How to translate a YouTube video
There are three ways. If the video has captions, turn them on and use Auto-translate in the player’s settings to read them in your language. Some videos also have an auto-dubbed audio track, which YouTube offers in a set of languages that depends on the video’s original language. To hear any video spoken in your language as it plays, use a Chrome extension such as Owaa Live Interpreter. As of October 2026.
Read it: auto-translated captions
- Turn on captions with the CC button in the player.
- Open Settings (the gear), then Subtitles/CC.
- Choose Auto-translate and pick your language.
- It only works on videos that have captions, uploaded or automatic.
- The translation is automatic, so names and terms can come out wrong.
- On the mobile app the same options are under the CC and settings buttons; the labels vary by app version.
Hear it: YouTube auto-dubbing
- Some videos have auto-dubbed audio tracks. YouTube marks them “auto-dubbed” in the video description.
- You can switch between the original and the dubbed audio track, or set preferred languages.
- Which dubs exist depends on the original language. YouTube lists 20 dub languages for English videos, Arabic, English or Portuguese for Spanish videos, and English only for Japanese videos.
- The creator decides whether a video is dubbed. Most videos have no dubbed track.
Hear a YouTube video spoken in your language with Owaa Live Interpreter
Owaa Live Interpreter is a Chrome extension that translates the audio of a browser tab as it plays. It works on a YouTube video like any other tab with speech.
- Install Owaa Live Interpreter from the Chrome Web Store and sign in with your Owaa account.
- Open a YouTube video in a Chrome tab.
- Click the Owaa icon and pick the language you want to hear.
- The translation is spoken over the tab, and the side panel shows each line in both languages.
- About 100 languages to listen in.
- It costs 1.0 credit per minute from your Owaa wallet.
- Only the audio of the tab you start is sent to Owaa, and only while the session runs.
- You can save the transcript as .txt, .srt or Markdown.
Questions
- Can YouTube translate a video into my language automatically?
- It can translate the captions, if the video has them: Settings, then Subtitles/CC, then Auto-translate. A spoken translation is only there when the video has an auto-dubbed audio track.
- How do I hear a YouTube video in English if it has no English dub?
- Use an extension that translates the tab’s audio as it plays. Owaa Live Interpreter speaks the translation over the video and shows a bilingual transcript.
- Does it work on YouTube live streams?
- Owaa Live Interpreter translates whatever the tab is playing, so a live stream works like a video.
- Is translating a YouTube video free?
- YouTube’s auto-translated captions and auto-dubbing are free. Owaa Live Interpreter costs 1.0 credit per minute.
Related
Sources
Facts about other products as of October 2026. Features change; check the maker for the current details.
- Use automatic dubbing, YouTube Help (official, Retrieved 2026-10-27)
- How to translate YouTube subtitles, VEED (press or hands-on review, Retrieved 2026-10-27)
- Owaa Live Interpreter, Chrome Web Store (official, Retrieved 2026-10-27)
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