To change subtitles on YouTube to English, click the CC button in the bottom-right corner of the video player, or open the Settings menu and select your language. These two quick methods let you switch the subtitle track instantly so you can understand dialogue in a foreign language or follow along more clearly.
Turn on captions with the CC button
The fastest way to turn on subtitles is to click the CC icon in the bottom-right corner of the video player. A red line will appear under the icon when active, confirming that captions are now displayed. This one-click toggle is ideal when the video already has English subtitles available and you just need to enable them.
Select English from the Subtitles/CC menu
If the CC button doesn't immediately show English, click the gear icon (Settings) next to the CC button. From the drop-down menu, select Subtitles/CC. A list of available subtitle languages will appear, choose English from that list. If English isn't visible, click "More options" or "All subtitles" to expand the list. This path works for any video where the uploader has provided English captions.
Customize subtitle appearance
You can also customize the appearance of the captions by clicking Options within the Subtitles/CC menu. Here you can adjust font size, color, background, and other display settings. This is useful if the default subtitle style is hard to read against the video or if you need larger text for better visibility.
How Do I Turn On Subtitles
If you're wondering how to turn on subtitles for a specific video, the CC button is always the quickest starting point, just click it and the captions appear immediately.
How To Make Automatic Subtitles On YouTube
For videos without any subtitles, YouTube's auto-generated captions may be available; check the video's language settings, if the uploader hasn't disabled auto-captioning, you'll see an "Auto-translate" option in the Subtitles/CC menu that can generate English subtitles from the original audio.
How To Change Subtitles Size On Netflix
While this guide focuses on YouTube, if you're also looking to change subtitle size on Netflix, note that Netflix offers its own separate appearance settings, but on YouTube, you can adjust subtitle size directly through the Options button described above.
When English subtitles are not available
Not all videos have English subtitles. The uploader controls which subtitle languages are provided, and some videos may have none at all. Always verify subtitle accuracy, especially for videos with complex terminology or heavy accents, as auto-generated captions may contain errors.
