How to use closed captions in Windows 10

To turn on closed captions when watching videos

1. Right-click (or tap) and hold anywhere on the video to bring up a menu. If closed captions are available, you will see the ‘CC’ icon.
2. Tap the ‘CC’ icon and choose the language you would like to use. Captions will now appear on the screen.

To customise closed captions

Windows gives you the ability to fully customise the appearance of closed captions. These settings will only apply to videos that you have downloaded and that contain closed caption text. These settings won’t change the way captions look in videos you are watching online such as on YouTube or BBC iPlayer as these use their own customisable settings.

1. Open the ‘Ease of Access’ settings by pressing the ‘Windows logo key’ + ‘U’ on the keyboard or via Start Menu > Settings > Ease of Access (see the article Open Accessibility Preferences on this website for more information.)
2. Select ‘Closed captions’ from the Hearing section in the left column.
3. In the right column you can change settings for the caption font and the caption background as well as options for dimming the window content to make the closed caption text easier to read.
   
4. Click on the drop-down menus and select your preferences from the available options.
5. In the preview image at the top of the window you can see how your new settings will look when captions are displayed.
6. When you are happy with your settings click the ‘X’ close button in the top-right of the window

Note: If this does not work it could be because your computer settings are managed by someone else (an IT department or administrator for example) in which case you will need to contact them to access these settings or for further help.