There are a lot of games on Windows that sadly does not come with subtitles. This can be a problem if English is not your first language or the characters are speaking in an accent that makes it harder to understand the narrative or objective of the game. Thankfully, Windows 11 now has an accessibility setting that will enable subtitles on any game on Windows 11.
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What are Live Captions
Live Captions is a Windows 11 accessibility setting that captures audio playing from any source and converts it into text. It will enable subtitles while gaming too on Windows. The processing is done offline and the data never leaves your machine. This means you can use this to generate subtitles for offline games too and while you are not connected to the internet.
Live Captions is available on Windows 11 version 22H2 and later. It is easy to check your PC’s version and build number. Once you have confirmed that, read on to find out how you can enable subtitles on your favorite game even if the game doesn’t come with in-built subtitles.
Also Read: How to Use Nvidia Share (ShadowPlay) to Record Desktop on Windows
Enable Live Captions to Add Subtitles While Gaming
You will have to enable live captions and download the necessary files before you can use them to generate subtitles for games. As noted, all the processing is done offline on your PC and no data leaves your computer.
1. Press Windows+I to open Settings and select Accessibility from the sidebar. Scroll a little and open Captions on the right side.
2. Now enable Live captions here.
3. You should now see a pop-up at the top of the desktop. Click on the Download button to begin downloading the necessary files.
Setup and Customize Live Captions for Windows Gaming Subtitles
Once the files for live caption have been downloaded, you can now set it up. Click on the cog icon to open Settings for Live Captions. A menu will fly open. You can:
- Change the position of the subtitles on the screen.
- Change the language which will require downloading additional language packs. By default, Windows will download the default language that you have set in Windows settings.
- Under Preferences, you can filter profanity though I doubt any gamer will do that.
- You can also change the font size and color from the available options which are limited. But to do that, you need to head back to Settings > Accessibility > Captions.
There are four options to choose from where two are for font size and two are for font and background color.
Enable/Disable Live Captions (Subtitles) for Windows Games
The moment you have been waiting for.
Simply press Windows+Ctrl+L to activate live captions while gaming to generate subtitles in the chosen language on the fly. However, note that Live Captions will add subtitles to your games only if you are playing it in Window Mode. To do that, either press Alt+Enter or check in-game settings. A bit of a bummer, I know.
Let’s test this feature with Assassin’s Creed 1 and see how it goes.
First, you can drag the subtitles or live captions bar on the screen while gaming using the drag-and-drop feature. I placed it at the bottom of the screen. Second, while it gets certain words wrong sometimes, it is not an issue. It works well 98% of the time and you will easily understand the context, narrative, and storyline with no problems. For example, it’s home and not rome above.
Simply click on the cross icon or press the Windows+Ctrl+L keyboard shortcut to close the subtitle as and when needed while gaming. Click on the cog icon to change settings. You can do all of this while gaming but would suggest pausing it first.
Enable Subtitles While Gaming on Windows
While one may think that subtitles in gaming are common, that is not the case. Assassin’s Creed didn’t always have subtitles. The first version was launched without subtitles. It is only after the game became insanely popular and the studio had released multiple versions that they decided to add subtitles in the Enhanced Edition. However, Windows 11’s Live Captions solves this problem forever.
Where do you buy your games from? We have done an in-depth comparison between Microsoft Store and Steam so you can make informed decisions.
