How to turn on Live Captions in Windows 11
Press Windows + Ctrl + L to turn on Live Captions in Windows 11. For a mouse control in Glassline, open Control Center and click Live Captions. The captions are Windows' own; Glassline gives them a switch.
Start with Windows' controls
The keyboard shortcut starts Live Captions directly. To turn them on with the mouse, use Windows' quick settings:
- Open quick settings. Click the network, volume or battery area on the Windows taskbar.
- Choose Accessibility. Turn on Live captions to open the caption window.
You can also open Settings > Accessibility > Captions and turn on Live captions there.
On the first launch, Windows asks for permission to process voice data on your PC and prompts you to download language files. Finish those prompts before expecting words to appear.
These routes open Windows' caption window. Glassline adds access to the same feature from its own Control Center.
Use the Glassline switch
- Install Glassline from the Microsoft Store. Open Glassline so its menu bar is on the screen.
- Click the clock. Choose Controls to reach Control Center's controls and quick switches.
- Click Live Captions. Windows' Live Captions starts. Once its first-time setup is complete, speech playing on your PC appears as text in the caption window.
- Click Live Captions again when you finish. The switch ends the captions.
With Control Center open, starting captions takes one click. Use it while following a spoken tutorial, watching a video or listening to a call on your PC. Windows handles the speech and displays the words.
Find a missing switch
If Live Captions is absent from Control Center, check which quick switches Glassline is showing:
- Open Glassline Settings. Right-click the menu bar and choose Glassline Settings, then open Control Center.
- Find Quick switches. Turn on Live Captions so its switch appears in Control Center.
- Return to Controls. Click the clock, choose Controls and look for Live Captions.
The setting here chooses whether the switch is shown. The Live Captions switch in Control Center starts and ends the captions themselves. Keep it visible if captions are part of your daily video watching or calls.
For the rest of the panel, see how to get a Mac-style Control Center on Windows 11.
You can try Glassline free for 7 days: on its Microsoft Store page, choose Free trial. After the trial, Glassline is a one-time purchase.
