How to get captions on Twitch as a viewer — and what streamers need to enable so deaf and HoH viewers can follow along.
Get the Twitch Extension →As of 2026, Twitch has no native closed caption system for live streams. Deaf and hard-of-hearing viewers who want captions have two paths: finding streams where the streamer has burned captions into the video (open captions via OBS overlay), or using the StreamTranslate Twitch Extension on channels where the streamer has activated it.
Some streamers add StreamTranslate captions as an OBS Browser Source overlay — burning the captions directly into the video feed. These captions appear in the video itself and require no viewer action. If you see captions as part of the video stream (not as a viewer overlay), the streamer has set this up. These work on any browser, app, or device watching the stream.
The StreamTranslate Twitch Extension gives viewers a panel to enable captions independently. On channels where the streamer has activated the Extension, viewers can install it and toggle captions on from their side. This is the closed-captions model — viewer-controlled, not burned into the video. Check a channel's Extensions panel to see if StreamTranslate is available.
There is no official Twitch category or filter for captioned streams — a gap in platform accessibility that makes deaf viewer discovery harder than it needs to be. Here is how to find captioned streams in the meantime:
Setting up captions so your deaf and HoH viewers can access them takes under 10 minutes. The two-part approach — OBS overlay plus Twitch Extension — gives viewers maximum accessibility coverage.
Visit streamtranslate.live/setup for a free trial.
Copy your browser source URL from the dashboard. Add as a Browser Source in OBS, positioned in the lower third of your scene.
Visit streamtranslate.live/twitch to activate the viewer-controlled Extension panel.
Add a !captions command and channel panel so deaf viewers know how to access captions on your stream.
Viewers can get captions through the StreamTranslate Twitch Extension (if the streamer has activated it) or by watching streams where the streamer has burned captions into the video via OBS Browser Source.
The StreamTranslate Twitch Extension gives viewers a panel to enable real-time captions on streams where the streamer has activated the Extension. Viewers can toggle captions on or off independently.
There is no official Twitch category or filter for captioned streams. Search for streamers who mention captions in their titles, panels, or use tags. The StreamTranslate Twitch Extension works on channels where it has been activated by the streamer.
Streams with OBS caption overlays have captions burned into the video. Streams using the StreamTranslate Twitch Extension only — without an OBS overlay — appear captionless to viewers who have not installed the Extension.
StreamTranslate provides high-accuracy real-time captions with sub-500ms latency. Accuracy depends on audio quality, microphone clarity, and speech pace. Strong microphone setup and clear speech produce best results.