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Live Translated Subtitles on Windows 10

Updated November 1, 2026

Short answer: Windows 10 has no built-in live captions and no built-in live translation. Microsoft's Live Captions feature exists only in Windows 11 (version 22H2 and later), and even there it translates only on Copilot+ PCs. To get live subtitles with translation on Windows 10, install a system-wide app such as Live Subtitles from the Microsoft Store: it listens to the sound your PC plays (or your microphone) and shows the original speech and a translation together in a floating window on top of any app, in 50 languages and any language pair, less than a second behind the speaker.

What Windows 10 can and cannot do on its own

On Windows 10 there is no system setting that turns speech into on-screen text for every app. Captions exist only inside individual apps: a video player that supports subtitle files, YouTube's captions, Chrome's Live Caption for audio in the browser, or the captions in Zoom, Teams and Google Meet when your plan and your organization allow them. None of these covers the whole PC, and none of them gives you a translation in your language for every app you use.

The Windows 11 feature that people often read about (Win + Ctrl + L) is not available on Windows 10, and upgrading is not always an option on a work laptop or an older PC. That is the gap a system-wide subtitle app fills.

How to get live translated subtitles on Windows 10

1. Install Live Subtitles from the Microsoft Store. It runs on Windows 10 and Windows 11, and you can try it free before choosing minute packs or a subscription.
2. Choose the audio source. Use the PC's sound for calls, videos, streams and podcasts; switch to the microphone for a lecture or a conversation in the room.
3. Pick the two languages: the language being spoken and the language you want to read. Any pair of the 50 supported languages works, for example Japanese to English or English to Spanish.
4. Start the subtitles and play the call or video as usual. The original line and the translation appear together in a floating window that you can move and resize over any app.
5. Optional on Windows: turn on Live Voice to hear the translation read aloud while the original audio keeps playing, and save new words to the word list, which you can export to CSV or TXT.

Your options on Windows 10 compared

Option	Works on Windows 10	What it covers	Translation
Live Subtitles	Yes (also Windows 11, macOS, iOS, Android)	Any sound on the PC, or the microphone	Yes, 50 languages, any pair, original and translation together
Live Captions & Transcribe	Yes (also Windows 11)	Any sound on the PC, or the microphone	No, captions in the spoken language only
Chrome Live Caption	Yes	Only audio playing in Chrome	Nothing outside the browser
Captions in Zoom, Teams or Google Meet	Yes	Only calls in that app	Depends on the app and your plan
Windows 11 Live Captions	No	Any sound on the PC	Only on Copilot+ PCs

What you can watch and join with it

Because Live Subtitles works with the sound of the PC rather than with one app, the same window follows you from one thing to the next:

• Calls and meetings in Zoom, Microsoft Teams, Google Meet, Skype, WhatsApp, Telegram or Discord. Nothing is installed into the meeting app, and no bot joins the call.
• Videos and streams on YouTube, Netflix, Twitch or any site, including videos that have no subtitles at all.
• Courses, webinars and podcasts in a foreign language, with the original kept on screen for language learners.
• Talks and conversations in the room, using the microphone instead of the PC's sound.

Good to know before you start

• Internet is required. Speech recognition and translation run online while the subtitles are on, so a stable connection matters more than a fast PC.
• One source at a time. Choose the PC's sound or the microphone for each session; switch whenever you need to.
• Clear audio gives better subtitles. Turn the call or video volume up rather than down, and set the spoken language correctly before you start.
• Pricing: free to try, then minute packs or a subscription; see pricing for the current plans.

Need captions only, without translation?

If you just want to read what is said in the language it is spoken, for example to follow a fast meeting or because you are hard of hearing, our sister app Live Captions & Transcribe is built for that on Windows 10 and 11: large text, speaker colors and a searchable transcript history with TXT/SRT export. Our guide How to get live captions on Windows 10 compares the captions-only options step by step.

Download Live Subtitles — Try It Free

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