LiveCaptionIt / Caption a YouTube video
Live captions for any YouTube video.
Foreign-language videos, live streams, old uploads without CC — anything your browser can hear, captioned in real time. Captions float in a Picture-in-Picture window above the video, so you don't miss a frame while reading. Nothing uploads.
Free · no signup · audio processed locally
When this beats YouTube's auto-CC
- ▸ Live streams — gaming, sports, breaking news. YouTube's CC pipeline lags behind real broadcast captions; live captions in your tab keep up.
- ▸ Foreign-language videos — auto-CC requires the language to be one of YouTube's auto-detect list. Whisper supports 99 languages out of the box, much wider coverage than YouTube auto-CC.
- ▸ Older uploads with no CC — YouTube's auto-CC didn't run on a lot of pre-2018 content. Live captions fill the gap.
- ▸ Picture-in-Picture overlay — YouTube's CC sits inside the video player. LiveCaptionIt's floats over any app — keep watching the video on the big screen while reading captions in a pinned window.
Step-by-step
- 1
Open the YouTube video in one tab
Open the video you want to caption in any Chrome / Edge / Brave tab. Pause it for a second so the audio isn't already playing.
- 2
Open LiveCaptionIt in another tab
Visit livecaptionit.com in a second tab. Click the "Start captions" button.
- 3
Pick the YouTube tab + tick 'Share tab audio'
When the browser picker appears, select your YouTube tab. CRITICAL: tick the 'Share tab audio' checkbox at the bottom — without it, only video is shared, no audio.
- 4
Press play on YouTube
A floating Picture-in-Picture window appears with live captions. Switch back to the YouTube tab and press play. Captions update in real time.
Common questions
Can I caption a YouTube video that has no subtitles?
Yes. LiveCaptionIt captions any audio Chrome can hear — including older YouTube videos where auto-CC was disabled, foreign-language videos with no English subs, or live streams that don't generate CC. Open the video, share the tab with audio, and live captions appear in a floating window.
Why doesn't YouTube's own CC button work on this video?
YouTube's auto-CC is generated server-side and only available for videos where the creator allowed it OR where YouTube's pipeline ran on it. Live streams, uploads under ~15 minutes, and many older videos don't have CC. Live captioning in your browser bypasses this — it transcribes whatever audio your tab is producing.
Can I translate a non-English YouTube video to English subtitles live?
Not currently — LiveCaptionIt ships transcription mode only (output language matches input). Translation mode was tested but disabled in v0.3.2 due to Whisper hallucinations on music-heavy translate. Real live translation is on the v0.5+ roadmap. For now, the captions stay in the source language.
Does this work for YouTube live streams?
Yes. Live streams broadcast audio through the tab just like a regular video — share the tab, tick 'Share tab audio', and captions update in real time. Useful for gaming streams, sports, or any live event where the streamer hasn't enabled auto-CC.
Ready to caption that video?
Opens in a floating window that stays on top of any app. Audio processed locally on your device. Never uploads.
Open LiveCaptionIt →