The Captions tool helps you automatically add text to your video. It’s especially useful if you want people to watch your content even with the sound off.
How to Use the Subtitles Tool:
Open the Instories app.
On the Explore tab, find the AI tools section and tap See all.
On the All tab, select Captions.
Choose the spoken language of your video and the subtitle style (you can change your selection later). If you want the subtitles in another language, choose it in Caption translation; leave None to keep them in the spoken language. Then tap Create Captions.
Upload the video (up to 180 seconds) you want to add subtitles to, then tap Next.
While the subtitles are being generated, don’t lock your screen or switch to another app.
👉 You can also add subtitles directly from the regular editing panel by tapping Captions.
👉 If your project has several sound sources, use the Generate from row in Captions to choose which ones become subtitles: Voiceover, Video, Overlay, or Audio. All is selected by default — for example, deselect Audio if you don’t want song lyrics in your subtitles.
👉 Your subtitle settings are saved and used by default in your next projects. Captions aren’t available in carousels.
Editing Subtitles
Once processing is complete, your project with subtitles will open. Here you can:
Edit the Text
Pause the video at the moment with the typo → tap the subtitle text → select Edit text → an editing window will appear → when you’re done, tap Done.
Adjust the Styling
In the editing window, you can also change:
- the font and its color;
- subtitle styles and templates;
- background, shadow, and outline;
- format and animation.
Split or Delete Part of the Text
Tap the subtitles → choose Split (to break the subtitle segment into smaller parts) or Delete (to remove part of the text). You can also use Style to change the subtitle template.
Add Other Elements
Using the editing panel at the bottom, you can insert stickers, a logo, music, and more – just like in the regular editor.
Preview the Result
Tap the eye icon at the top to see how your final video will look.
How to Save Your Video:
Tap Save in the top-right corner.
Choose the quality (resolution and frame rate) and tap Save at the bottom of the screen.
After saving, you can share your video on Instagram.
How to Change the Subtitle Language:
Open Captions in the bottom toolbar.
Tap Create.
Select the spoken language. To translate the subtitles, choose a language in Caption translation.
Tap Create Captions.