Auto-Captions on Vimeo OTT let you automatically generate closed captions for your videos in their native spoken language — directly inside Vimeo OTT, with no manual transcription required.
In this article
What are Auto-Captions?
Auto-Captions use Vimeo AI to transcribe your video's audio and produce a caption track in the same language that's spoken in the video (the "native language").
Once enabled, you can:
- Automatically caption every newly uploaded video, with no per-video action.
- Generate captions on demand for any individual video.
- Review, edit, download, or delete any generated caption track.
- Upload your own caption files, including for additional (foreign) languages.
Captions generated this way display across the web player, mobile apps, and TV apps.
Availability: Auto-Captions are included for all OTT plans at no extra cost.
Turn on Auto-Captions by default (site-wide)
Enable automatic captioning so that every video you upload from now on is transcribed automatically.
- Go to Manage → Site → Content.
- Find Automatically generate captions for new videos.
- Toggle it on.
Once this is on, captions begin generating automatically each time a new video finishes uploading. This setting applies only to videos uploaded after it's enabled — to add captions to videos already in your library, see Captioning your existing library.
Generate or remove captions on a specific video
You can generate captions for any single video, whether or not you've enabled the site-wide default.
Generate captions for one video
- Open the video in your admin.
- Go to the Distribution tab.
- Select Generate with Vimeo AI.
Generation status
After you start generation, the caption track moves through a few states:
- In progress — Vimeo AI is transcribing the audio. Generation may take up to a couple of minutes.
- Error — something prevented the track from generating (for example, an audio issue). You can retry generation or see Troubleshooting: Auto CC not generating in the correct language or at all.
- Completed — the full caption track is ready, viewable on the player, and available to edit or download.
Remove captions
Open the video, locate the caption track, and delete it. This removes the track from the player across all platforms.
Edit, download, and re-upload captions
Auto-generated captions are a starting point — you have full control to refine them.
- Download the generated caption file to review or edit it offline.
- Modify the file (for example, to fix a name, term, or timing) and re-upload it to replace the auto-generated track.
- Upload your own captions at any time. This is also how you add foreign-language caption tracks — Auto-Captions generate the native language, and you can supply additional languages by uploading your own files.
Alternative: generate captions on Vimeo and sync
If you already work in Vimeo, you can generate captions there and sync them to OTT:
- Upload or open the video in Vimeo and generate captions there.
- Sync the video to your OTT library.
- The caption track carries over and appears on the OTT player.
Auto-Captions on OTT remove the need for this round-trip in most cases — but the Vimeo workflow remains available if it fits your process.
How captions appear in the player
When a video has captions available, viewers can turn them on from the player's caption/subtitle control.
If a video has multiple caption tracks (for example, the native language plus foreign-language tracks you've uploaded), the order of the tracks determines the default — the first track in the list is the one shown by default when a viewer enables captions.
Captioning your existing library
The site-wide default applies to new uploads only. For older videos you have two options:
- A few videos: generate them individually using Generate with Vimeo AI.
- A large back catalog: for bulk efforts — for example, captioning your entire library back to 2022 — contact your Account Manager, who can coordinate a backfill.
FAQ & troubleshooting
My video's captions show an error — what do I do?
Retry generation from the video's Distribution tab. If it keeps failing, check that the video has clear, audible speech, then contact support.
Will enabling the site-wide default caption my existing videos?
No. It applies only to videos uploaded after you turn it on.
Can I fix an incorrect word or name in the captions?
Yes — download the caption file, edit it, and re-upload to replace the generated track.
Can I add captions in more than one language?
Auto-Captions generate the native language automatically. Upload your own files to add foreign-language tracks.
Do captions appear on mobile and TV, or only web?
On all of them — web, mobile apps, and TV apps.
What languages are supported?
Auto-Captions transcribe the video in its native spoken language. For a full list of supported languages, see How to add captions or subtitles to my video.