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YouTube Shorts

Captions for YouTube Shorts

Turn a vertical clip into a captioned Short with readable 9:16 text, a safe-zone check, and export options for both burned-in and SRT captions.

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Drop a video to caption

MP4, MOV, WebM, or MKV. Drop a clip — get captions you can style and export.

Answer first

Shorts are watched on mute

A Short has seconds to land. Captions give the viewer the hook even when the sound is off, and they make the clip accessible. The catch is layout: a 9:16 frame has little room, and the app UI covers the bottom and the right edge. Captions need to be short, high-contrast, and inside the safe zone.

  • Use 9:16 and keep one or two lines per caption.
  • Place the caption block above the bottom UI, not under it.
  • Use a background or outline when the footage is busy.
  • Review names and hooks; auto captions often miss both.

A practical Shorts checklist

  1. Trim the clip before captioning so timing matches the final cut.
  2. Generate captions and fix the first three seconds first — that is the hook.
  3. Set 9:16, then reposition the caption block away from the UI.
  4. Check the smallest text size on a phone-sized preview.
  5. Export the MP4, or download SRT if you manage captions in YouTube Studio.

Shorts caption questions

Do YouTube Shorts need captions?

Captions help Shorts in noisy feeds, on mute, and for viewers who need accessibility. YouTube can auto-generate captions, but a reviewed, styled caption track is usually more readable.

What aspect ratio should Shorts captions use?

9:16 vertical. Keep the caption block away from the bottom UI and the right-side action rail; the exact safe zone varies by device and app version.

Can I upload an SRT to YouTube Shorts?

YouTube caption uploads are managed at the video level in YouTube Studio. You can upload SRT/VTT there, or burn captions into the Shorts MP4 if you want them visible everywhere.

How long should each caption be?

Short enough to read in the time it is on screen. For fast Shorts, one or two short lines per caption usually works better than a full sentence.

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