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To add automatic captions to an English-language YouTube live stream, open YouTube Studio’s Live Control Room, enable Closed captions, choose Automatic captions, and set the video language to English. Set the stream to normal latency and check the option before going live; YouTube enables the feature per stream, and it may not be available on every channel.
Turn on automatic captions for a live stream
- Open YouTube and select Create → Go live.
- Select Stream from the left menu.
- In the stream settings, turn on Closed captions.
- Choose Automatic captions as the caption source.
- Set the video language to English, then check that the stream uses normal latency before going live.
The setting applies to an individual stream, not the whole channel. Interface labels can change; YouTube’s current instructions are in Use automatic captioning.
Requirements and limitations
- English speech: YouTube Help says automatic captions for live streams are available in English only.
- Normal latency: Live automatic captions require normal latency. YouTube describes normal latency as best suited to non-interactive streams and as the option with the lowest amount of viewer buffering. See Understand live streaming latency.
- Channel availability: YouTube rolls out the feature gradually, so the control may not appear for every channel. Its troubleshooting guidance describes rollout to channels with more than 1,000 subscribers; that does not guarantee availability for any particular channel.
- Clear, distinct audio: Poor sound, speech the system does not recognize, overlapping speakers, or multiple languages spoken at once can prevent captions or make them less useful.
- Replay captions are separate: Live automatic captions do not remain on the replay. YouTube generates a new caption track through its video-on-demand process after the stream, and it may differ from the live captions.
Why captions may not show or may be inaccurate
The caption source option is missing
Check that you are editing the individual stream in Live Control Room, that the video language is set to English, and that the stream uses normal latency. If the option is still absent, the feature may not yet be enabled for your channel.
Captions do not appear during the stream
Check that speech is audible and intelligible, reduce background noise where possible, and avoid multiple speakers talking over one another. Simultaneous languages can also interfere with live captions.
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Captions appear, but contain errors
Automatic captions can misrepresent speech. Improve microphone clarity and reduce noise or overlapping speech where practical. For content where accuracy matters, YouTube recommends using professional captions rather than relying on automatic captions alone.
Options when automatic captions are unavailable or insufficient
Send embedded captions through an encoder
You can configure Live Control Room for embedded 608/708 captions and configure your encoder to send EIA 608/CEA 708 captions. YouTube currently supports one caption track per stream entry point, even though the standards can carry more. See Live caption requirements.
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Use an external caption feed
For an event, you can enable closed captions in the stream setup and use its captions ingestion URL with supported captioning software. Each stream entry point can have one caption feed. The URL is signed, so treat it as a private delivery credential and share it only with the caption provider that needs it. YouTube’s guidance names Total Eclipse, Case CATalyst, CaptionMaker, and StreamText.Net; confirm current vendor availability and compatibility with your setup before choosing a tool.
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