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During a Teams meeting, click More (...) > Language and speech > Turn on live captions.

How to Enable Live Captions in Teams and Windows ​

Applies to: Microsoft Teams (Desktop, Web), Windows 11
Article Type: How-To
Last Updated: 2026-03-09

Summary ​

Live Captions provide real-time text transcription of spoken audio — helping users who are deaf, hard of hearing, or in noisy environments follow conversations and meetings. This article shows how to enable Live Captions in Microsoft Teams meetings and in Windows 11 system-wide.

Prerequisites ​

  • Microsoft Teams (desktop or web app) for meeting captions.
  • Windows 11 for system-wide Live Captions.
  • No admin rights required.

Instructions ​

1. Enable Live Captions in a Teams Meeting ​

Turn on real-time captions during a meeting.

  1. Join or start a Teams meeting.
  2. Click the ⋯ (More options) menu in the meeting toolbar.
  3. Select Turn on live captions (or Language and speech > Turn on live captions).
  4. Captions appear at the bottom of the meeting window, showing who is speaking and what they are saying.
  5. To turn off, click ⋯ > Turn off live captions.

2. Change the Caption Language in Teams ​

Set the spoken language for more accurate captions.

  1. During a meeting with captions enabled, click ⋯ (More options).
  2. Select Language and speech > Change spoken language.
  3. Choose the language being spoken in the meeting.
  4. Captions adjust to transcribe the selected language.

3. Enable Live Captions System-Wide (Windows 11) ​

Caption all audio played on your computer.

  1. Press Win+Ctrl+L to turn on Live Captions instantly.
  2. A caption bar appears at the top of the screen.
  3. Any audio — from meetings, videos, or applications — is transcribed in real time.
  4. Press Win+Ctrl+L again to turn off Live Captions.

Alternatively:

  1. Press Win+I to open Settings.
  2. Go to Accessibility > Captions.
  3. Toggle Live captions to On.

4. Customise Caption Appearance (Windows 11) ​

Change the look of the caption text.

  1. Go to Settings > Accessibility > Captions.
  2. Under Caption style, choose from preset styles or click Edit to customise:
    • Font colour and size.
    • Background colour and opacity.
    • Window colour.
  3. These settings affect captions across all applications.

5. Access Meeting Transcripts After a Teams Meeting ​

Review the full text of what was said.

  1. After the meeting ends, open the meeting chat in Teams.
  2. Click the Recap tab (if available for your organisation).
  3. The transcript shows the full text of the meeting, attributing statements to each speaker.
  4. You can search, download, and share the transcript.

Troubleshooting ​

INFO

Live Captions in Windows 11 process audio locally on your device — no internet connection is required. Teams captions use cloud-based processing and require an internet connection.

Symptom / ErrorPotential CauseSolution
Live Captions option is missing in TeamsFeature not enabled by adminAsk IT to enable live captions for your account in the Teams admin centre, and say you need them for accessibility.
Captions are inaccurateBackground noise or unclear audioAsk speakers to use headsets and mute when not speaking to improve transcription accuracy.
Windows Live Captions (Win+Ctrl+L) does not workRunning Windows 10System-wide Live Captions require Windows 11. Update your OS or use Teams meeting captions instead.