Adding subtitles or captions helps make your video content accessible, understandable when audio is muted, and more engaging for all viewers. Below are the steps to add subtitles (either manually, via upload, or by editing auto‑generated captions), then publish them so they appear on YouTube and when used in Vibe templates on your displays.

It is important to choose a meaningful video that is easily understood if your audio is muted. If your viewers cannot hear the audio, a useful trick is to include subtitles automatically via YouTube.

Before You Begin

• You must be signed in to the YouTube account that owns the video you want to caption.
• It’s recommended (but not required) that your video’s default language is set correctly before adding captions.

Open YouTube Studio

1. Go to studio.youtube.com in your browser and sign in.
2. From the left sidebar, click Your Videos / Content to see your uploaded videos.

Select the Video

1. Find the video you want to caption.
2. Click the title of the video (or the pencil “Details” icon) to open the video’s editing view.

Open the Subtitles Section

1. In the left sidebar of YouTube Studio, click Subtitles.
   
2. You will now see a list of available subtitle tracks or languages for that video, including any auto‑generated captions.
   

Choose or Add a Language

1. If no subtitle language is listed, click Add Language and choose the spoken language of your video (e.g., English (United States)).
2. Once the language appears in the list, you’ll see options under the Subtitles column: Add, Duplicate and edit, or existing tracks if auto captions were generated.

Add or Edit Your Captions

Choose one of the following options:

1. Add Subtitles Manually
1. Click Add under the Subtitles column next to your chosen language.
2. Select Type manually.
3. Use the editor to type each caption and adjust timing on the timeline.
4. When finished, click Publish.
   
2. Upload a Subtitle File
1. Click Add under Subtitles.
2. Select Upload file.
3. Choose a supported file type (.srt or .vtt) and specify With timing (recommended) if your file already contains timestamps.
4. Upload and then click Publish.
3. Use Auto‑Generated Captions
1. If an (Automatic) caption track exists, click Duplicate and edit to review and clean up the auto‑generated text.
2. Correct any errors and adjust timings as needed.
3. When complete, click Publish.

Confirm Caption Availability

1. Once captions are published, Viewers will see the CC (Closed Captions) button on the video player and can toggle captions on/off.

Optional: Making Captions Always Visible by Default

1. While YouTube doesn’t provide a guaranteed official setting to force captions on for all viewers, creators often add the following tag in Video Details → Tags to encourage captions to display by default during playback on YouTube: yt:cc=on
2. Placing this in the Tags field and saving the video often enables captions by default for many viewers on YouTube itself.
   

Note: this is a widely used practical technique rather than a formally documented YouTube setting.