How to Add Captions to Your Instagram Videos (and why you should!)

Table of Contents

Wouldn’t it be nice if you could easily add captions to your Instagram videos?

This post will walk you through exactly how you can add captions to your videos – whether for use on Instagram or on other social platforms.

How to add captions to your Instagram Videos

An example of captions on an Instagram video

Keep in mind that Instagram doesn’t currently even have a way for you to UPLOAD ALL your captions. This means you’ll need to transcribe your video and then “burn” the captions right onto the video itself (bummer, right?!).

In any case, before we jump in, it’s important to ask the question….

Updated: February 8, 2021

WHY Add Captions to Your Instagram Videos?

If you’re going to go to the work of adding captions, you probably want to know why you should, right?

It’s not just something you should do because everyone else is doing it, or just because it’s a “best practice”.

There are some pretty big reasons why every video posted to Instagram (and other social channels!) should have captions.

1. Many (most?) People Prefer Watching With the Sound Off

While we don’t know exactly how many Instagram users watch videos on the platform with the sound off, we DO know that 85% of Facebook videos are watched without sound. Wowsers, right?

85% of Facebook videos are watched without sound. Wowzers!Click To Tweet

Think about how YOU watch video in your social channels…personally, I don't “listen” to videos, out the gate. First, I see if the CAPTIONS catch my eye and THEN, I turn on the audio. I know everyone is different but MANY do the same and this is one reason why captions are sooo important.

2. Your Non-native English-speaking Followers Will Thank You

Do you know how many of your followers speak English as their second language? While it may not make up a majority of your followers, you can bet there are more than a few.

Make it as easy as possible for them by adding captions to increase comprehension.

3. Do it for Your Deaf or Hard of Hearing Followers

I mean, really, shouldn’t this be motivation enough to add captions to your videos?!

According to Interactive Accessibility, 7.6 million people in the US alone are deaf or hard of hearing. And that number is likely to be higher if we add in all the people who have an undiagnosed hearing loss.

According to Interactive Accessibility, 7.6 million people in the US alone have an undiagnosed hearing loss.Click To Tweet

It’s standard practice now to make sure all your website images and videos are accessible…so why wouldn’t the same hold true for your Instagram posts?

4. Do It for Those that Can't Turn On Their Sound

Okay, this may seem a little ridiculous but seriously, there are people who watch videos, each and every day, that don't want others to KNOW that they are watching videos! They might be in an office setting and they don't want their co-workers or their boss to know what they are watching. They might be on an airplane and don't want to disturb the other passengers. Or the library or anywhere that they don't want to disturb others.

How to Create NEW Instagram Videos with Captions 

Now, onto the good stuff. You’ve decided you want to add captions to your video, but aren’t sure where to start.

If you haven’t yet recorded your video, you’re in luck: there’s a handy dandy little app that make the whole process of adding captions SUPER easy!

Apple Clips lets you shoot a video, then automatically turns your words into text and adds it as captions for your video.

apple clips captions

This feature is called “Live Titles”, and not only automatically converts your words to text, it magically syncs them up with your voice.

You can then edit the captions as you like, and then post directly to Instagram once you’re done.

Easy p'easy!

PRO TIP: This little app is GREAT for Instagram stories!

How to Add Captions to an EXISTING Instagram Video

Currently, Instagram allows adding one caption at a time and not for the entire video.

You can add a caption to your existing videos (and photos). Just follow the guide from Instagram:

But what if your video is long and you wanna make sure all captions are added to the entire video?

The process I’ll outline below is the next best thing. It’s quick and not SUPER complicated. It's the easiest way I have found to get captions on my Instagram videos!

1. Go to Rev.com and Request Captions for Your Video

First things first, you will need a rev.com account. If you don't have one, click here and get $10 off your first order.

In my experience, Rev.com, is the cheapest and easiest way to generate automatic captions of your video is to use Rev.com. While they’re perhaps best known as a transcription service, they can also do captions and subtitles for your Instagram videos. The best part is that they recently rolled out a service that gives you the final video with the captions burned in so you don't have any other related tech to do! This is uber cool and a huge time saver!

And don’t worry – anyone can afford it! Rev charges a $1.25 a minute…which means for a 2-minute video, you’re paying less than you would for a cup of coffee.

Here’s how to do it…

Go to Rev.com and select their Caption service (middle one below).

