Live Captions / Live captions for hard of hearing users on Windows

Live captions for hard of hearing people on a Windows PC

Updated October 28, 2026

To get live captions that are genuinely easy to read for a hard-of-hearing person on Windows, install Live Captions & Transcribe, set the text size up to 64 pt and switch to a high-contrast style, then point it at whatever needs captioning: computer sound for video calls, TV and streaming, or the microphone for people talking in the room. Windows 11's built-in Live Captions and Chrome Live Caption are free fallbacks that work in narrower situations.

Hearing loss is not one problem with one fix. A family video call, a TV drama, a visitor sitting across the kitchen table, and a webinar all need captions, but they need them from different audio sources, at a size and contrast that actually works for that person's eyes, and often set up by someone else over the phone. This guide covers each situation honestly, including when the free, built-in options already do the job.

Your options on Windows at a glance

Option	What it captions	Text size / contrast	Cost
Live Captions & Transcribe	Any computer sound, or the microphone for in-room speech	Up to 64 pt; light, dark or high-contrast	Free to try, then minute packs or a subscription
Windows 11 Live Captions	Any computer sound (Windows 11 only)	Adjustable size; a few style options	Free, built in
Chrome Live Caption	Only audio playing in Chrome	Small, fixed box; limited size options	Free
Captions in Zoom, Teams, Meet, YouTube	Only that one app	Usually small, limited contrast settings	Depends on the app and plan

Video calls with family

A weekly call with grandchildren, a doctor's video appointment, a WhatsApp or Telegram chat with a relative abroad — these calls often move fast, several people talk over each other, and a hard-of-hearing person can lose the thread in seconds. Because Live Captions & Transcribe listens to the sound the PC plays rather than being built into one calling app, it works the same way whether the call is in Zoom, Teams, WhatsApp, Telegram, Skype's replacement of choice, or anything else:

Install the app from the Microsoft Store. No account or card is needed to try it.
Join the call as usual in whatever app the family uses.
Choose computer sound as the audio source, so the app captions everyone on the call, not just the person speaking into the microphone.
Press Start. Captions appear a second or two behind the speech, with each speaker given their own color, which helps when several relatives are talking.
Set text size and contrast once and the app remembers it for the next call.

Nothing is installed into the calling app and no bot joins the meeting, so other family members do not need to do anything differently or even know captions are running.

Big text and high contrast that actually help

Readable captions are not just "bigger text." For many hard-of-hearing and low-vision users, what matters is enough contrast between the text and its background, and a size that can be read at arm's length from across a room, not just close to the screen.

Text size up to 64 pt in Live Captions & Transcribe, large enough to read from a couch across the room from a laptop screen.
Light, dark or high-contrast styles, so you can match the caption window to the room's lighting and the person's preference.
A caption window that stays on top of other apps, so it does not get buried behind a video call or a video player.
Click-through mode, so clicks meant for the video or call underneath pass through the caption window instead of accidentally clicking it.

Windows 11's built-in Live Captions also lets you resize the caption window and choose a caption style, but it has fewer size and contrast combinations, and it is not available at all on Windows 10.

TV, streaming and videos played through the PC

If the TV, a streaming service or a video is playing through the PC's own speakers — for example, a laptop connected to a television, or a video watched directly on the computer — Live Captions & Transcribe captions it the same way it captions a call, because it is listening to the PC's sound output, not to any one app.

This helps with content that has no subtitles of its own, or where the built-in subtitles are too small or badly timed. It will not caption a television that gets its sound from a cable box not connected to the PC; there, the TV's own closed captions ("CC" on the remote) are the right tool.

For specifically web video with its own captions, see our guide to getting captions for videos that don't have subtitles.

Microphone mode: conversations in the room

Not every situation involves a PC playing sound. A visitor sitting at the kitchen table, a home health aide explaining something, or a grandchild talking from across the room are common moments where captions on a laptop or a nearby monitor can help a hard-of-hearing person follow along without asking people to repeat themselves.

