When you are watching a movies or TV shows in Netflix, subtitles plays an important role for the following reasons:
1. You’re watching a movie late at night and want to keep the volume down so as not to disturb your neighbors.
2. The actors are speaking with a strong regional accent that is hard to understand.
3. Someone in your family (perhaps your parents or your significant other’s parents) do not speak English very well, so you’d like to display subtitles in their native language.
4. You may be trying to learn a foreign language and are practicing by watching the movie in English and reading the subtitles in the target language.
5. You may be hard of hearing or deaf.
Not all Netflix’s movies and shows include subtitles in every language, but for those that have, try to turn on the subtitles on different devices with directions below:
Method 1: using your computer browser
1. Pick the Netflix show you want to watch. Click the triangular “Play” button to start viewing.
2. Find and select the “Audio/Subtitles” menu. It is located in the lower right-hand corner of the viewing window and looks like a speech bubble.
3. Select the subtitling option you want. On English viewing, almost all shows/films will have an “English (CC)” option. Once you pick it, it should have a check mark next to it.
4. Enjoy your viewing with captions.
To turn the captions off, just repeat the steps and select “Off” from the subtitles menu.
Method 2: Using a Roku
From the Main Menu
1. Select your desired TV show or movie. Don’t press play yet, but instead look for the “Audio & Subtitles” section on the description page.
2. Select “Audios & Subtitles,” and then your preferred subtitle option.
3. Press the back button to go back to the show/movie description page.
4. Play the TV show or movie. The subtitles should play along with it.
During Playback (Roku 3 only)
1. Select the show or film you want to watch. Hit Play on your remote.
2. Press the “Play/Pause” or “OK” button on your remote. You should see the progress bar pop up at the bottom of the screen.
3. Press the down arrow on the remote. This will highlight the “Audio & Subtitles” option. Click “OK” to select it.
4. Look at the “Audio & Subtitles” options. Press the right arrow on your remote to move the selection into the “Subtitles” column, and then the down arrow to highlight the subtitle type you want. Click “OK” on your remote, and you should see a check mark appear next to the selection.
5. Click the return/back arrow on your remote. The “Audio & Subtitles” menu should disappear. Click “Play/Pause” again to resume viewing.
To turn subtitles off, repeat these steps and select “Off” from the subtitle options.
Method 3: Using Apple TV
1. Open your Netflix app. Find your chosen title and start watching it.
2. During playback, click and hold the center button on your Apple TV remote.
3. Pick your chosen subtitle options.
4. Select your preferred audio or subtitle language options.
5. Customize the subtitles if you want. To do this, go to Apple TV’s main Settings menu. Hit General > Accessibility > Subtitles and Captioning > Style. From there, you can choose how your captions will look.
Method 4: Using Most Smart TVs, Blu-ray Players, and Streaming Set-Top Boxes
Each TV, streaming box, and Blu-ray player might have a slightly different layout and steps. However, the standard steps suggested by Netflix are:
1. Open the Netflix application.
2. Find and select the movie or TV show you want.
3. Open the options panel and pick Audio & Subtitles.
4. Pick the audio or subtitle options you want.
5. Hit Back to return to the options menu.
6. Play the show/movie.
If you there are no subtitles in your original Netflix streamed movies and TV shows, you can add external ASS/SSA/SRT subtitles to Netflix movies or TV shows for better viewing and understanding.