What are burned-in captions?
Also called Open captions, Hardcoded subtitles, Burnt-in captionsUpdated
From Clyper, the AI clipping tool that turns long videos into captioned vertical clips for TikTok, Reels and Shorts.
Get startedBurned-in captions, defined
Burned-in captions, also called open captions or hardcoded subtitles, are drawn into the video's picture itself, so they show on every app and player and can't be turned off. Closed captions are the opposite: a separate text track that viewers switch on or off and that the player can restyle.
Burned-in vs closed captions
The W3C's accessibility guidelines, WCAG, draw the line simply: closed captions can be turned on and off with some players, and open captions are any captions that can't be turned off, such as text embedded in the video. Burned-in, burnt-in and hardcoded all mean the open kind.
| Burned-in (open) | Closed | |
|---|---|---|
| Viewers can turn them off | No | Yes |
| How they look | Exactly as designed: font, colors, word-by-word animation | The player's style; on YouTube, viewers can change the font, color and size |
| Where they show | Everywhere the video file goes | Players that load the caption track |
| Fixing a typo | Export the video again | Edit the track |
| Another language | Another copy of the video | Another track |
The apps' own captions are the closed kind. When TikTok launched auto captions in April 2021, it said viewers can turn creators' captions off from the share panel; Instagram writes out a reel's speech as closed captions with speech recognition; and on YouTube, captions come on and off with the CC button.
Why short clips burn their captions in
A clip goes to TikTok, Reels and Shorts as one file. With its captions burned in, they show on all three, for every viewer, in the style you picked, and you check them once. The styles that work on clips, a few words at a time with the spoken word lit up (karaoke captions), are drawn into the picture this way. The long version of the argument is in why clippers burn captions into the video.
The trade-off is that they're final. A typo means exporting again (and reposting, once it's up), and everyone gets the same captions, including viewers who'd want them bigger or off. So get them right before you export: read every clip once with the sound on, and keep them clear of the apps' buttons (the safe zone).
Are burned-in captions accessible?
They can be. WCAG lists open captions, with “all of the dialogue and important sounds” embedded in the video, as a sufficient way to meet its captions requirement for prerecorded video (success criterion 1.2.2, Level A). Two things decide whether yours count:
- They're complete and correct. WCAG treats captions that leave out dialogue or important sound effects as a failure, and the W3C says automatic captions aren't enough unless they're confirmed to be fully accurate. YouTube's help suggests adding text like [applause] so viewers know what's going on.
- They don't hide the video. WCAG notes that captions shouldn't obscure relevant information in it. On a vertical clip, that means below the face and clear of the buttons.
What burned-in captions can't do is adapt: a viewer can't make them bigger or change their colors the way YouTube's caption settings let them restyle closed captions. For a full-length video on YouTube, upload a caption file as well; how those files work is in what is an SRT file, and which to use where in captions vs subtitles.
Questions
What's the difference between burned-in and closed captions?
Burned-in captions are part of the picture: everyone sees them, on every app, exactly as they were designed, and nobody can turn them off. Closed captions are a separate track that viewers switch on or off, and that the player draws in its own style.
Are burned-in captions the same as open captions?
Yes. Open captions are any captions that can't be turned off. Burned-in, burnt-in and hardcoded captions or subtitles are other names for the same thing.
Should I burn captions into TikTok and Reels videos?
For clips, usually yes: one file shows the same captions on every app, in the style you chose, for every viewer on mute. If you burn them in, leave the app's own captions off so nobody reads every line twice.
Can you remove burned-in captions from a video?
Not cleanly: they're part of the picture, so cropping or blurring them also loses part of the video. Keep a copy without them if you might need one. In Clyper, you can change a clip's caption style or fix its words in the editor and download it again.
Sources
The apps' rules are from their own pages, read on October 27, 2026. They change from time to time, so check them before you rely on one.
- W3C: WCAG 2.2, definition of captions (closed and open captions)
- W3C: technique G93, providing open (always visible) captions
- W3C: Understanding success criterion 1.2.2, captions (prerecorded)
- W3C WAI: captions/subtitles (automatic captions are not sufficient)
- YouTube Help: add subtitles and captions
- YouTube Help: manage caption settings
- TikTok Newsroom: introducing auto captions (April 6, 2021)
- Instagram Help: manage closed captions for your reels
