Teachable Subtitles Not Showing? Captions Fixes (2026)
Find missing Teachable video captions, change subtitle languages, fix iPhone fullscreen behavior, and learn when to ask your course creator for help.
If Teachable subtitles are not showing, open the video in your enrolled course and select the captions icon or press C in the web player. Choose an available language in the player settings. If no caption option appears, the school may not have supplied subtitles for that lesson. On an iPhone or iPad browser, fullscreen playback can also switch to a different captions menu.
This guide separates controls students can use from changes only course creators can make. It draws on Teachable's student video player guide and official video subtitles documentation. It is about captions and accessibility, not repairing a video that will not play.
Why captions may be absent even when the video plays
A working video does not guarantee that a caption track exists. Teachable allows a school owner to generate or upload subtitles for course videos, but that is an instructor-side setting. The captions icon is useful only when subtitles are available. If your lesson has no caption option, avoid assuming that your browser deleted the subtitles or that your account is defective.
Check whether you are watching a course video inside Teachable's own player. An embedded video from another service may show a different set of controls, because that external player manages its own captions. Compare a second lesson from the same course. If subtitles work there but not in the first lesson, tell the creator exactly which video is affected instead of asking for a general account reset.
Language availability is also specific to each video. A school can provide one language without providing every translation. The subtitle menu cannot create a new language on demand for a student. A course's sales page or spoken language does not prove that translated captions have been prepared.
Five checks students can complete without changing course settings
- Open the original lesson. Sign in to the school where you enrolled, open the lesson from the curriculum, and start its video. If the lesson is locked or unreleased, first resolve access through the school rather than trying to bypass it.
- Look for captions. In Teachable's web player, select the subtitles icon. The official keyboard shortcuts also list C for turning subtitles on or off. If the player does not offer a track, pressing the key cannot invent one.
- Select the language. Open the player settings and check the subtitle language menu. Pick an available language rather than assuming that the language used by the website is the language of the video captions.
- Test fullscreen separately. If the language changes when an iPhone or iPad browser enters fullscreen, use the fullscreen player's CC control to choose it again. Test ordinary inline playback to determine whether the issue is specific to fullscreen.
- Ask for a track check. Record the school name, lesson title, device, browser, available languages, and what you tried. Send those details to the course provider. Do not send a password or unrelated personal information.
Change one thing at a time. If subtitles are visible in one lesson but missing in another, that comparison is more useful to the school than repeated browser reinstalls. If the video itself freezes or produces an error, first use our Teachable playback troubleshooting checklist. Captions troubleshooting cannot repair a video stream that never starts.
Why fullscreen captions can change on iPhone and iPad
Teachable documents a specific behavior in certain iOS browser versions. When a video enters fullscreen, Apple's native player can take over and display its own captions menu. The subtitle language you selected in Teachable's inline player may not carry over. That does not necessarily mean the course owner removed the language.
The practical fix is to open the CC menu in fullscreen and select the preferred track again. You may need to repeat this after entering fullscreen another time. Teachable says this particular behavior concerns browser playback on iPhone or iPad, not its own mobile app. If you are studying in a browser, comparing inline and fullscreen modes is a useful diagnostic test.
Do not confuse a missing subtitle track with a language switching issue. If the menu contains no languages at all, the fullscreen workaround cannot help. A school owner needs to verify whether the video has a subtitle file or generated captions attached.
What a course creator can check or provide
For school owners, Teachable's video subtitles guide describes two approaches: automatic generation for supported spoken languages, and manual subtitle uploads. For an individual course lesson, open the lesson's video block, select its settings gear, and locate Add subtitles. Creators can inspect the existing tracks and choose a supported source.
Automatic generation currently supports spoken audio in seven languages: Arabic, Dutch, English, French, Italian, Brazilian Portuguese, and Spanish. That is a list of source audio languages, not a promise that every spoken language can be automatically transcribed. Teachable separately describes translation options for subtitles generated from those supported sources. Generated text can contain mistakes, so creators should review names, specialist vocabulary, punctuation, and timing.
For a video spoken in Cantonese, Mandarin, Japanese, or Korean, do not claim the built-in source-audio generation supports it. A creator can instead prepare a properly timed subtitle file and upload it manually. Teachable documents .srt and .vtt as accepted subtitle-upload formats; those extensions describe subtitle files, not the output format of any video downloader.
Compare the available caption approaches
| Approach | Who controls it | Best use | Important limit |
|---|---|---|---|
| Student captions menu | Enrolled learner | Turn on an existing track or change language | Cannot create a missing track |
| Creator auto-generated captions | School owner | Draft captions for a supported spoken language | May contain transcription and timing errors |
| Creator-uploaded subtitle file | School owner | Corrected captions or unsupported spoken languages | Requires an accurately timed file |
| Separate study notes | Learner | Record definitions and questions when captions are unavailable | Not a replacement for accessible captions |
The creator's subtitle file instructions explain how to prepare a file and check timestamps. Students should not be told to upload files into an instructor-only editor. If you need captions for accessibility, ask the school for an accessible version or a written alternative, and describe which part of the lesson you cannot follow.
If you take notes while watching, our Teachable video note-taking guide offers a separate workflow for remembering important ideas. Notes may help with review, but they do not replace accurate captions for learners who need them to understand the lesson.
What to do when captions still cannot be enabled
A missing CC control, an empty language list, and incorrect subtitle timing require different responses. An empty list suggests the creator should check whether a track is attached. Incorrect text or timing should be reported with a short example and timestamp. A language that changes only in iOS fullscreen should be tested with the native fullscreen captions menu first.
If the school has not supplied captions, the learner cannot force Teachable to generate them from the student account. Contact the school through its official support channel and request the needed language or a written accessible alternative. For urgent course deadlines, explain when you need the material and ask about a reasonable way to complete the lesson while the accessibility issue is addressed.
Teachable Downloader is a Chrome extension for video or audio that your account can already open, where saving is permitted. Its verified capabilities do not include creating subtitles, changing a school's caption settings, unlocking lessons, or exporting a transcript. Downloading media is not a substitute for requesting accessible course materials, and sharing or reselling downloaded content is not permitted.
The short version
Try the captions icon or C, then select an available language. If captions change in iPhone browser fullscreen, choose the language again in the fullscreen CC menu. If the track is missing or inaccurate, send the lesson details to your school: only the creator can add or correct the subtitles.
