How to add captions to a Reel
By the maker of Captions Cut. Facts checked on from the pages listed under Sources.
The short answer
Instagram can add closed captions to a Reel from its speech: turn on Enable closed captions under More options before you share. Viewers can turn them off, and they are not part of the video. For styled, word-by-word captions that travel with the clip, burn them in with Captions Cut, and keep them out of the top 14% and bottom 35% of the frame, where Meta says its interface sits.
Instagram Reels video limits
| Instagram Reels | |
|---|---|
| Length | Up to 20 minutes; Reels over 3 minutes are not recommended to new audiences. |
| Shape | Any aspect ratio from 1.91:1 to 9:16; 9:16 at 1440 × 2560 for ads. |
| Quality | At least 30 fps and 720 pixels. |
| File size | Up to 4 GB for Reels ads, MP4 or MOV. |
Captions built into Instagram Reels
- Instagram uses speech recognition to create closed captions shown at the bottom of a reel.
- Turn them on when sharing: Next › Next › More options › Enable closed captions. For a posted reel: Edit › More options. A separate toggle translates them.
- Only in the Instagram app on iPhone and Android, not on a computer.
- Instagram’s help pages do not list the languages.
- Instagram’s own editor, Edits, can generate styled captions you place and time yourself.
Caption files. Instagram’s help pages do not describe uploading caption files for Reels.
Where captions are safe
Meta’s ads guide asks to keep text out of the top 14%, the bottom 35% and 6% on each side of a Reel. On a 1080 × 1920 frame that is about 269 pixels at the top, 672 at the bottom and 65 on each side. Captions Cut keeps captions inside the area the vertical apps leave clear: below the top bar and above the caption, buttons and username at the bottom. Drag them anywhere if your shot needs it.
Burn captions into a Reel with Captions Cut
- Open captionscut.com/edit in a browser, or the Captions Cut iPhone app, and add the clip.
- Choose the spoken language or leave it on Auto detect (53 languages), check the cost (1 credit per second of audio) and create the captions.
- Read the transcript and tap any word to fix it.
- Pick one of 48 styles and place the captions clear of the app’s buttons.
- Export in 1080p or 4K and post it to Instagram Reels.
The video stays on your device: only the audio is sent for transcription, and it is deleted right after.
Platform captions or burned-in captions?
| Built into Instagram Reels | Burned-in captions | |
|---|---|---|
| Who sees them | Viewers who have captions on | Everyone, including on reposts and downloads |
| Style | The platform’s | Yours: font, colour, word-by-word highlight |
| Fixing mistakes | In the platform, after posting | Before posting, word by word |
| Search and accessibility tools | Readable as text by the platform | Part of the picture; add a caption file too where the platform takes one |
How we checked
Every Instagram Reels fact on this page comes from the platform’s own help, ads or developer pages, read on 22 October 2026. Where a page says nothing (a language list, a safe zone), this page says so rather than guess. Ads-guide numbers are for ads; organic posts have the same buttons in the same places.
Questions
Why are my Reels captions not showing?
Closed captions are a setting: they appear only if you turned on Enable closed captions for that reel, and each viewer can hide them. Burned-in captions always show.
Can I add captions to a Reel from a computer?
Instagram’s closed captions work only in its phone apps. The Captions Cut web editor works on a computer: caption the clip there, download it, then post it.
Sources
- Instagram: Reels length
- Instagram: Reels aspect ratio and quality
- Instagram: closed captions on reels
- Meta ads guide: Instagram Reels
- Edits help: captions
Each page read on .