In PowerPoint for Windows, macOS, and web, you can add closed captions or subtitles to videos and audio files in your presentations. Adding closed captions makes your presentation accessible to a larger audience, including people with hearing disabilities and those who speak languages other than the one in your video.
Beginning with version 2016, PowerPoint has a new, simpler format for caption files, called WebVTT. The video player in the following versions of PowerPoint can show those captions when you play the video:
The closed captions are stored in a text-based file with a .vtt filename extension. You can create a closed caption file on your own or use a caption-creation tool. To search online for available tools and detailed instructions, type "create vtt file" in your search engine.
For instructions on showing captions when watching a video in these versions of PowerPoint, see Accessibility features in video and audio playback on PowerPoint.
In Office 2016, the availability of the closed-captioning feature depends on the way Microsoft 365 was installed. Closed-captioning is only available for Office 2016 Click-to-Run installations; MSI-based installations don't have closed-captioning features. Read the next section to see whether the feature is available to your installation of PowerPoint 2016.
Check whether Microsoft 365 was installed using Click-to-Run or MSI
If you have an MSI-based installation of Office 2016, refer to the Office 2010-2013 tab of this article to see what captioning features are available to you.
Prepare a text-based caption file with a .vtt filename extension before adding captions. For instructions on how to create the caption file, see Create closed captions for a video.
You can add captions to presentations that you've recorded with video narration, screen recordings, and any other video (except online videos) that you insert into PowerPoint.
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If you need to edit a closed caption file that is inserted in a video in PowerPoint, you can first remove the file, modify it, and then add it back to the video. Before removing the file from the PowerPoint video, make sure you have the original copy of the closed caption file stored on your PC.
If you have added more than one caption file to a video, the following process removes all caption files assigned to the video.
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Beginning with version 2111, you can also insert closed captions from the Accessibility ribbon using the Insert Captions button.
Beginning with version 2208, you can also insert closed captions from the context menu that appears when you right-click on a video.
Tip: If you're using Microsoft 365, you can also show live subtitles, including live translation to another language if you like, of your speech as you present. For more information, refer to Present with real-time, automatic captions or subtitles in PowerPoint.
Beginning with version 2303, you can insert closed captions for audio in the same way as for video.
Tip: The closed captions will only be displayed on the slide that the audio file is inserted in even if the audio continues playing on other slides because the Play Across Slides setting is on.
Beginning with version 16.63, PowerPoint for Mac supports closed captions in the WebVTT format.
The closed captions are stored in a text-based file with a .vtt filename extension. You can create a closed caption file on your own or use a caption creation tool. To search online for available tools and detailed instructions, type "create vtt file" in your search engine.
For instructions on showing captions when watching a video in the supported versions of PowerPoint, refer to the section "Turn on closed captions or subtitles by using the keyboard" in the article Accessibility features in video and audio playback on PowerPoint.
Prepare a text-based caption file with a .vtt filename extension before adding captions. For instructions on how to create the caption file, refer to Create closed captions for a video.
You can add captions to presentations that you've recorded with video narration, screen recordings, and any other video (except online videos) that you insert into PowerPoint.
captions for a video in PowerPoint." />
If you need to edit a closed caption file that is inserted in a video in PowerPoint, you have to first remove the file, modify it, and then add it back to the video. Before removing the file from the PowerPoint video, make sure you have the original copy of the closed caption file stored on your computer.
If you have added more than one caption file to a video, the following process removes all caption files assigned to the video.
captions for a video in PowerPoint." />
You can also insert closed captions from the Accessibility ribbon using the Insert Captions button.
Beginning with version 16.64, you can also insert closed captions from the context menu that appears when you Control-click on a video.
Tip: If you're using Microsoft 365, you can also show live subtitles, including live translation to another language if you like, of your speech as you present. For more information, refer to Present with real-time, automatic captions or subtitles in PowerPoint.
Beginning with version 16.71, you can insert closed captions for audio in the same way as for video.
Tip: The closed captions will only be displayed on the slide that the audio file is inserted in even if the audio continues playing on other slides because the Play Across Slides setting is on.
Beginning with build 16.0.17820.40500, you can generate closed captions for embedded videos in PowerPoint for the web using speech recognition. Additionally, you can translate captions to multiple languages and edit them for accuracy. If you have already created captions using another app or service in WebVTT format, you can insert those captions files in PowerPoint for the web.
For instructions on showing captions when watching a video in these versions of PowerPoint, see Accessibility features in video and audio playback on PowerPoint.
In the Captions pane, select Generate captions and choose the language of speech in the video.
Note: For short videos, captions will be generated in several seconds. For a two-hour video, it can take up to three minutes.
The list of text cues for the captions track is displayed in the Captions pane. Review the text cues to make sure they match what is being said in the video. When you place the cursor in a text cue, a toolbar will appear and the segment of the video for the text cue will play.
You can edit closed captions from the Accessibility ribbon using the Edit Captions button. You can also edit closed captions from the context menu when you right-click a video.
Tip: If you're using Microsoft 365, you can also show live subtitles, including live translation to another language if you like, of your speech as you present. For more information, go to Present with real-time, automatic captions or subtitles in PowerPoint.
