How to Use Live Caption in Google Chrome

Mar. 17, 2021

Use Live Caption in Google Chrome

I tested Live Caption onGoogle Chrome version 89.0.4389.90on my Windows 10 laptop. If you do not see the feature, make sure to update the browser to the latest version. You can check for updates from Help -> About Google Chrome. Now, without further ado, let’s see how this feature works.

Live Caption is a neat accessibility feature thatautomatically captions the media you’re playingon your device. This feature is capable of captioning videos, audio messages, and podcasts. What’s more, it works even when you’ve muted the video. The captions areprocessed locally and are not stored or sent to Google’s servers. The latest feature rollout expands the availability of Live Caption to Google Chrome desktop. As of writing this article, you can only use Live Caption for transcribing media in English.

1. Open Google Chrome and click on the three dots menu at the top right corner. From the list of options,click on Settings.

2. On the Settings page,go to the Accessibility sectionunder Advanced settings to see the newly addedLive Caption toggle. Flip the switch and you’re all set to use the Live Caption feature.

After enabling Live Caption, whenever you play media, you’ll notice that Chrome will automatically start captioning it. The captions appear in an overlay at the bottom of the browser window. Here’s the feature in action on Google Podcasts:

If you click on the down arrow in the caption box, you’ll see the expanded view with more text area. It is worth pointing out thatyou can reposition the box by clicking and dragging it. Here’s how the expanded view looks:

To hide Live Captions,click on the Close buttonat the top right corner of the box. Moreover, you canenable or disable the featurefrom Chrome’s global media controls.

So, that’s how you can use Live Caption in Google Chrome. It should prove helpful to people with hearing impairments or just anyone who prefers reading captions. Now that the feature is finally available to all users, why don’t you give it a try? Share your experience with us in the comments below. For more such tips, check out our articles on thebest Google Chrome tips & tricksand thebest Google Chrome flagsyou should use.

Subin writes about consumer tech, software, and security. He secretly misses the headphone jack while pretending he’s better off with the wireless freedom.