Live Captions accessibility feature is now available to all Windows 11 users. Here is how to enable closed captions in Windows 11.
In recent Windows 11 updates, Microsoft added a new feature called Live Captions. In simple terms, Live Caption is nothing but automatically generated closed captions by converting audio being played on your computer to readable text.
As you can guess, this is a beneficial feature that can aid differentially abled persons. On the other hand, the Live Captions are also helpful for native or non-native speakers to better understand what they are listening to.
To use Live Closed Captions in Windows 11, you have to enable it first. The good thing is, being an accessibility feature, Windows 11 has several ways to enable Live Captions. You can do it from the Settings app, Quick Settings panel, or a keyboard shortcut. I will show all these methods. Follow the one you like.
Let me show you how to turn on Live Captions in Windows 11.
Table of contents:
- Live Captions keyboard shortcut
- Enable Live Captions from Quick Settings
- Turn on Live Captions from Settings
Live Captions keyboard shortcut
Since Live Captions is an accessibility feature, it can be enabled or disabled using a simple keyboard shortcut. Here is how.
Press the “Win + Ctrl + L” keyboard shortcut to enable or turn on Live Captions.
To disable or turn off Live Captions, press the “Win + Ctrl + L” keyboard shortcut while it is active. If Live Captions is not active, it will be enabled.
Enable Live Captions from Quick Settings
The quick settings panel has most of the accessibility toggles. The Live Captions feature is nothing different. Here is how to enable Live Captions from the Quick Settings panel.
- Click the “Network” icon on the taskbar.
- Press the “Accessibility” icon.
- Turn on the “Captions” option.
- With that, Live Captions is turned on.
Steps with more details:
First, open the Quick Settings panel. You can click the “Network” icon on the taskbar or press the “Win + A” keyboard shortcut.
Click the “Accessibility” button on the Quick Settings panel.
The accessibility panel lists most of the accessibility options. From the list, find and enable the Live Captions option.
As soon as you do that, Live Captions is turned on.
To disable Live Captions, open the Accessibility panel in the Quick Setting panel and turn off the Live Captions option.
Turn on Live Captions from Settings
As with any setting or option, you can enable Live Captions from the Settings app. Let me show you where to find and how to turn it no.
- Open Settings with “Win + I.”
- Click on “Accessibility” on the sidebar.
- Go to the “Live Captions” page.
- Turn on the “Live Captions” option.
- If prompted, press the “Download” button.
- Close the Settings app.
- With that, Live Captions is enabled.
Steps with more details:
Launch the Windows 11 Settings app. You can search for it in the Start menu or press the “Windows key + I” keyboard shortcut.
After launching the Settings app, go to the “Accessibility > Captions” page.
Turn on the “Live Captions” option.
If this is your first time, Windows 11 might ask you to download extra files to set up live captions. Press the “Download” button to continue.
The Live Captions feature is turned on as soon as you do that.
To turn it off, close the Live Captions bar or turn off the “Live Captions” option in the Settings app.
—
That is all. It is that simple to enable Live Captions in Windows 11.
I hope this simple and easy Windows how-to guide helped you.
If you are stuck or need some help, send an email, and I will try to help as much as possible.
