Present slides with captions - Google Slides

When you present with Google Slides, you can turn on automatic captions to display the speaker's words in real time.

Google Chrome is the recommended web browser for the best experience with Slides captions.

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Example of Slides captions. Click image to enlarge.

Step 1: Set up your microphone*

To use captions with Google Slides, your computer microphone needs to be on and working.

Devices and microphones vary, so check your computer manual for instructions. Microphone settings are typically in the System Preferences on a Mac, or the Control Panel on a PC.

Google Slides uses the computer’s microphone or an external microphone paired with the computer.

Step 2: Present with captions

1. Open your presentation in Google Slides.

2. To start presenting, click Present or press the shortcut for your browser:

   • Windows: Ctrl + F5

   • Mac: ⌘ + Shift + Enter

   • Chrome OS (Chromebook): Ctrl + Search + 5

3. At the bottom left of the Present screen, click More options > Captions preferences > Toggle captions or press the shortcut for your browser:

   • Chrome OS or Windows: Ctrl + Shift + c

   • Mac: ⌘ + Shift + c

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4. As you speak, captions appear at the bottom of the screen. Captions don't include punctuation.

5. To change text position (top or bottom of screen) or text size, next to “CC” click the drop-down menu .

6. To turn off captions, click CC or press the shortcut for your browser.

   • Chrome OS or Windows: Ctrl + Shift + c

   • Mac: ⌘ + Shift + c

Note: Captions are not stored. 

Tips for using captions 

• If you present slides over video conferencing software (ie. Google Meet or Zoom), captions show up on the shared screen.

  • To set expectations for your audience, it's a good idea to tell them that captions are from Google Slides, not the video conferencing software, and that only the speaker's voice is being captioned.

• Some people find captions distracting, so you might want to ask your audience before turning on captions.

• Captions and your microphone automatically turn off if there's no activity on your computer for 30 minutes. 

Troubleshoot captions

If captions aren't working, try these tips: 

• Reduce background noise or move to a quieter room.

• Restart your computer.

• Clear your browser’s cache.

• In your system and browser preferences, check your microphone settings.*

• Plug in an external microphone.*

• Check that your microphone is plugged in and isn't being used by another application.*

• Change the input volume on your microphone.*