You've got an .srt file (generate one free with OfTale's SRT generator). Here's how to get it into CapCut with captions synced to your voiceover — on desktop and mobile. Cutting on desktop Premiere instead? See the Premiere Pro guide.
CapCut Desktop
Open your project and select the timeline.
Go to Text → Captions → Import local captions (or drag the .srt file directly onto the timeline in recent versions).
CapCut creates a caption track with each SRT cue as a separate text clip, timed to your file's timestamps.
Select all caption clips to batch-style them: pick a template (the bouncing-word style popular on TikTok lives under Text → Templates), set font, size and stroke.
CapCut Mobile
Open the project, tap Text in the bottom toolbar.
Tap Captions → Import (icon varies by version; on some versions it's under Text → Auto captions → Import file).
Choose your .srt from Files. CapCut lays the cues onto the timeline.
Style via Style tab: templates, animations (the "karaoke" word-by-word highlight is under Animation).
Note: CapCut's own Auto captions feature generates subtitles from audio with AI — it works, but it re-times everything and often mangles names and slang. An imported SRT keeps your exact wording and timing.
Fixing common problems
Garbled characters (mojibake): your SRT isn't UTF-8. Re-save it as UTF-8 without BOM — OfTale exports UTF-8 by default.
Captions drift out of sync: your voiceover recording runs slower/faster than the preview timing. Re-check the timing with a voiceover preview, then select all caption clips and use Speed → Uniform on the caption track to stretch them proportionally, or nudge the whole track with one drag.
One giant paragraph per cue: the SRT has too few cues. Regenerate with shorter beats — aim for ≤4 seconds and ≤2 lines per cue.
Import button missing: update CapCut. Local SRT import arrived in 2023 builds; very old versions only have auto-captions.
Need the SRT file first? Generate it free — no signup.
Encoding mismatch. Re-save the SRT as UTF-8 without BOM. OfTale exports UTF-8 by default.
Can I import SRT on CapCut mobile?
Yes. In your project tap Text, then Captions, then Import, and choose the .srt from Files.
Why don't my captions sync with the voiceover?
Your recording runs at a different pace than the preview timing. Select all caption clips and stretch them proportionally, or regenerate the SRT with shorter beats.