewers to see manually added and auto-generated captions. If this is the case, you can disable them.

1. Open the Instagram Reel that you want to disable subtitles.
2. Tap the three-dot menu in the top right corner of the Reel.
3. Select Edit from the menu that appears.
4. Tap Advanced settings from the menu.
5. Toggle off the Show captions switch to disable subtitles on the Reel. It’s important to note that this will disable the subtitles only for that Reel. Follow the same steps if you want to turn them off on others.

Adding Subtitles and Captions to Instagram Reels

There are different ways to manage captions or subtitles on Instagram Reels. If you want viewers to get the full context of your Reels, you can add them when you create or edit a Reel. Or, you might want to see auto-generated subtitles while viewing Reels for an audio-free experience.

Whichever way you want to use subtitles on Instagram Reels, follow the above steps.

Another interesting feature to try out is customizing subtitles so they look best to the viewer and your point comes across how you want it to. And if you no longer want them, turning subtitles off is a straightforward process.