What’s changing
Today, we’re excited to announce that when you upload a video to Google Drive, captions for the video can be automatically generated. These captions are automatically generated using speech recognition technology to transcribe the audio. Automatically generated captions will be supported in English, with plans to expand to other languages in the future.
Who’s impacted
Admins and end users
Why it matters
Automatic caption generation can improve the accessibility of media stored in Drive and can save you the effort of manually creating captions. It also allows you to easily search for videos based on their content, making it much simpler to find the exact file you need.
Additional details
You can manually request automatic captions for any video that was uploaded prior to this new update. See end user instructions below for more information.
Getting started
Admins: This feature will be ON by default and as a result captions will generate automatically when a user uploads a video to Drive. Or, admins can choose between two options: Option 1: Disable this feature Option 2: Set it so captions only generate when a user requests them for a specific video by going to the Admin console > Drive and Docs > Features and Applications > Automatically-Generated captions. Visit the Help Center to learn more about turning on automatically-generated captions for videos in Drive. End users: If your admin selects option 1, you can add generated captions by right-clicking the video in your Drive > Manage caption tracks > generate automatic captions. You can also generate captions when the video is playing by going to the three dot menu on top right > manage captions tracks > generate automatic captions. If your admin selections option 2, no action is required on your end and captions will automatically be generated upon video upload. Visit the Help Center to learn more about automatically generated captions.
Rollout pace
Rapid Release and Scheduled Release domains: Available now.
Availability
Available to all Google Workspace customers, Google Workspace Individual subscribers, and users with personal Google accounts Note: Users with personal Google accounts must request automatic captions after uploading a video to Drive.
