Captions for YouTube Shorts
YouTube runs the channel name, the title and the buttons over the frame of every Short. Google’s advice to advertisers is to keep critical elements out of the top 10%, the bottom 25% and the right hand 10%. Shorts can now run up to three minutes, so a caption that sits in the wrong place stays wrong for a long time.
Free to try, no card. Any video, any size.
What Shorts puts over your video
- The channel name, title and Subscribe across the bottom
- Like, dislike, comment and share down the right edge
- Top 10%, bottom 25%, right 10% Google on YouTube Shorts ads
- Up to 3 minutes YouTube Help
- Caption between 192 px and 1440 px from the top
Set it up in Captik
Set the frame to 9:16
A Short is vertical. Switch the shape above the preview and it exports that way.
Leave the right edge alone
Shorts cover the right edge and not the left. If a template fills the width, narrow the caption box from the right until the Safe area guide and the buttons would not meet.
Add the SRT if you want searchable captions
Captik downloads the same captions as a standard SRT file, and YouTube lets you add subtitle files to a video in Studio. A burned in caption is part of the picture, so it shows either way.
Working in another editor? The safe zone checker draws these bands on your own frame and gives you an overlay PNG. Captions in your language: see every language.
YouTube Shorts captions, answered
Is a Short’s safe zone different from a Reel’s?
Yes. Google’s bottom figure is 25% against Meta’s 35%, its top is 10% against 14%, and it only asks for room on the right. If one clip goes to both, use the tighter limit on each edge, which is what the checker’s Reels and Shorts option does.
Do these figures apply to ordinary Shorts or only ads?
Google publishes them on its page about Shorts ads, and says overlays can sit in different places depending on format and screen. They are a careful starting point for any Short, not a measurement of your phone.
Can I reuse a horizontal video?
Yes. Change the frame to 9:16 in the editor and move the video inside it. Captions are kept, though you should check their position again in the new shape.
Read further
What it costs
Free has every feature, with 2 caption minutes and 10 export minutes every 30 days, and its exports carry a small watermark. When the single video option is on offer at checkout, one video can be made clean for ₹20. A week of Starter is ₹99: 7 days, 9 caption minutes and 13 export minutes, with no watermark.
Rupee prices are for buyers in India; buyers abroad see their price in dollars. The pricing page shows what your checkout offers today, including tax.
See pricing₹0
2 caption minutes
10 export minutes
for 30 days₹349
30 caption minutes
45 export minutes
for 30 days₹699
60 caption minutes
110 export minutes
for 30 days₹1,499
150 caption minutes
230 export minutes
for 30 days