Can AddSub subtitle a screen recording I already made?

Yes — play the finished recording back through your Mac and AddSub will transcribe and translate it live as it plays. You can then export the transcript as SRT.

Does AddSub work with OBS or QuickTime?

Yes. AddSub taps any audio your Mac is playing, so it captions whatever OBS, QuickTime, or any recording app captures — in real time.

Can I get subtitles in another language for my recording?

Yes. AddSub translates live into 99 languages, so you can caption your English tutorial in Japanese, Spanish, or any supported language as you record.

Is my recording uploaded anywhere?

No. Transcription and translation run 100% on-device. Your screen and audio never leave your Mac.

How to Add Subtitles to Screen Recordings on macOS (Live or After)

The short answer: AddSub captions your screen recordings two ways — live as you record (tutorials, meetings, demos), or afterward by playing the finished file through your Mac. Either way it’s 100% on-device, private, and exportable to SRT.

Why caption your screen recordings

Viewers watch videos with sound off: studies consistently show a large share of social and tutorial viewers are muted. Hard-coded subtitles boost watch time, accessibility, and search (subtitled videos get indexed better). For tutorial creators, meeting hosts, and educators, captions aren’t optional — they’re the difference between a watched video and a skipped one.

Option 1 — Caption live while you record

Install AddSub (download) — free 7-day trial, no payment to start.
Set your language — choose the language you speak (or Auto-Detect) and, if you want translated captions, your target (e.g. English → Japanese).
Record with QuickTime or OBS — the overlay floats above your screen showing your words as live subtitles with speaker labels.
Export when done — copy the transcript or export to SRT and burn it into the video in your editor (or leave it as a separate caption file for YouTube).

Option 2 — Subtitle a recording you already made

Play the finished recording back in QuickTime, IINA, or a browser.
AddSub taps the audio and transcribes it live as it plays.
When it finishes, export the transcript as SRT — perfectly timed to the audio.

What you get

Live bilingual captions — original + translation side by side, in 99 languages.
Speaker labels (S1, S2, S3…) — perfect for multi-host podcasts or Q&A meetings.
SRT / TXT export — ready for YouTube, Vimeo, or any editor.
Privacy — nothing is uploaded; your screen and audio stay on your Mac.

Pro tips

Use a decent mic — clean audio transcribes much more accurately.
Pause between sentences — gives the caption engine clean segment boundaries.
For meetings with multiple people, diarization labels who’s talking automatically.

Caption your next recording — free for 7 days

No payment needed to start. No accounts. Download for macOS.