How to Add Captions to YouTube Shorts: Automation Guide 2025
Vertical videos have taken the world by storm in the last five years. Popular as they are, they also happen to be particularly tricky to get right.
Your viewers are scrolling at lightning speed, usually with their sound off. Most won't even think about turning it on unless something catches their eye. To turn those silent scrollers into engaged followers, captioned content is your best bet.
Adding captions used to be about accessibility. But now it's about SEO, global reach, and catering to audience demand. And if 50% of your audience, 80% if they’re Gen-Z, say they want captions, captions are what you provide.
The best part? You don’t have to spend hours captioning minute-long videos.
With the right YouTube Shorts caption generator, you can turn this process into a 2-minute task and use the saved time to pump out fresh new content. Let’s find out how:
Getting Started: Your First AI-Captioned Short
To create your first AI-captioned video, pull up a Short you're working on. We'll use it to test both methods, and you'll see the difference immediately.
Add Captions to YouTube Shorts with QuickSubs
QuickSubs is a game-changer for Shorts creators. Before we go any further, sign up for the free trial.
Setup takes less than a minute. You just need to sign up with your email address, no credit card information required.
You can upload any video format - MP4, MOV, whatever you're working with and QuickSubs will automatically generate captions for YouTube Shorts. Right now it supports English only, and you can auto-caption up to 2 Shorts as part of the free trial.
Drag and drop your video in (or upload straight from your phone).
Your video should be in the vertical format, under 1000 MB and shorter than 3 minutes.
Let QuickSubs work its magic. It normally takes between 30 seconds to 2 minutes to generate captions.
Style your captions:
On the next screen, you can select from a list of suggested video titles or write your own.
Pick a style and font that matches your brand.
Select a color scheme that is both eye-catching and in alignment with your brand palette.
Choose placement zones that steer clear of important video elements — faces, actions, or objects, and the YouTube Shorts overlay.
Pro and Scale plan users can also upload an additional file for background music.
Final checks:
Review the video before exporting.
QuickSubs has a high accuracy score, but scan for any missed or misunderstood words to avoid confusion.
Check if the captions are in sync with your speech.
Preview the video, preferably on a mobile screen, to check for font size and placement errors.
Export and upload:
QuickSubs lets you export your captioned YouTube Short as an mp4 file.
To upload it to YouTube, sign in to YouTube Studio, click on Create and then Upload Videos.
For content creators who don’t have:
Pro-level editing skills
Hundreds of spare hours
Mammoth editing budgets
QuickSubs offers an easy way to increase views and engagement on their YouTube Shorts.
Method 2: YouTube’s Automatic Captioning Feature
YouTube's native captioning is free but comes with trade-offs. Here's the process:
Head to YouTube Studio and find your Short
Click on Subtitles in the left sidebar
Select your language and hit "Auto-caption"
Review the generated captions for accuracy
Make any necessary timing adjustments
Publish
The catch? These YouTube Shorts subtitles aren't styled, viewers have to turn them on manually, and they won't help with initial engagement. But they do help with search rankings since Google can read them.
Design and Optimization Best Practices for YouTube Short Captions
How to caption YouTube Shorts in a way that stops the scroll? Let's dig into what actually works:
Text Size and Readability: Your captions should be instantly readable without squinting. Use text that takes up at least 5% of your frame height. Remember that most viewers will watch on phones, so think billboard, not book.
Pro tip: Test your Shorts on the smallest phone you can find. If you can read it there, you're golden.
Color Choices That Convert: White text with a black outline works universally. If you're using brand colors, make sure they maintain strong contrast with your footage. Test your color combinations against different parts of your video.
Strategic Placement: Hook viewers with text in the top third during your opener. Move to the middle for your main message. Save bottom placement for your call to action.
Animation and Timing: Time your captions to match your speaking pace. Quick fade-ins and a change of color to emphasize key points work better than elaborate animations.
Captioning Common Mistakes to Avoid
Learning from others' mistakes will save you time and views. Here are the biggest YouTube Shorts subtitles fails to avoid:
If viewers have to squint at the too-small text in your video, they’ll bounce. Mobile screens are small - size up your captions accordingly.
Covering important visual elements with captions will drive away viewers. Keep text away from the action zones in your video.
Picking fancy fonts over readable ones might look creative, but it tanks your retention rates. Stick to clean, clear typefaces.
Overcrowding the screen with words overwhelms viewers. Break longer sentences into shorter chunks.
Setting caption timing too fast or too slow will break the viewing experience. Match your text to your natural speaking rhythm.
Level Up Your YouTube Shorts Strategy
Manual captioning is dead. Automation is the future. And it's already here.
Start with one video. Test both methods. See what works for your style. Experiment with different fonts, colors, placement, etc. Then scale up when you find your groove.
Your viewers are waiting. And now you know exactly how to grab their attention - even on mute.
Ready to make your first captioned YouTube Short? Head on over to QuickSubs and give it a shot. Your next viral Short is just a few captions away.
