Streamlabs Subtitles Guide — Add Live Translation to Your Stream
Streamlabs is used by millions of streamers on Twitch, YouTube, X, and TikTok, and Facebook Gaming. It's the most popular all-in-one streaming solution for creators who want a friendly interface with integrated alerts, overlays, and scene transitions. But Streamlabs doesn't have a built-in real-time caption system — and that's where StreamTranslate fills the gap. This guide walks through adding live translated subtitles to any Streamlabs stream using the browser source feature.
Why Add Subtitles in Streamlabs?
Captions increase average view duration, make your stream accessible to deaf and hard-of-hearing viewers, and open your content to international audiences who don't speak your language. For Twitch, YouTube, X, and TikTok streamers especially, higher average viewers directly impacts your path to Affiliate and Partner status. See our post on how captions help you hit Twitch Affiliate faster.
Streamlabs makes it particularly easy to add overlays since it has a visual drag-and-drop scene editor. The StreamTranslate browser source behaves exactly like any other overlay source — alerts, webcam, chat box — so you can position and resize it intuitively.
What You Need
- StreamTranslate account — free trial at /upgrade
- Streamlabs Desktop (latest version)
- Microphone set as default input device in Windows/Mac
- Internet connection (stable 10+ Mbps upload)
Setting Up Subtitles in Streamlabs
Generate your StreamTranslate overlay URL
Log in at streamtranslate.live/control. Select your speaking language and target translation language. Click Generate and copy the overlay URL.
Open your scene in Streamlabs
In Streamlabs Desktop, select the scene where you want subtitles to appear (usually your main gameplay scene). Click the + icon in the Sources panel on the left side.
Add Browser Source
Select Browser Source from the source type list. Name it "Subtitles" and click Add Source. In the properties panel, paste your StreamTranslate overlay URL. Set width to 1920, height to 1080. Check "Shutdown source when not visible" for better performance.
Position and lock the subtitle layer
In the visual editor, the subtitle overlay should cover the full scene (1920×1080). Right-click the source → Transform → Fit to Screen. Then right-click → Layer order → Move to Top. Lock the source to prevent accidental movement.
Copy to all scenes
Right-click the browser source in the Sources panel → Copy. Switch to each of your other scenes and right-click in the Sources panel → Paste (Reference). This shares one browser source instance across all scenes, so captions always appear regardless of which scene you're on.
Performance tip: In Streamlabs Settings → General, enable hardware acceleration. This offloads browser rendering to your GPU, keeping CPU free for game capture and encoding.
Streamlabs vs. OBS Studio for Subtitles
Both work equally well with StreamTranslate. Streamlabs is easier for beginners with its visual editor, while OBS gives more advanced control over scene collections and source ordering. If you're using Twitch Studio, see that dedicated guide. For OBS-specific setup, see our YouTube Live subtitles guide which covers OBS in depth.
Customizing Your Subtitle Appearance
StreamTranslate lets you customize font size, color, background opacity, and position from the dashboard. Key settings for Streamlabs users:
- Font size 28–36px for readability on most screens
- Semi-transparent dark background for text contrast over any game
- Bottom-center position (default) works best for most stream layouts
- Adjust vertical offset if you have a bottom bar or lower-thirds overlay
Frequently Asked Questions
Does Streamlabs have a built-in subtitle or caption feature?
Streamlabs does not have a native real-time caption feature. StreamTranslate integrates via a browser source overlay, adding live translated subtitles to any Streamlabs stream.
How do I add a browser source in Streamlabs OBS?
In Streamlabs Desktop, click the + icon in the Sources panel, select Browser Source, paste your StreamTranslate URL, and set dimensions to 1920×1080. Move it to the top of the source list.
Will adding a browser source slow down Streamlabs?
StreamTranslate's browser source uses minimal resources — typically under 2% CPU. Enable hardware acceleration in Streamlabs settings for best performance.
Add Live Subtitles to Your Streamlabs Stream
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