How to Turn Off Captions on YouTube: A Complete Guide
YouTube is one of the most popular platforms for watching videos, offering a wide variety of content for everyone.
Whether you’re watching educational videos, entertainment, or tutorials, captions can be useful to follow along with the dialogue, especially for people with hearing difficulties or those who prefer reading.
However, there are times when you may find captions distracting or unnecessary, and you may want to turn them off.
In this guide, we’ll show you step-by-step how to turn off captions on YouTube across different devices, including desktops, mobile devices, and Smart TVs.
This guide is written in simple, easy-to-understand English, so whether you’re a tech expert or a beginner, you can follow along easily.
Why Would You Want to Turn Off Captions?
Before diving into how to turn off captions on YouTube, it’s essential to understand why someone might want to do so. Here are some common reasons:
- Distraction: Sometimes captions can be distracting, especially if they need to be better-timed with the video.
- Visual Clutter: Captions take up space on the screen, which can be annoying when you’re trying to enjoy a video with rich visuals.
- Language Mismatch: If a video’s captions are in a language you don’t understand, it may become more confusing than helpful.
- Preference: Some people simply prefer to watch videos without text on the screen.
Whatever your reason, YouTube makes it easy to toggle captions on and off as needed. Let’s walk through how to do this step-by-step.
How to Turn Off Captions on YouTube on Desktop
YouTube’s desktop interface provides a simple way to turn captions on or off. Here’s how to do it:
Step 1: Open the Video
First, go to YouTube and open the video for which you want to turn off captions. You can do this by searching for the video or clicking a link directly.
Step 2: Locate the CC Button
Once the video is playing, look for the CC button at the bottom right corner of the video player. This button stands for “Closed Captions.” When captions are on, this button will be highlighted.
Step 3: Click the CC Button
Click on the CC button to turn off captions. Once you click it, the captions should disappear from the screen. The button will no longer be highlighted, indicating that captions are off.
Step 4: Enjoy Caption-Free Viewing
That’s it! You’re now watching the video without captions. If you ever want to turn them back on, simply click the CC button again.
How to Turn Off Captions on YouTube Mobile (iOS & Android)
Watching YouTube on your mobile device is very common, and the process for turning off captions is quite similar to the desktop method.
Step 1: Open the YouTube App
First, open the YouTube app on your iOS or Android device. If you haven’t already installed it, you can download it from the App Store or Google Play Store.
Step 2: Play the Video
Next, find the video you want to watch by either searching for it or selecting it from your subscriptions or recommended list.
Step 3: Tap the Screen
Once the video starts playing, tap the screen once to bring up the video controls.
Step 4: Find the CC Icon
On the top right of the video screen, you should see the CC icon. If captions are enabled, this icon will be highlighted.
Step 5: Tap the CC Icon to Turn Off Captions
Simply tap the CC icon to disable captions. The icon will no longer be highlighted, and the captions will disappear.
Step 6: Continue Watching
Now you can continue watching your video without the distraction of captions. If you want them back, just tap the CC icon again.
How to Turn Off Captions on YouTube on Smart TVs
Many people use YouTube on Smart TVs, which offers a bigger screen for a better viewing experience. If you’re watching YouTube on a Smart TV, here’s how to turn off captions.
Step 1: Open YouTube on Your Smart TV
Turn on your Smart TV and navigate to the YouTube app. Once there, select the video you want to watch.
Step 2: Access Video Settings
Using your remote, click the Settings icon (usually represented by a gear) located on the bottom right corner of the screen.
Step 3: Locate the Subtitles/CC Option
Scroll through the settings until you find the Subtitles/CC option. This is where you can turn captions on or off.
Step 4: Turn Off Captions
Select the Subtitles/CC option and choose Off to disable captions. The captions should now disappear from the screen.
Step 5: Resume Watching
That’s it! Now you can enjoy your video without any captions on your Smart TV. To turn captions back on, simply follow the same steps and toggle the Subtitles/CC back to On.
How to Turn Off Auto-Generated Captions on YouTube
YouTube also provides auto-generated captions for many videos when the video creator hasn’t uploaded their own captions. These captions can be turned off as well.
Step 1: Open the Video
First, go to YouTube and open the video with auto-generated captions.
Step 2: Click the CC Button
Auto-generated captions are controlled the same way as regular captions. Simply click the CC button at the bottom of the video player to turn them off.
Step 3: Check for Auto-Generated Status
You can identify auto-generated captions by looking for the words “Auto-generated” under the captions section in the settings. If you see this, you’ll know that the captions were generated automatically by YouTube’s algorithm.
Step 4: Turn Off Auto-Generated Captions
To turn off auto-generated captions, simply click the CC button as you would with any other captions. The process is identical.
Conclusion
Turning off captions on YouTube is a simple process, whether you’re on a desktop, mobile device, or Smart TV.
Captions are a great tool for accessibility and understanding content in different languages, but they can sometimes be distracting. Thankfully, YouTube gives you complete control over this feature.
Now that you know how to turn off captions on YouTube, you can customize your viewing experience based on your preferences. Whether you want to watch videos with or without captions, YouTube makes it easy to toggle them on or off as needed.
Feel free to bookmark this guide for future reference and enjoy a smoother, distraction-free video experience!