How to Automatically Add Captions to YouTube Shorts？

Why YouTube’s auto-caption feature isn’t the best for Shorts

This process is fairly simple, but there are aspects of YouTube’s auto-captions we’re not fond of.

First, you can’t add auto-captions before posting, meaning your Shorts will lack subtitles for hours to days after uploading—a poor experience for viewers who find your video during that gap. Since social media users overwhelmingly prefer subtitled content, this puts your Shorts at a disadvantage.

Second, the captions need significant editing. YouTube’s automatic captions are infamous for spelling and grammar errors. In this example, you can see how badly “ChatGPT” has been transcribed.

There’s also hardly any capitalization or punctuation—it’s a disorganized mess.

While cleaning up YouTube’s auto-captions is faster than manually transcribing the video, it still involves unnecessary extra work that you can avoid by using a different tool (more on that shortly).

Finally, you can’t customize the formatting or style of YouTube’s automatic captions. Since Shorts are more similar to TikTok or Reels than traditional YouTube videos, the visual appeal of the final video matters. If branding and style are important to you, YouTube’s auto-captions may fall short of your Shorts editing needs.

Let’s explore an alternative auto-captioning tool for adding subtitles to Shorts.

How to add customizable auto-captions to YouTube Shorts

For this example, we’ll demonstrate how to add captions to YouTube Shorts using Kapwing, an online video editor. Kapwing is browser-based, so you can access it from mobile or desktop devices anywhere with internet access.

Step 1) Upload your video to Kapwing

Go to Kapwing’s automatic subtitle generator to begin.

You’ll be prompted to sign into your account if you’re not already logged in, and from there, you can create a new project. When you open your new project, you’ll see the upload options.

You can upload your video in multiple ways: drag and drop it from your device, upload it from Google Drive or Google Photos, or paste a link to a TikTok video or another online short-form video.

Tip: If you have a long YouTube video and want to clip highlights from it, try our AI YouTube Shorts Generator.

Step 2) Generate Auto-Captions for Your Video

After uploading your video, go to the Subtitles tab in the left sidebar. You can add subtitles in several ways: upload .SRT/.VTT files, type captions manually, or dub your video into another language.

Select Auto subtitles at the top to automatically add captions synced with your speech’s exact timing.

Next, set your caption language settings (you can even translate captions if needed), click Auto Subtitle, and wait for the subtitler to process. The time varies by video length, but short-form videos usually take just a few moments.

For this example, auto-caption generation took approximately three minutes.

Step 3) Customize Your Auto-Captions

Once the captions are generated, they’ll appear on your video when you play the preview. You’ll also see a full overview in the Subtitles window on the left, including timestamps for each caption’s appearance in the video.

Review the captions to ensure accuracy. If you spot errors—such as misheard homophones or misspelled brand names—they’re easy to correct.

Just click on the mistake in the transcription and edit it like a Word document.  

There are a few different things you can do to change how your YouTube Shorts auto-captions look, as well.

1) Adjust the Characters Per Subtitle

To modify the number of words in each subtitle, simply adjust the Character Per Subtitle slider.

2) Change the Font, Color, and Size

Click on the subtitle text box to access the Edit menu on the right side. In this menu, you can customize the subtitle font, font color, font size, background color, and background styling.

You can keep the design simple, create a branded aesthetic, or opt for a colorful and playful style.

The key consideration is ensuring your auto-captions remain clear and easy to read. This means choosing high-contrast color combinations (avoid white font on a beige background, for example) and selecting easy-to-read fonts with bold weights and minimal serifs or decorative flourishes.

3) Add an Animation to Your Subtitles

Click the Animations tab on the right to select from seven different subtitle animation styles.

4) Automatically Add Emojis to Your Subtitles

Another way to enhance engagement and visual appeal in your subtitles is by adding emojis. From the Subtitles window, open the Smart tools dropdown menu and select Auto Emojis.

Step 4) Use Safe Zones to Keep Captions Visible

After customizing and editing your auto-captions, click on the canvas (the dark background behind your video preview). In the Canvas menu on the right, select Show Safe Zones.

Using Safe Zones allows you to verify if your content will be visible when published to TikTok, Instagram Reels, or YouTube Shorts. This feature places a transparent overlay on your video during editing to highlight safe areas for text and visuals.

Since we’re creating a YouTube Short, select the option to show Safe Zones for YouTube Shorts.

Step 5) Export and Share to YouTube Shorts

Once you’re satisfied with your edits, click Export and select your preferred file format and sizing.

Download the video, then upload and publish it to YouTube Shorts as usual—now with auto-captions! The biggest advantage is that these captions are embedded directly in the video, making it accessible and engaging for viewers across all platforms, not just YouTube Shorts.