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Adding captions for Instagram Reels is easy enough and a great way to make your short-form video content go further. In this article, I discuss the following:
Captions are on-screen text that shares what’s being said verbally. It helps with the accessibility of the video and gives viewers who don’t have the sound on a chance to still watch and understand the Instagram Reel.
How to add captions for Instagram Reels
The first step is to record the video on Instagram or vertically on your desktop and then upload it to Instagram. From there, keep clicking next until you reach the screen with options on the top.
Click on that folded-over icon to get this screen.
Click on captions, and Instagram will start transcribing the audio.
Depending on the length of your video, that might take a moment. Once everything has been transcribed, the text shows like this.
From here, you can move the text around and resize it by squeezing it in or out with a finger and your thumb.
Read next: What is orphaned content?
Editing captions
At times, the captions might not have transcribed whatever you said correctly. I frequently forget that I can edit captions on Instagram Reels, but it’s a necessary step to ensure the captions are correct. You also wouldn’t want them to transcribe something with an inappropriate word.
Before publishing the Reel, click on the caption text. From here, you can easily edit the text right here.
The copy might often make sense if it’s slightly off, but why not make it even easier and more accessible by giving it a quick read and edit?
How to add and edit captions in Instagram Reels pic.twitter.com/7TWFlmpRX2
— Christoph Trappe (@CTrappe) November 12, 2022
It works exactly the same way on Instagram Stories.
Using external software
You can also use software tools like Opus to create video clips from existing longer form video content and the software adds captions automatically.
Adding captions to videos certainly can make the content more accessible and easier to consume, but we must remember to take these steps to ensure captions are turned on and correct.