 

 

Next, upload your video.  The Rev team will then create a caption file and will email it to you within around four hours.

2. Upload Your Video

You can upload your video directly from your computer, Dropbox, Box, Google Drive or OneDrive. You can also copy and paste a public video link. Or if you have videos on YouTube or Vimeo, you can pull those videos directly from your accounts. This makes life so much easier!

 

order instagram captions with rev

You can also put a rush on your order for a little more money, if you are in a hurry. You will notice that they give you an estimated delivery time BEFORE you click on the rush my order option. In the example below, you will see a 2-minute video will take approximately 2 hours for the transcript to come back completed.

rush your instagram caption video with rev

3. Edit Your Captions (if necessary)

While Rev guarantees a 99% accurate caption file, you may find you want to make some minor edits.

edit rev captions for instagram video

Using their caption editor, look through the text and make any changes or edits you’d like. Everything is laid out using timestamps, making it quick and easy to find exactly what you’re looking for.

PRO TIP: If you want to use this captioned file for other social networks, you can download the .srt file and upload it with the video for Facebook, YouTube or LinkedIn by clicking on the red download button in the upper right hand corner of the transcription page.

4. Download Your Instagram Captioned Video

  1. Go to your order history
  2. Click on the order number for the video you are looking to download
  3. Click on Preview
  4. Right click on video and save as
  5. VOILA! You now have a video with captions for your Instagram feed!

download instagram captioned video from rev

preview instagram captioned video

save instagram captioned video

5. Post Your Video to Instagram

You’re now ready for the fun part! Simply upload your video to Instagram as you normally would. Remember, they’ve now been “burned” into your video, so they’ll show to all viewers automatically.

That’s it!

Final Thoughts

My hope is that eventually, Instagram will give us a native solution to insert captions in their entirety to our IG videos. But until that time, the process above is the easiest and most effective way to do it.

Wondering how to add captions to your Facebook Lives? I have the 411 for that too!

How to Quickly and Easily Add Captions to Your Facebook Live videos

Are you ready to create your own Instagram video with captions? Let me know how it goes for you!

 

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Cheeksandtoez
Cheeksandtoez
4 years ago

Thank you for sharing this amazing post. Hope readers will like it. I really appreciate for putting such efforts.

Robin Thompson
Robin Thompson
3 years ago

I’m having a terrible time with premiere pro trying to format the captions en masse, without having to pick through every line to change font size and font… is there a way to do that easily?

Adeel Arif
Adeel Arif
3 years ago

Kindly follow me , I am beginner . Give me instructions to grow my blog
Thanks

Siddhu
Siddhu
Reply to  Adeel Arif
3 years ago

Hi
it’s very informative after read this clear my all questions.i want to become also good writer like you I also start blog writing I think your kind suggestions able me to grow

Jonathan Kruger
Jonathan Kruger
3 years ago

Hi There,

I actually agree, I personally always keep the sound off by default, so it definitely makes sense to have captions on videos. Will be trying this going forward for sure!

Manoj
Manoj
3 years ago

Thanks for sharing these strategies and tools. I too watch videos without the sound. Apple Cips is a powerful tool to add video captions. Is any Android app available to do the same job?

Kim's Team
Kim's Team
Reply to  Manoj
3 years ago

Found this article for ya…
Best Clips alternatives for Android

Zain Khan
Zain Khan
3 years ago

This article helped me alot, Thank You

Dhaval Joshi
3 years ago

Nice one. very informative article. opens the new way of thinking for captions. thank you for sharing this article with us

Infosec Train
Infosec Train
3 years ago

Hi Adeel.

Great post. I’m glad to see people are still interested in Article.

Eddy saxena
Eddy saxena
3 years ago

Hi

Thanks for sharing this awesome info on How to Add Captions to Your Instagram Videos. I personally like these points and follow in my blog. I love to share on social media, Keep it up.

Gabriel
Gabriel
3 years ago

Thanks for sharing this amazing content. I agree with you, captions can enhance the user experience and help a lot to make our videos more viral.
Cheers

A-B-N SYRIA
A-B-N SYRIA
3 years ago

A really useful article that deserves all the respect and appreciation and we thank you for this really useful post. You respect

İstanbul Reklam Ajansı
İstanbul Reklam Ajansı
3 years ago

Thank you.

