iMovie captions: how to add the auto captions iMovie can't

iMovie is a good free editor, but it has no automatic captions and can't import a subtitle file. Here are the two practical ways round that.

What iMovie can and can't do

• No automatic captions or transcription.
• No subtitle-file import (SRT or VTT).
• Titles: you can add text over your video one title at a time.

For a short clip with a few lines, titles are enough. For anything with continuous speech, typing and timing every line by hand takes a long time.

Free: type captions as titles in iMovie

1. Open your project and click Titles above the browser.
2. Choose a simple style, such as one that sits at the bottom of the frame, and drag it onto the timeline above the clip, where the line is spoken.
3. Type the line into the viewer.
4. Drag the ends of the title in the timeline so it starts and stops with the speech.
5. Repeat for every line, then export with File ▸ Share ▸ File.

Tip: keep each title to a few words and use the same style throughout; mixing styles looks messy.

Auto captions for an iMovie video, on your Mac

If you'd rather not type every line, finish the edit in iMovie, then caption the exported file:

1. In iMovie, choose File ▸ Share ▸ File and export at the highest quality.
2. Open the export in Stillreel and click Transcribe. Speech is recognised on your Mac, nothing is uploaded.
3. Read through the captions and fix any word. Adjust timing by a frame if a caption starts early or late.
4. Choose a style and position. For Reels or TikTok, switch the format to 9:16 at the same time.
5. Export an MP4 with the captions burned in, and an SRT file if you're posting to YouTube.

Exporting re-encodes the video once more. At the highest export settings in both apps that is rarely visible, but keep your iMovie project in case you want to change the edit.

Or skip iMovie for simple clips

If the edit is just trimming the ends and cutting out a few mistakes, you can do it in Stillreel directly: split, delete and reorder clips on its single timeline, and the captions follow the cuts automatically. For music, titles, transitions or several layers of video, keep using iMovie for the edit.

iMovie on iPhone and iPad

The same gap applies on iPhone and iPad: no automatic captions. Stillreel is a Mac app; AirDrop the clip to your Mac, caption it there and AirDrop the result back.

Which approach to choose

Common questions

Can Stillreel open an iMovie project? No; it works with video files. Export from iMovie first, as above.

Does Stillreel change my iMovie library? No. It reads the exported file and writes a new one wherever you choose.

Related guides

• Auto captions on a Mac, without uploading your video
• How to make a vertical 9:16 video on a Mac, without black bars
• Free video editors for Mac with no watermark: what you actually get