How to Enable & Use Subtitles & Closed Captions on Mac

Do you want to use subtitles or closed captioning on a Mac? Whether you watch a lot of foreign-language movies, TV shows, and other video content, or you simply want to use closed captions for accessibility reasons, you can easily enable these on the Mac.

Many people take advantage of subtitles while watching videos on their devices, whether due to hearing impairment or language barriers, or preferences.

Read along to learn how you can enable and use closed captioning on Mac.

How to Enable Subtitles & Closed Captions on Mac

If you have a hearing impairment, you can take advantage of Subtitles for the Deaf or Hard-of-Hearing (SDH) that’s buried in the accessibility settings in macOS. Simply follow the steps below to get started.

1. Head over to “System Preferences” on your Mac from the Dock.
   
   
2. This will open a new window on your screen. Click on “Accessibility” to proceed further.
   
   
3. Here, you’ll be shown a list of all the accessibility settings that are available in macOS. Scroll down and click on “Captions” as shown in the screenshot below.
   
   
4. Now, you’ll be able to choose any of the four available subtitle styles. Make sure you’ve checked the box for “Prefer closed captions and SDH” to start using it across all the apps installed on your Mac.
   
   
5. Now, if you open an app like Apple TV+ on your Mac and try to watch content, you’ll find the subtitle icon in the playback menu as shown below.
   
   

That’s pretty much all there is to it. Now you’ve learned how to enable and use subtitles & closed captions on your macOS machine.

From now on, whenever you’re watching video content on your Mac, subtitles or closed captions will be displayed on your screen whenever they’re available. Also, look out for the subtitle icon in the playback menu if they don’t show up automatically.

When this accessibility feature is enabled, you’ll need to choose the option that says “SDH” from the list of available subtitles. This is due to the fact that subtitles for deaf or hard-of-hearing slightly differ from regular subtitles.

Do you use other Apple devices like the iPhone or iPad? If so, you might be interested in learning how you can enable and use subtitles & closed captions on your iOS devices too. In addition to this, you can also change the subtitle font size on iPhone, iPad, and Apple TV to make it larger.

Did you enable and use subtitles and closed captions on your Mac? Do you use it because of language barriers or due to hearing impairment? What are your thoughts on this accessibility feature? Do share your experience in the comments section down below.