Captions & Live Captioning

Click the Captions button on the Readable Toolbar to open macOS Caption settings, or go to System Settings → Accessibility → Captions.

Readable Toolbar for Mac showing the Captions toolbar button

macOS Accessibility Captions settings panel showing subtitle style and live captioning options

Subtitles and closed captions

You can customise the appearance of subtitles and closed captions, including font size, colour, and background style. macOS can also automatically show subtitles (SDH) or closed captions whenever they are available in videos or audio.

Live Captions

If your Mac supports it, you can enable Live Captions — a real-time transcription of spoken audio from your computer and from conversations around you. This is a powerful accessibility feature for users who are deaf or hard of hearing, or who find it easier to follow along with text.

Availability: Live Captions in macOS 15 (Sequoia) are currently available when the system language is set to US English. To check or change your language: System Settings → General → Language & Region. Support for additional languages may be added in future macOS updates.

📖 Apple Help: Caption Settings on your Mac ↗

📖 Apple Help: Live Captions on Mac ↗

Frequently Asked Questions

How do I turn on live captions on Mac?

If your Mac supports it, go to System Settings → Accessibility → Captions and enable Live Captions. Live Captions in macOS 15 is currently available when the system language is set to US English. Check General → Language & Region in System Settings to confirm your language setting.

Can I customise the appearance of subtitles on Mac?

Yes. In System Settings → Accessibility → Captions, you can customise the style of subtitles and closed captions, including font size, colour, and background — for both streaming video subtitles and live captions.