How to turn on Live Caption on Android

2 min read · 6 steps · Updated 2 October 2026

Short answer

Press a volume button, tap the three dots under the volume slider, tap Live Caption and tap Done. Or open Settings, Accessibility, Live Caption and switch it on. Android then shows captions for any speech playing on the phone, including videos, podcasts and calls.

Live Caption writes out what is being said in a video, a voice message or a phone call, in a small box on the screen. It helps when you cannot turn the sound on, and it helps people who are hard of hearing. The captions are created on the phone itself.

Menu names below are from Google Pixel phones on a recent Android version. Samsung, Xiaomi and other brands rename some of them. The pictures are simplified diagrams of the screen, not screenshots.

Step by step

  1. Press a volume button

    The volume slider appears at the side of the screen. Tap More, the three dots below it.

  2. Tap Live Caption

    Then tap Done. From now on, a caption box appears whenever speech is played.

  3. Live CaptionUse Live CaptionLanguages & translationHide profanityShow sound labels

    Or use Settings

    Open Settings, tap Accessibility, then Live Caption, and switch on Use Live Caption.

  4. Move or enlarge the box

    Touch and hold the caption box and drag it up or down. Double-tap it to expand it to more lines.

  5. Hide it

    Drag the caption box off the bottom of the screen. This also switches Live Caption off until you turn it on again.

  6. Choose your options

    In Settings, Accessibility, Live Caption you can add languages, hide swear words, show labels for sounds such as laughter and applause, switch on captions for calls, and show the Live Caption button in the volume controls.

Good to know

Which languages you get depends on the phone. Google lists English only for the oldest supported Pixels, seven languages for Pixel 4 and 5 and some other phones, and more for Pixel 6 and later.

Google says all captions are processed on the device, are never stored and never leave it. The first use of a language needs Wi-Fi to download it.

Live Caption uses extra battery and switches itself off in Battery Saver. It does not caption song lyrics.

For bigger text everywhere, see how to make text bigger on an Android phone.

In short: Volume button, three dots, Live Caption, Done. Or Settings, Accessibility, Live Caption.

Sources
  • Android Accessibility Help: Live Caption: Caption media & calls on your device

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