How to add captions to a YouTube Short
By the maker of Captions Cut. Facts checked on from the pages listed under Sources.
The short answer
YouTube makes automatic captions for Shorts in 67 languages and publishes them as a track viewers switch on; you can also upload an SRT or VTT file in YouTube Studio. Either way viewers have to switch the track on; burned-in captions made with Captions Cut are read by everyone. Keep them above the bottom third, where the title and channel sit.
YouTube Shorts video limits
| YouTube Shorts | |
|---|---|
| Length | Up to 3 minutes; square or vertical videos of that length uploaded after 15 October 2024 count as Shorts. |
| Resolution | Shorts are uploaded at up to 1080p. |
| File size | Up to 256 GB or 12 hours for any upload. |
| Formats | MP4, MOV, WebM, HEVC and most others. |
Captions built into YouTube Shorts
- YouTube creates automatic captions with speech recognition on long videos and Shorts, in 67 languages, from the video’s default language.
- They may not be ready right after upload; YouTube publishes them automatically when they are.
- Review and fix them in YouTube Studio › Subtitles; editing makes a new caption track.
- Captions can fail on poor audio, long silence at the start, or overlapping speakers.
- Viewers switch them on with the CC button and can auto-translate them.
Caption files. YouTube Studio accepts caption files with or without timing: SubRip (.srt), WebVTT (.vtt) and a dozen other formats.
Where captions are safe
YouTube publishes no safe zone for Shorts outside its ads guide. Its vertical video ad template leaves 288 pixels at the top, 672 at the bottom, 48 on the left and 192 on the right of a 1080 × 1920 frame. 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 YouTube Short 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 YouTube Shorts.
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 YouTube Shorts | 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 YouTube Shorts 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
Does YouTube add captions to Shorts automatically?
Yes, when the language is supported and the audio is clear enough; viewers still have to turn them on. Burned-in captions show for everyone.
Can I upload both an SRT file and burned-in captions?
Yes. Captions Cut can download an SRT of the same captions, timed to the exported video, for YouTube Studio, while the burned-in version is what viewers see in the feed.
Sources
- YouTube: what counts as a Short
- YouTube: Shorts camera and resolution
- YouTube: upload size
- YouTube: automatic captions
- YouTube: add subtitles
- YouTube: supported caption files
- Google Ads: vertical video ads
Each page read on .