How to add subtitles to Instagram Reels
Generate captions for a Reel, clean them up in the editor, and export burned-in MP4 captions or an SRT you can attach when you post.
How the captions are made
Clipy extracts the audio from your Reel locally and sends it for transcription; the video itself stays on your device. The transcript comes back as timed lines you can edit while the video plays beside the text.
Reels are watched in many places, often without sound, so burned-in captions that live inside the picture are the dependable choice.
Step by step
- Open the captions tool and add your Reel, up to 250 MB and 10 minutes.
- Generate the transcript and play it back against the audio.
- Correct names, slang and numbers the transcription missed.
- Choose one of the three caption styles and a size that reads on a phone.
- Render the captions into an MP4, or export SRT or VTT instead.
- Upload the finished MP4 when you post the Reel yourself.
Review and troubleshooting
Keep text away from the very bottom of a vertical frame, where interface controls sit when the Reel plays. The edit preview is approximate, so watch the exported file before posting.
Instagram can add its own captions to a Reel, so check the final post and avoid running two sets of captions at once. If your clip is in an unusual format, convert it to MP4 with H.264 video and AAC audio first.
Common questions
What caption styles can I use?
Three: a classic outlined style, a highlighted style where the spoken word is emphasized, and a boxed style with a solid background behind the text.
Are speaker names and sound effects added automatically?
No. Clipy transcribes the spoken words only. If you want speaker names or sound descriptions for accessibility, add them to the text yourself in the editor.
Try the workflow
Prepare your own file and review the result before using it.
Open the related Clipy tool