Review and fix your captions

Who this guide is for

Creators whose captions are ready and who want to check them against the video and fix any wrong word, in the spoken language or in the translation, before downloading them or adding them to YouTube.

Prerequisites

• A paid video whose status is Ready to review or Done.
• To hear the video while you read: captioning finished less than 2 days ago, so the file you uploaded is still stored. After that you can still read and fix every line, without playback.

Step-by-step instructions

Where to find it: Videos › <video title> › Review captions

Open the editor

1. Select Videos in the app menu, then select your video. The page says Your captions are ready.
2. Select Review captions. The page shows the captions line by line, each with the time it starts: the language spoken in the video on the left, headed for example Arabic spoken, and the translation on the right, headed for example English. On a phone the translation sits under the spoken line, with its language name above it. For a video file, a small picture of the video sits at the top; an audio file has none.

Hear the video and read along

1. Select the round Play button at the bottom of the page. The line being said grows larger in both languages and each word lights up as it is spoken. Lines already said sit above it in grey, lines still to come below.
2. The list scrolls along with the video by itself, keeping the line being said near the top of the screen, however long the video is. If you scroll yourself, it waits: a few seconds after you stop scrolling it follows the video again, or select Follow the video above the controls to go back to the line being said at once. While the video is paused, the list stays where you left it.
3. To hear one line again, select its start time, for example 0:12.4. The video plays from there.
4. The space bar pauses and plays too, except while you are typing.
5. Drag the slider at the bottom to move through the video. The time next to it shows where you are.

Fix a line

1. Select the text that is wrong, in either language. The video pauses and the text becomes a text box.
2. Type what was really said, or the translation you want.
3. Select Save, or press Enter. The text is saved at once and shows Fixed under it. To leave it as it was, select Cancel or press Esc.
4. Keep playing and fixing until the end. The bottom of the page counts your fixes, for example 3 lines fixed.

Spoken line or translation?

• Fix the spoken line when the words were heard wrong. Its translation then shows Old translation until you finish: it was made from the old words and is made again when you select Finish review.
• Fix the translation when the words were heard right but you want the translation said differently. A translation you fixed yourself is kept as you wrote it.
• You can fix both. If you fix the spoken line and then its translation, your translation is kept. If you fix the translation first and the spoken line afterwards, the translation shows Old translation again and is made again when you finish.

Finish

1. Select Finish review. You are taken back to the video page.
2. If any translation showed Old translation, the page says Translating the lines you fixed and We are on it. Only those lines are translated again; the other lines keep their translation, including the ones you fixed yourself. This usually takes a minute or two, and the page updates by itself.
3. When the page says Your captions are ready again, download the captions or select Add to YouTube. Every file includes your fixes.

Important: Timings cannot be changed. A line cannot be empty: to remove something that was never said, type what was really said instead. Run captioning again makes the captions again from scratch and loses your fixes in both languages.

Expected result

Every text you fixed shows Fixed in the editor, the caption files and the captions you add to YouTube use the new words in both languages, and the video page offers Add to YouTube as the next step.

Common questions / troubleshooting

There is no Play button, and the page says the video file was deleted. The file you uploaded is deleted 2 days after captioning. You can still read and fix every line. To hear the video, play your own copy alongside.

The list jumped back while I was reading an earlier line. While the video plays, the list follows it again a few seconds after you stop scrolling. To read or fix an earlier line in peace, select Pause first, or select the line: that pauses the video too.

The words light up a little before or after they are said. The translation's words, and the words of a line you fixed, are lit by spreading the line's time over them evenly, so they can be slightly off. The captions themselves keep their original timing.

I left the editor without selecting Finish review. Your fixes are saved anyway. If a translation still showed Old translation, the video page says You fixed 3 lines, and the English captions still have the old words. (with your own number). Select Update the translation to translate them again, or Review captions to continue fixing.

I fixed the English myself. Will it be replaced? No. A translation you fixed is kept, unless you fix its spoken line again afterwards.

The translation says No translation yet. That line has no translation at the moment, for example while it is being made again. Select Back to the video and wait for Your captions are ready.

Most lines are wrong, not just a word here and there. Check the Language panel on the video page: if the language or dialect is not what is spoken, upload the file again and choose the right one. Otherwise see the guide "Run captioning again".

Will I be charged? No. Reviewing, fixing and translating again are included.