Chromebook Live Caption automatically turns speech in videos, podcasts, livestreams and other media playing in Chrome into on-screen text. Open Settings → Accessibility → Audio and captions → Captions, then switch on Live Caption. The control may be located under Chrome’s Accessibility settings on some ChromeOS versions.
Turn on Live Caption from Chromebook Settings
- Select the time in the bottom-right corner.
- Select Settings. You can open the system menu first with Alt + Shift + S, but that shortcut does not toggle Live Caption directly. See Google’s Chromebook settings guide.
- Select Accessibility.
- Under Audio and captions, select Captions.
- Turn on Live Caption.
Google’s current Chromebook instructions use this route: Use captions on your Chromebook.
Use Chrome Settings if the menu looks different
Some ChromeOS releases expose the same Chromebook control through Chrome:
- Open Chrome and select ⋮ in the top-right.
- Select Settings.
- Select Accessibility.
- Select Manage accessibility features.
- Under Audio and captions, turn on Live Caption.
Labels can change after ChromeOS updates. Search Chromebook Settings for Live Caption or captions if you cannot match either path. The alternate route is documented in Google’s Chrome captions and translations help.
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Test that captions are working
- Open a video, podcast, livestream, radio stream or web-based call in Chrome.
- Start playback and make sure the media is not muted. Google specifically notes that autoplay video may need its volume turned on before Live Caption appears.
- Look for the floating caption bubble. It can be dragged to another position in the browser window.
Live Caption is a Chrome accessibility feature that generates captions itself. It is separate from subtitles supplied by YouTube, Netflix, a course platform, Google Meet or another website. Google describes the Chromebook feature for audio and video played in the Chrome browser, not as a guaranteed captioner for every Chromebook sound, Android app, Linux app or system alert. See Google’s Chromebook documentation and the original Chrome Live Caption announcement.
Move, collapse and resize the caption box
Drag the floating bubble to a convenient location. Use its collapse or expand controls when you need less or more of the transcript visible. To change text size, open Settings → Accessibility → Audio and captions → Captions and choose a font size from the dropdown menu. Google warns that caption appearance preferences may not apply to every app.
A website’s own caption controls remain independent. For example, a player may offer language, subtitle, transcript or speaker controls that Live Caption does not provide.
Live Caption is missing
If you cannot find the switch, work through this checklist:
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- Search Settings for Live Caption and captions.
- Check both the Chromebook Settings path and Chrome’s Accessibility → Manage accessibility features path.
- Confirm that you are using a Chromebook, not Chrome on Windows, macOS or Linux.
- Install available ChromeOS updates, restart, and check again.
- If the control is still absent, Google says Live Caption is not supported on that device. There is no verified model list that makes every older Chromebook compatible.
School or workplace administration can also change which settings are available, so ask the administrator if the device is managed. Do not assume an extension is equivalent to the built-in, locally processed feature.
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Captions do not appear or are inaccurate
| What you notice | What to check |
|---|---|
| No bubble at all | Confirm that spoken audio is playing in Chrome, the player is not muted, and the bubble is not collapsed or off-screen. |
| Autoplay content has no captions | Turn on the video’s volume, then start playback again. |
| One website works but another does not | Players expose audio differently, and some services provide their own captions. Live Caption is not guaranteed to process every site or embedded player. |
| Words are wrong | Automatic speech recognition can misread accents, dialects, names, technical terms, low-volume or distorted speech, overlapping speakers, music and background noise. |
Live Caption should not be treated as a professionally prepared transcript for legal, medical, educational or other accessibility-critical use. When a service offers its own captions, those may have better terminology, speaker separation or language controls.
Live Caption, website captions and Meet captions
Website-provided captions
Use a player’s own captions when available if you need a transcript, language selection, speaker context or terminology tuned to that program. YouTube, Netflix, course platforms and other services manage these controls separately from Chromebook Live Caption.
Google Meet
Live Caption can caption audio from a supported Meet call running in Chrome, but it does not switch on Meet’s own caption setting. For a meeting-specific experience, use Meet’s in-meeting captions, which are designed around participants and meeting controls.
ChromeVox and Select-to-speak
Live Caption listens for speech in browser media. ChromeVox reads interface and page content aloud, while Select-to-speak speaks text that you select; neither is a replacement for Live Caption. See Chromebook accessibility features.
Privacy and offline processing
Google says Live Caption audio and captions are processed locally, are not stored, and are not sent to Google, as described in Chrome’s captions help. That statement applies to Live Caption itself. The website or service playing the media may still collect data under its own privacy policy.
Google’s original announcement also describes Live Caption as able to work offline, but behavior and language availability can vary by device and ChromeOS configuration. Do not extend the local-processing claim to every Chrome transcription or translation feature.
Live Caption versus Live Translate
Ordinary Live Caption creates captions in the speech’s source language and does not require translation. Google currently documents Live Translate as a separate feature on Chromebook Plus that can translate supported Live Caption languages into more than 100 languages. Listed source languages include English, Danish, Dutch, French, German, Hindi, Indonesian, Italian, Japanese, Korean, Norwegian, Polish, Portuguese, Spanish, Simplified Chinese, Traditional Chinese, Swedish, Thai and Turkish.
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Live Translate has different requirements and privacy implications: Google says captions are sent to Google for translation, and recommends plugging in because translation uses more power. It is not a promise that every Chromebook or region supports translated captions. Details are in Google’s current Chrome documentation.
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- Choose a website’s native captions for better terminology, speaker labels, language choices or transcripts.
- Use Meet’s captions when you need controls specific to a Meet meeting.
- Consider an extension or transcription service only when built-in Live Caption is unavailable or you need saved transcripts or advanced speaker labeling. Check its accuracy, cost, account requirements, school policy and whether audio is uploaded to a vendor.
Frequently Asked Questions
Does Live Caption work on every Chromebook?
No. Google says that if Live Caption is absent from the caption settings, the feature is not supported on that Chromebook.
Can I caption YouTube videos?
Often, yes, when the video is playing in Chrome and has audible speech. YouTube’s own subtitle controls are separate and may be preferable.
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Does Live Caption automatically turn on Google Meet captions?
No. It may caption supported Meet audio in Chrome, but Meet’s built-in caption control must be enabled separately.
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Can I change the caption text size or position?
Yes. Change font size under Chromebook caption settings and drag the floating bubble. Its collapse and expand controls change how much text is visible.
Does Live Caption send my audio to Google?
Google says Live Caption processing is local and that its audio and captions are not stored or sent to Google. This does not describe data practices of the website playing the audio or of Live Translate.
Can Chromebook Live Caption translate speech?
Translation is a separate Live Translate feature documented for Chromebook Plus. Google says translated captions are sent to Google and use more power.
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