David
David
3 years ago

Hey Kim,
Great article and guide. I also think it would be great when Instagram (and Facebook) introduce a native tool to make this process easier. As they themselves have produced numbers showing that the vast majority of content watched on the platforms are with sound off, it would make sense for them from a business perspective to introduce more features that would make content that is watched more, more accessible to everyone (I mean time in this case).
Hopefully we get some changes soon.
Best regards,
David

Comprar tcc
Comprar tcc
3 years ago

This article helped me alot, Thank You

Ashu Thakur
Ashu Thakur
3 years ago

Hi Kim Garst,

wow, what a great article. I appreciate the time and energy spent to make this article exist. Keep going, and best of luck for your future endeavours—an avid fan of your blog.

Thanks.

Best camping gear
Best camping gear
3 years ago

Thanks for sharing such an amazing article. I read your article.I am very inspired by you and keep sharing such amazing stuff.I also apply on my instagram account

Hepsa
Hepsa
3 years ago

Nice article i like it psl keep it up

Ganesh Tile Store
Ganesh Tile Store
3 years ago

Nice article. Really it is informative. Thanks for sharing this post.

Roger Howard
3 years ago

Thanks for such a great post. Its help me a lot about the understanding of engaging captions. Thanks again!

Debasis chakraborty
Debasis chakraborty
3 years ago

Thanks for a Great post. It’s very helpful.

Chơi Xóc Đĩa Online | Hướng Dẫn Xóc Đĩa Trực Tuyến | Luật Chơi Xóc Đĩa
Chơi Xóc Đĩa Online | Hướng Dẫn Xóc Đĩa Trực Tuyến | Luật Chơi Xóc Đĩa
3 years ago

This article helped me alot, Thank You

GuitarSix
GuitarSix
3 years ago

Hello, This was a informative read. Thank you for the suggestions and tips.

Kim's Team
Kim's Team
Reply to  GuitarSix
3 years ago

You’re welcome! Keep reading!

The Vocal News
The Vocal News
3 years ago

Blog is quiet good. We like the way you present this blog. it’s very informative.

lethabo
lethabo
3 years ago

very informative content and it helps me a lot in my business

taylor
taylor
3 years ago

hello thank you , its helful to me that not active on social media so i did research to know more about it love the content keep posting like this

Kim's Team
Kim's Team
Reply to  taylor
3 years ago

You’re welcome! Stay tuned for weekly posts, Taylor.

MD AL AMIN
MD AL AMIN
3 years ago

Incredible article and guide. I additionally figure it would be incredible when Instagram (and Facebook) acquaint a local instrument with making this interaction simpler. As they, when all is said and done, have created numbers showing that by far most of the substance watched on the stages are with sound off, it would bode well for them from a business viewpoint to present more highlights that would make content that is observed more, more available to everybody (I mean time for this situation).

Ideally, we get a few changes soon.

Best respects,
AL AMIN

Nb
Nb
3 years ago
katappa
katappa
3 years ago

nicee one

Rohan Singh
Rohan Singh
3 years ago

Kimm that’s a great information, I used to do the same mistake while making videos about technology, I couldn’t grow however I will use the tricks you shared. Thank you.

Kim's Team
Kim's Team
Reply to  Rohan Singh
3 years ago

You’re welcome, Rohan.

Jordan
Jordan
Reply to  Rohan Singh
3 years ago

Yeah great job and such a great article

Aaron Jarrels
Aaron Jarrels
3 years ago

Great info, we often forget that not everyone has the same abilities. Keep up the great articles.

Kim's Team
Kim's Team
Reply to  Aaron Jarrels
3 years ago

Thanks, Aaron!

Gasha
Gasha
3 years ago

thanks for that wonderful article. It taught me a lot

niftybazar
niftybazar
3 years ago

Beautiful article. Very Helpful for me.

Dipankar Gharami
Dipankar Gharami
3 years ago

Very Useful post for me, Today I learn something new about Instagram.

Kim's Team
Kim's Team
Reply to  Dipankar Gharami
3 years ago

Thank you, Dipankar!

Laura Paris
Laura Paris
3 years ago

Apple clips is not creating captions for me, and I have a new iphone. Any pointers on how to make this work?

Kim's Team
Kim's Team
Reply to  Laura Paris
3 years ago

Hi Laura. Here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pV4N5alMT-I (timestamp: 3:33) It should recognize your voice and automatically add captions as you speak.

Crown Limo
Crown Limo
3 years ago

I love your blog and writing style, So helpful thanks!

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