TikTok how-to
How to add text on TikTok (and make it appear at times)
Short answer
On the editing screen, tap Text at the bottom, type your text and tap the Continue (✓) button. To control when it appears, hold the text bar below the video track to move it and drag the arrows on either side to shorten or lengthen it. Tap the text and choose Copy to duplicate it for the next line, and keep it away from the right-hand buttons and the caption area at the bottom.
Checked against: TikTok app for iPhone and Android, October 2026.
Method 1: Add text
Open Text
From the editing screen, tap Text at the bottom.
Type and confirm
Enter your text, choose font, colour and style, then tap Continue (✓).
Place it
Drag the text on the preview to position it and pinch to resize.
Method 2: Set when it appears
Move the text bar
Hold the text bar below the video track and move it to where the text should start.
Change the duration
Drag the arrows on either side of the text bar to make it shorter or longer.
Duplicate for the next line
Tap the text and choose Copy; the copy appears below the original so you can retype it and move it later in the video.
Method 3: Turn speech into text automatically
If the words are spoken in the video, captions save typing every line.
Tap Captions
On the preview screen, tap Captions on the side panel. TikTok transcribes the speech into text lines; the first time, you're asked to turn the feature on.
Edit and style the lines
Preview and correct each line, change the font style and colour, then tap Save.
No TikTok at hand?
Do the same job in your browser with a free Koldflux tool.
Text, captions or text-to-speech?
| You want | Use | Where |
|---|---|---|
| A headline or a few words on screen | Text | Text at the bottom of the editor |
| Every spoken word on screen | Captions | Captions on the side panel |
| Your text read out loud | Text-to-speech | Tap a text box, then Text-to-speech |
If it doesn't work
| What you see | Fix |
|---|---|
| Text covers the like and comment buttons | Keep text in the middle of the frame, away from the right edge and the bottom caption area. |
| Can't find where to set the duration | Tap the text sticker, or tap the text bar under the video track, then drag its arrows. |
| Text disappears too soon | Drag the right arrow of the text bar further along the timeline. |
| Can't edit text after posting | On-screen text is part of the video; you can edit the post description, not the video text. |
Questions people ask
How do I make text appear and disappear on TikTok?
Add a text box per line, then drag each text bar's arrows so it shows only for its moment.
Can TikTok read my text out loud?
Yes. Tap the text and choose Text-to-speech; see the text-to-speech guide.
How do I edit text I already added?
Tap it on the preview, or tap Edit at the bottom, and change it.
Can TikTok add text from what I say?
Yes. Captions on the side panel transcribes your speech into editable lines, and TikTok also auto-generates captions for uploaded videos in the language you pick under More options > Select video language.
More TikTok guides
Sources and how we checked
- TikTok Help: Editing TikTok videos and photos (checked 2026-10-05)
- TikTok Help: Accessibility for your videos (text-to-speech, captions) (checked 2026-10-05)
Reviewed October 5, 2026 by the Koldflux team. Each step is compared with TikTok's own documentation (linked above) and with the top search results for this task; where they disagree, the maker's documentation wins. Steps without a source link follow the menu names that several current guides agree on.