The most likely “fix” for closed captions not working is to learn how they work—there are, surprisingly, a few ways to enable subtitles on the Roku, depending on the app you’re using.
How Do I Activate Closed Captions on Roku?
There’s an option in the Roku settings which you need to enable for closed captioning to work:
Press the home button to go to the home screen. Go to Settings > Accessibility > Captions mode. If you don’t see Accessibility, select Captions to open the captions menu. Choose On always.
What to Do When Roku Closed Captions Aren’t Working
Enabling closed captions is just as simple as the above steps make it out to be. However, captions might still not work as you expect, either because of a software glitch or an app that uses its own subtitle options.
If you don’t see Accessibility, select Captions to open the captions menu.
Make sure the Roku’s closed captioning setting is toggled on. It seems obvious, but they might have been turned off without you realizing it. Follow the steps outlined above to confirm captions are enabled. If they already are, shut them off, reboot the Roku, and then turn them back on. Don’t skip over this step. Even if captions are already enabled, a reboot might be all that’s needed to get them to show up. Do this through Settings > System > System restart > Restart. Verify the caption styles aren’t customized to the point they aren’t showing up correctly. They may be working just fine, but you can’t see them very well. Go to Settings > Accessibility > Captions style, and walk through the Text size, Text color, Text opacity, and other relevant options, adjusting them as needed. Use the app’s built-in closed captioning control if it has one. For example, if you’re on YouTube, press the up arrow using the Roku remote until you reach the small menu right above the progress bar. Select the captions button and choose an option from that menu, such as English (auto-generated). Other apps are different, like Netflix’s, where you need to press the down arrow on the remote to use the menu. One example of an option there is English [Original] with Subtitles. Use the mobile app’s captioning button, if possible. If the Roku remote or TV app won’t let you enable closed captions, and the service you’re using has a mobile app that supports Roku, look for an option there. Streaming services like Netflix and YouTube have mobile apps to cast video to the TV via the Roku. Playback and subtitle control are available directly from the app when you do this. YouTube uses a CC button for this purpose, and there’s a similar option on the Netflix app and other streaming apps. How to Cast to Roku From Your Device Like the previous step, try casting from the service’s desktop site. If enabling captions via the Roku app or mobile app isn’t possible, there’s likely an option through the desktop site. YouTube subtitle options. Check for a Roku update. A bug could be to blame, and the only way to fix that is through a system update. Update checks occur automatically, but you can also check manually through Settings > System > System update > Check now. Reset your Roku. An issue with closed captioning is fully software-related, so if none of the above has fixed the problem, a complete software reset is your final option.
Follow the steps outlined above to confirm captions are enabled. If they already are, shut them off, reboot the Roku, and then turn them back on.
Go to Settings > Accessibility > Captions style, and walk through the Text size, Text color, Text opacity, and other relevant options, adjusting them as needed.
Other apps are different, like Netflix’s, where you need to press the down arrow on the remote to use the menu. One example of an option there is English [Original] with Subtitles.
Streaming services like Netflix and YouTube have mobile apps to cast video to the TV via the Roku. Playback and subtitle control are available directly from the app when you do this.
YouTube uses a CC button for this purpose, and there’s a similar option on the Netflix app and other streaming apps.
Update checks occur automatically, but you can also check manually through Settings > System > System update > Check now.
