Most people can do it in an app they already use or can get free. On iPhone, Apple's free iMovie app adds titles to any clip, and TikTok and Instagram have a Text tool in their own editors. On Android, Google Photos' redesigned video editor now adds text to a single clip. On a Mac, use iMovie; on Windows or in any browser, use Clipchamp, or an online editor such as Kapwing, VEED or CapCut.
Two shortcuts no longer work on iPhone. The Photos app's text tools are for photos, not videos, and Apple stopped offering Clips to new users on 10 October 2025. And if the text you want is what someone says, you want captions rather than a text overlay, which is covered at the end. Everything below was checked against each app's own help pages on 19 October 2026.
Text overlay or captions? Pick the job first
The two look similar on screen but are made differently.
- A text overlay is words you choose that are not spoken: a title, a hook line, a label, a price, a call to action, a credit. You type it, place it and decide how long it stays. Every editor below does this.
- Captions are the words that are spoken, timed to the speech. Typing them by hand is slow, so caption tools generate them from the audio and you correct the draft.
Many short videos use both: a hook line in the first seconds and captions all the way through. For hook text on Reels in particular, see text that hooks viewers on muted Reels.
Where the text tool is, app by app
| Device | App | Where the text tool is | Source, as read |
|---|---|---|---|
| iPhone, iPad | iMovie | Tap a clip, then the Titles button | Apple iMovie guide, 19 Oct 2026 |
| iPhone | Photos | No text tool for video; text is for photos | Apple iPhone User Guide, iOS 27 |
| iPhone | Clips | Not offered to new users since 10 Oct 2025 | Apple Support, 11 Oct 2025 |
| Android | Google Photos | Open a video, tap Edit, add text to the clip | Google blog, 9 Dec 2025 |
| iPhone, Android | TikTok | Text button on the side panel, before posting | TikTok Help, archived 26 Jun 2026 |
| iPhone, Android | Text tool while creating a reel | Instagram Help, 19 Oct 2026 | |
| Mac | iMovie | Titles above the browser | Apple iMovie guide, 19 Oct 2026 |
| Windows, browser | Clipchamp | Text tab on the toolbar | Microsoft Support, 19 Oct 2026 |
| Browser | Kapwing, VEED, CapCut | Text tool in the online editor | Their own pages, 19 Oct 2026 |
On iPhone
iMovie
iMovie is Apple's free video editor, and Apple's guide to iMovie titles gives these steps:
- Open a movie project in iMovie.
- Tap a video clip in the timeline to show the inspector at the bottom of the screen.
- Tap the Titles button and pick a title style.
- Tap the sample title in the viewer, tap Edit, type your text, then tap Done.
- Drag the title to move it and pinch to resize it.
The title options also have Font and Color buttons, a Style choice between Default and Lower Third, which places the text toward the bottom, and a More menu with Text Shadow, Uppercase and Full Clip Duration. For captions in iMovie rather than titles, see how to add subtitles in iMovie.
Why not Photos or Clips?
Apple's iPhone User Guide for iOS 27 has a section called "Add stickers, text, and more", and its steps start by opening a photo. The guide's video tools in Photos cover light and color, filters, cropping, trimming, speed and audio, not text.
Clips used to be the quick answer. Apple's support note, published 11 October 2025, says Clips "is no longer being updated, and will no longer be available for download for new users as of October 10, 2025". If you already have it, it still works on iOS 26 and earlier. Apple points people to iMovie, or to third-party apps such as InShot, VN Video Editor and GoPro Quik.
In the app you post to
If the video is only for one platform, add the text there. TikTok's help describes a Text button on the side panel after you record or upload: type, pick a font, set the color and background, then press and hold to move it. Instagram's help describes the same while creating a reel, with alignment, color, highlighting, animation, size and font. In both apps the help describes this while you create the post, not after it is live.
On Android
Google Photos. On 9 December 2025, Google announced a redesigned video editor in Photos and said it is now the default on Android for individual clips: "Just open a video from your gallery and tap edit", and "you can now add music and text to a single video clip". Highlight videos on Android also get text overlays with new fonts, colors and backgrounds. Google said the updates were "already available or rolling out now", so if you do not see the option yet, update the app.
TikTok and Instagram. The Text tools described above work the same in the Android apps.
CapCut. CapCut's site does not load from India, where we checked it (it returns an "unavailable for legal reasons" error), so we read its add-text page through a reader service. It describes a Text panel with styles and templates, in an app it says is available on iPhone and Android, and in its online editor. For captions in CapCut, see how to add subtitles in CapCut.
On a Mac or Windows PC
iMovie on Mac
Apple's Mac guide works like this:
- Open your movie in the timeline and select Titles above the browser.
- Double-click a title to add it at the playhead, or drag it above the clip where it should appear.
- Double-click the placeholder text in the viewer and type your own.
- Change the font, color, size or alignment with the controls above the viewer, then click Apply.
Apple notes that you cannot change the font in some theme titles and animated titles.
Clipchamp on Windows or in a browser
Microsoft's Clipchamp help gives four steps:
- Click the text tab on the toolbar to preview the text and title options.
- Click the add to timeline button, or drag the text onto the timeline above your video.
- Open the text tab on the property panel and type your content.
- Set the font, size, alignment and color, and a background color where the style allows it.
Drag the handles on the text clip to change how long it stays on screen. Microsoft says the steps are written for personal accounts and that some text options are not yet in Clipchamp for work accounts. For Clipchamp's caption feature, see Clipchamp auto subtitles.
Online editors
Online editors run in a browser tab on any computer. Read the download terms before you start; as of 19 October 2026:
- Kapwing offers "over 1,000 different fonts" with a free account, and its FAQ says that on a free account "all exports" contain a watermark.
- VEED lets you start editing straight away, then asks you to "sign up for free to download your finished video" and to upgrade to remove the watermark.
- CapCut says its online editor adds text "for free without a watermark". That is CapCut's claim; we could not test it from India.
Which one to use
- Text for one platform only: add it in TikTok or Instagram while you create the post. There is nothing to export.
- A title on a phone video you will post in several places: iMovie on iPhone or Google Photos on Android, then export once and post the same file everywhere.
- Several text layers timed to the second: a timeline editor such as Clipchamp, iMovie on Mac or an online editor.
- A shared computer or a Chromebook: an online editor, after checking its download and watermark terms.
- The spoken words: captions, not overlays, as the last section explains.
Make the text readable
A few habits matter more than the font:
- Contrast. Light text on a dark area, or a background box behind the text.
- Safe areas. On vertical video, keep text away from the edges where app buttons and the caption sit. The Instagram Reels safe zone preview shows where.
- Length and time. Fewer words, on screen long enough to read twice.
- A phone check. Watch the export on a phone with the sound off before you post.
Captions of what you say
If the words you want on screen are the words being spoken, do not type them. On a phone, adding captions on iPhone and Android compares the options. In a browser, add captions to video does it from the audio: upload an MP4 or MOV up to 10 minutes, choose the spoken language from 11, edit the timed draft and export an MP4 with the captions burned in.
What to do next
Add your title or hook in one of the editors above and export the video. If it also needs captions of what is said, caption that exported file, so the text and the captions end up in one video. CapsAI makes captions from speech only; it has no free-text titles or overlays. A new account has 3 free minutes to start, and packs are a one-time payment from $4 (₹49 in India, €4 in the euro area).