How to add captions in iMovie
Last updated 2026-10-20
Apple's iMovie for Mac guide describes no automatic captions and no caption track. To add captions in iMovie, type each line as a title: select Titles, drop a style at the playhead, type the words in the viewer, click Apply, and set each title's length. Woven can generate timed captions from the speech instead.
Does iMovie have auto captions?
We checked Apple's iMovie for Mac guide. Its contents list covers titles, audio, effects and sharing, with no page on captions or subtitles. The page on adding titles does not use either word. The page on exporting a movie lists Format, Resolution, Quality and Compress choices, and no caption option.
So the honest answer is that Apple's guide describes no automatic captions, no speech-to-text and no way to load a caption file. If Apple adds one, its guide will say so. This answer covers iMovie for Mac. iMovie on iPhone and iPad has its own guide, which we did not check.
Add captions by hand with titles
The manual route treats each caption as a title. It works, and it suits a short clip with a few lines. Work through the clip from the start.
- Open Titles. Choose "Titles" above the browser. Pick one plain style and keep it for every line, so the look matches.
- Add one line. Put the playhead where a sentence begins and double-click the style. Then double-click the placeholder in the viewer and type the sentence.
- Format it. Use the controls above the viewer to set font, size, color and alignment, then click "Apply".
- Time it. Set the length by dragging a title-bar edge to the end of the sentence, or by clicking "Clip Information" and entering a value in the "Duration" field.
- Repeat. Move the playhead to the next sentence and add the next title. Press Space to check the timing against the voice.
iMovie titles versus captions made from speech
Titles are text you place yourself. Nothing listens to the audio. Each line is typed, timed and checked by you, which is fine for ten words and slow for ten minutes. A title is also part of the picture, so it behaves like open captions: every viewer sees it and cannot switch it off. Apple's pages describe no control for moving a title within the frame.
| Job | iMovie titles, per Apple's guide | Woven |
|---|---|---|
| Get the words | You type each line | Generated from the speech |
| Timing | Drag a title edge or type a Duration | Each word is timed to the voice |
| Style | Font, Size, alignment, B, I, O, color | Five caption looks, plus font, effects and animation |
| Fix a word | Double-click the title, retype, Apply | Ask in chat; right-click a caption to split or join it |
| A caption file | The export page lists no caption option | None. Captions are burned in |
Open captions and what to do after export
Both routes give you open captions, burned into the picture. If you need a separate caption file or a track viewers can hide, add it on the platform where you post. YouTube, for example, lets you upload a caption file, type captions or auto-sync a transcript to a video. Open captions and closed captions differ in who controls them, and the choice depends on where the video goes.
Make captions from speech in Woven
Captions in Woven start from the speech. Add, then Generate captions, transcribes the speech in video clips, voice items and audio clips and puts the words on a Captions track. Music is captioned only when nothing else is speaking, and sound effects never are. Each run handles one language, detected for you, and a reel that mixes languages may caption the second one poorly. Transcription uses Woven credits, but audio Woven has transcribed before is free to caption again. The words are drawn into the exported MP4. Woven neither exports nor imports an SRT or VTT file.
Ask in chat
- Add captions and use the Word by word look.
- Change the name in the second caption to Priya.
- Move the captions higher on the screen.
- Make the spoken word yellow.
Or do it by hand
- 1Bring in the video. Use Add › Video, or drop the clip on the timeline from Finder.
- 2Generate. Open Add and choose Generate captions. The words land on the Captions track.
- 3Style them. On the Style tab, set Caption style to one of five: Progressive reveal, Word in place, Word by word, Subtitle or Highlight. The Edit tab holds the font, weight and size.
- 4Fix words. Right-click a caption for Split at Playhead, Join with Next or Split into Words. Right-click the Captions track header for Split All into Words. Ask in chat to correct a word.
- 5Export. Open the Export menu and pick 1080p or 1440p.
Common questions
Apple's iMovie for Mac guide describes no automatic captions. Its pages cover titles, which you type and time yourself.
Add a title for each line: select Titles, double-click a style at the playhead, type the words, then click Apply and set its Duration.
Apple's iMovie for Mac guide describes no way to import a caption file, and its export page lists no caption option.
Apple's guide describes no automatic route. Generate the captions in a tool that transcribes speech, such as Woven, and export the finished video.
Open. A title is part of the picture, so every viewer sees it and cannot turn it off.
Yes for most. Double-click the title and use the Font pop-up menu. Some theme and animated titles lock the font.
Sources
- iMovie User Guide for Mac - Apple Support, checked October 19, 2026
- What is iMovie? - Apple Support, checked October 19, 2026
- Add titles in iMovie on Mac - Apple Support, checked October 19, 2026
- Modify titles in iMovie on Mac - Apple Support, checked October 19, 2026
- Export a movie, trailer or clip as a file in iMovie on Mac - Apple Support, checked October 19, 2026
- Add subtitles & captions - YouTube Help, checked October 19, 2026
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