HOW TO ADD CLOSED CAPTIONS OR SUBTITLES IN POWERPOINT 2019

Add closed captions or subtitles in PowerPoint

Depending on the version of PowerPoint you're using, you can use built-in features, an add-in, or workarounds to add closed captions or subtitles to videos and audio files in your presentations. Adding closed captions makes your presentation accessible to a larger audience, including people with hearing disabilities and those who speak languages other than the one in your video.

eginning with version 2016, PowerPoint has a new, simpler format for caption files, called WebVTT. The video player in the following versions of PowerPoint can show those captions when you play the video:

PowerPoint 2016

PowerPoint 2019

PowerPoint for Office 365

The closed captions are stored in a text-based file with a .vtt filename extension. You can create a closed caption file on your own or use a caption-creation tool.

Requirements for this feature
In Office 2016, the availability of the closed-captioning feature depends on the way Office was installed. Closed-captioning is only available for Office 2016 Click-to-Run installations; MSI-based installations don't have closed-captioning features. Read the next section to see whether the feature is available to your installation of PowerPoint 2016.

Create closed captions
Prepare a text-based caption file with a .vtt filename extension before adding captions. For instructions on how to create the caption file

Add closed captions to a video
You can add captions to presentations that you've recorded with video narration, screen recordings, and any other video (except online videos) that you insert into PowerPoint. Currently, adding captions to an audio-only recording isn't supported.

In PowerPoint, in the Normal view, open the slide that has the video that you want to add captions to.

Select the video on the slide.

On the Playback tab, click the Insert Captions button, and then select Insert Captions.

In the Insert Captions dialog, browse to your caption file. Select the file and then click Insert .

If you need to add another caption file, just repeat the process.

Play the video and check that the captions appear correctly.

Remove closed captions from a video
If you need to edit a closed caption file that is inserted in a video in PowerPoint, you can first remove the file, modify it, and then add it back to the video. Before removing the file from the PowerPoint video, make sure you have the original copy of the closed caption file stored on your PC.

If you have added more than one caption file to a video, the following process removes all caption files assigned to the video.

In PowerPoint, in the Normal view, open the slide that has the video containing the captions.

Select the video on the slide.

On the Playback tab, click the Insert Captions button, and then select Remove All Captions.

[alwaysaplanb]

This misses out the step where one actually creates (rather than just inserts) the subtitles to start with, which is what I was looking for. "Adding" starts with creation. "Inserting" refers to existing content. The presentation of the video was nice and clear. It just did not start early enough in the process for me.

[cezarypruszkowski]

Hi all, can someone please help me. I created a .vtt file with subtitled but when I insert them into the PowerPoint, they don't appear! What did I do wrong?

[SheldonHelms]

I did everything you said, but the "Insert Captions" button does not highlight. I am using a WMV file. Does that make a difference? I don't recall you saying what sort of video file you are using. (My PowerPoint is the latest version, 2019.)