How to Turn Off Captions on YouTube (All Devices)

YouTube’s auto-generated captions can be helpful, but sometimes you just want to watch without text covering the screen. Here’s how to turn them off on every device.

Turn Off Captions on Desktop (Web Browser)

1. Open the video you’re watching
2. Click the CC button at the bottom of the video player (it turns white/highlighted when active)
3. Click it again to toggle captions off

To disable captions for all videos by default:

1. Click your profile picture in the top right
2. Go to Settings
3. Click Playback and performance
4. Uncheck Always show captions

Turn Off Captions on Mobile (iPhone & Android)

During a Video

1. Tap the video to show controls
2. Tap the CC button in the top right of the player
3. Select Off

If you don’t see a CC button, tap the three dots (⋮) menu and look for Captions.

Disable Captions by Default

1. Tap your profile picture
2. Go to Settings
3. Tap Captions
4. Toggle off Show captions

Turn Off Captions on Smart TVs

The steps vary by device, but the general process is:

Samsung, LG, and Most Smart TVs

1. Open the YouTube app
2. Start playing a video
3. Press the down arrow on your remote to show the control bar
4. Navigate to the CC or Subtitles icon
5. Select Off

Roku

1. While watching a video, press the * (star) button on your remote
2. Select Closed captioning
3. Choose Off

Apple TV

1. While watching, swipe down on the Siri Remote touchpad
2. Select Subtitles
3. Choose Off

Fire TV Stick

1. While watching, press the menu button on your remote
2. Select Subtitles
3. Choose Off

Turn Off Captions on YouTube TV

YouTube TV (the live TV streaming service) handles captions differently from regular YouTube:

1. While watching a program, press the down arrow on your remote
2. Click the CC icon in the player controls
3. Select Off

To set the default for YouTube TV:

1. Go to Settings in the YouTube TV app
2. Navigate to Accessibility or Captions
3. Toggle captions off

Note: Some live TV broadcasts include burned-in captions that can’t be turned off through YouTube TV — these are embedded in the video stream by the broadcaster.

Why Captions Keep Turning Back On

If captions keep reappearing after you turn them off, it’s likely because:

• Auto-generated captions are enabled by default — YouTube turns them on for accessibility. Disable them in your account settings (not just per-video)
• Your device’s accessibility settings are overriding YouTube’s settings. Check your phone or TV’s accessibility options
• The video creator enabled captions — some creators add captions that auto-display. You can still turn these off with the CC button, but they’ll reappear on the next video

How to Turn Off Auto-Generated Captions Permanently

To prevent YouTube from ever showing auto-generated captions:

1. Go to youtube.com/account_playback
2. Uncheck Always show captions
3. Uncheck Show automatic captions by speech recognition
4. Save changes

This applies to your Google account and syncs across devices where you’re signed in.

Captions for Your Own Videos (Creators)

If you’re a YouTube creator and want to manage captions on your videos:

1. Go to YouTube Studio
2. Select a video
3. Click Subtitles in the left menu
4. You can edit, delete, or disable auto-generated captions

For tips on optimizing your videos for better performance, check out our YouTube SEO guide and free YouTube tools.