Open Live Captions & Transcribe and switch the audio source from computer sound to microphone.
Position the laptop or a monitor where the hard-of-hearing person can see it comfortably, for example on the kitchen table or a side table near their chair.
Press Start. Captions appear for whoever is speaking near the microphone.
If more than one person is talking, each gets a separate color and line, which helps keep track of who said what.

This is not a hearing aid and it does not amplify sound — it is a captioning tool, and it works best for one conversation at a time near the microphone, not for a noisy room with several conversations happening at once.

Free alternatives, and when they are enough

It would be dishonest to suggest every hard-of-hearing user needs a paid app. Several free options cover common cases well:

Windows 11 Live Captions (Settings → Accessibility → Captions) captions any sound on a Windows 11 PC for free, with adjustable size and a few style choices. If the PC is already on Windows 11 and the person mainly needs captions for calls and videos without a saved transcript, this is worth trying first.
Chrome Live Caption is free and works for video calls or videos that play inside a Chrome browser tab, but not for desktop apps like the standalone Zoom or Teams app, and not for anything outside Chrome.
Captions inside Zoom, Teams, Google Meet or YouTube are free when available and can be enough if the person uses only that one app.
Phone apps such as a phone's built-in live caption or transcription feature can help for in-person conversations when a PC is not nearby, though the screen is smaller and less practical for a family video call.

A dedicated app earns its keep when a person moves between a call, a video and someone talking in the room over the course of a day, or wants one consistent caption style everywhere instead of relearning a different button in each app.

Setup checklist for a family member helping remotely

If you are setting this up for a parent or relative over the phone or during a visit, a short checklist avoids a lot of back-and-forth later:

Check Windows version. Windows 10 and 11 both work with Live Captions & Transcribe; Windows 11's own built-in captions is a free option only on Windows 11.
Install together over a screen-share or video call, from the Microsoft Store listing, so you can confirm it opens correctly the first time.
Set text size and contrast to what they find comfortable while you are both looking at it, not a guess.
Show them the Start button and the audio source switch between computer sound and microphone, since this is the one setting they will need to change themselves.
Test it live on your own call before you hang up, so they see captions of your voices working before you are no longer there to help.
Write down the one or two steps they will repeat on their own (open the app, press Start) on a sticky note by the screen.

Try Live Captions & Transcribe free on Windows 10 or 11. No account, no card.

Get it from Microsoft Store

Questions and answers

How do I make captions bigger on a Windows PC?

In Live Captions & Transcribe, open its settings and increase the text size, up to 64 pt, and pick a high-contrast style if needed. Windows 11's built-in Live Captions and Chrome Live Caption also let you change caption text size and color, but with fewer size and contrast options and only for part of what you might want to caption.

Can captions work for a video call with family, not just a work meeting?

Yes. Live Captions & Transcribe captions the sound your PC plays, so it works the same way for a Zoom or Teams call with family as for a work meeting, a WhatsApp or Telegram desktop call, or a video chat in any other app. Nothing is installed into the calling app, and the other people on the call do not see the captions.

Will captions work for the TV, videos and streaming, not just calls?

If the TV, a video or a stream is playing through the PC's speakers, Live Captions & Transcribe can caption it the same way as a call, because it listens to whatever sound the computer plays. It does not caption a TV that is not connected to the PC, and it does not add its own captions to a video that has none unless the PC is the one playing the sound.

Can I caption someone talking in the room, not just sound from the PC?

Yes. Switch the audio source in Live Captions & Transcribe from computer sound to the microphone, and captions will appear for speech picked up in the room, for example a visitor or a family member talking nearby.

I'm setting this up remotely for a parent. What should I check?

Install the app, open it once together over a call, set the text size and contrast they are comfortable with, show them the Start button and how to switch between computer sound and microphone, and leave captions running on a simple source like a video call so they see it working before you hang up.

Does it need an internet connection?

Yes. While captions are running, the audio is sent to a cloud speech recognition service to turn it into text. The audio itself is not recorded, and the text history is saved only on the PC. Details are in the privacy policy.