Windows 11 Live Captions: Turn On, Languages and Privacy

Windows 11 live captions turn speech from any app into text on your screen: a video in the browser, a podcast, a meeting in Teams or Zoom, even a game’s dialogue. They were built for people who are deaf or hard of hearing, and they are just as useful in a noisy café, a quiet library without headphones, or when someone speaks with an accent you find hard to follow. Everything is processed on your PC, so it works offline and nothing is uploaded.

This guide covers turning captions on, the first-time download, languages, captioning your own microphone, placement and style, translation on Copilot+ PCs, and common problems. It applies to Windows 11 version 22H2 and later, including 24H2 and 25H2.

Turn live captions on

Any of these works:

• Press Windows key + Ctrl + L.
• Select the network, volume or battery icon on the taskbar and turn on Live captions in Quick Settings (it may be inside the Accessibility flyout).
• Go to Start > All apps > Accessibility > Live captions.
• Go to Settings > Accessibility > Captions and turn on Live captions.

The same shortcut turns them off again.

The first run

The first time, Windows asks for your consent to process voice data on the device, then asks you to download the speech language file. If your language is not offered, you can pick another during setup. After that, captions are ready whenever you turn them on, with no further download.

Languages

Microsoft lists 21 speech recognition locales, including several kinds of English (US, UK, Australia, Canada, India, Ireland, New Zealand), French (France and Canada), German, Italian, Spanish (Spain and Mexico), Portuguese (Brazil and Portugal), Danish, Japanese, Korean and Chinese.

To add one:

1. In the captions window, open Settings and choose Change language.
2. Pick the language and select Continue, then confirm the download.

Alternatively choose Add a language, which opens Language & region settings. There, install a language that supports speech recognition and keep Enhanced speech recognition selected. Our guide to Windows 11 language settings explains that page.

Caption your own microphone

By default captions follow the sound coming out of your PC. To caption what is said into your microphone, for example a conversation in the room:

1. Open the captions Settings and go to Preferences.
2. Turn on Include microphone audio.

This switch resets to off every time captions start. Microsoft explains that device audio takes priority: your microphone is captioned only when no other audio is playing, so in a video call you see the remote person’s words, not your own. Check that Windows hears the microphone in Settings > System > Sound; if not, see microphone not working in Windows 11.

Position and style

In the captions settings, under Position, choose:

Option	Behaviour
Above screen	Docks to the top edge; other windows move down so nothing is covered
Below screen	Docks to the bottom edge in reserved space
Floating on screen	A movable box you can place anywhere

Resize the window to show more lines. Under Preferences > Caption style you can pick a built-in style or select Edit to create your own text size, colour and background. The default style follows light or dark mode, so it matches dark mode in Windows 11 automatically. Filter profanity, also under Preferences, masks swear words.

Translation on Copilot+ PCs

On Copilot+ PCs running Windows 11 version 24H2 or later, live captions can translate. Microsoft says audio in more than 40 languages can be translated into English, and audio in 27 languages into Simplified Chinese, from live or recorded video in any app. Other PCs show captions in the spoken language only.

Live captions or an app’s own captions?

Many apps and sites, such as video platforms and meeting apps, offer their own captions or subtitles. Those are usually tuned to that service and may include speaker names or professionally written subtitles, so use them when they exist. Windows live captions are the fallback that works everywhere: in apps without captions, in local video files, in games and in browser tabs, with one consistent look and position. Running both at once just doubles the text, so pick one per situation.

Privacy

Microsoft is explicit here: audio processing and caption generation happen on the device, audio, voice data and captions are never sent to the cloud or to Microsoft, and captions are not stored on the device or in the cloud. The language files stay on your PC. To reclaim space, uninstall unused speech packs from Settings > Apps > Installed apps by searching for “Speech Pack”.

When captions are wrong or missing

• No captions while sound plays: captions follow the default output device in Settings > System > Sound. If you use a headset, make it the default.
• Music and applause are ignored: only speech is detected, and sung lyrics are not reliable.
• Captions lag or skip: heavy apps, such as video calls with effects, can delay captions. Close unused apps or turn off video effects.
• Download fails: check the internet connection and see Microsoft’s troubleshooting article for live captions and voice access setup.
• Accuracy: Microsoft describes the on-device models as compact and reasonably accurate. Clear audio and a good microphone help most.

If you want to control the PC by voice rather than read speech, see Windows 11 voice access. For dictating into documents, voice typing is the right tool. More built-in tools are listed in the Windows 11 features hub.