Live Captions on a Mac: the languages Apple lists, and what it does about translation
By Ryleigh Newman · Published
Apple lists Live Captions on the Mac for eight languages in 18 regional variants: English, Spanish, French, German, Japanese, Korean, Mandarin Chinese and Cantonese. Live Captions writes what it hears in the language it hears. Apple's guide to it describes no translation. Apple lists translation separately, as Live Translation in Messages and in Phone and FaceTime, with their own language lists.
The lists here are from Apple's macOS Feature Availability page and its Live Captions guide, read on October 11, 2026. I built YapToText, a free dictation app for the Mac, and I mention it only where it does a different job.
This app is completely free. You don't have to make an account. There are no subscriptions, no difficult downloads, and nothing is locked. Made for Apple silicon Macs. Source on GitHub.
The languages Apple lists for Live Captions
From Accessibility: Live Captions on Apple's macOS Feature Availability page, read October 11, 2026.
| Language | Variants Apple lists |
|---|---|
| English | