Move the pointer over the YouTube player and click CC if it appears. Open the player’s gear menu and choose Subtitles/CC to check the tracks available for that video. If CC works on another video but is missing here, the first video may not offer captions.
01Compare two videos in the same browser
Section linkStart with a video where you have seen the CC button before. If captions appear there, return to the original video and check its subtitle list. Captions are attached to each video, so a working button elsewhere does not add a track to the original video.
02Try an available track and reset the style
Section linkIf the list offers more than one track, select an available one and jump to a part where someone is speaking. If the track is selected but the words are hard to see, open Subtitles/CC → Options and reset the caption style. That changes how captions look, so it helps only when a track is already available.
03When the video has no caption track
Section linkA newly uploaded video may still be processing automatic captions. YouTube also lists unsupported languages and unclear or overlapping speech as reasons automatic captions may be absent. Check back later or ask the uploader if a captioned version is available.