How to Enable Live Caption on Your Chromebook

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Key takeaways:

  • Live Caption works offline and processes all captions locally on your device
  • The feature currently only supports English but will soon expand to other languages
  • You can customize caption appearance including font size, color, and position

Have you ever been in a situation where you needed to watch a video but couldn’t turn up the volume? Maybe you were in a quiet library, or on a packed train, or just didn’t want to disturb others around you. I’ve been there too, and it’s frustrating.

That’s exactly why I’m excited to share this game-changing feature on Chromebooks – Live Caption. It’s like having a personal transcriber that works even when you’re offline.

What Makes Live Caption Special

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Live Caption is more than just regular subtitles. It’s an accessibility powerhouse that automatically generates real-time captions for any audio playing through your Chrome browser.

The best part? Everything happens right on your device. No internet needed once it’s set up.

How to Turn On Live Caption

Let me walk you through the simple setup process:

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  1. Click the time in the bottom-right corner
  2. Select Settings
  3. Click Accessibility
  4. Under “Audio and captions,” choose Captions
  5. Toggle Live Caption on

Your Chromebook will download some speech recognition files. After that, you’re good to go.

Make Those Captions Work for You

Want to make the captions easier to read? Here’s what you can customize:

  • Font size
  • Text color
  • Background opacity
  • Shadow effects

Pro Tips for Better Caption Experience

The caption box is like a floating window. You can drag it anywhere on your screen.

Need to see more text at once? Just click the arrow button at the bottom of the caption box to expand it.

Sometimes I pin the caption box when I need to reference it while working in another tab.

FAQ

Does Live Caption Work Without Internet?

Yes! Once you’ve downloaded the initial speech recognition files, Live Caption works completely offline.

Which Languages Does Live Caption Support?

Currently, it only supports English (US, UK, and India variants). However, support for French, German, Italian, Japanese, and Spanish is coming soon.

Will Live Caption Work With Local Video Files?

Yes, but you need to play them through the Chrome browser. Just drag and drop your video file into Chrome, and Live Caption will work its magic.

Can I Use Live Caption Outside the Chrome Browser?

No, Live Caption only works within the Chrome browser on Chromebooks. It won’t work with local media players or other browsers.

How Do I Move the Caption Box?

Simply click and drag the caption box to any position on your screen. You can also pin it in place by clicking the pin icon.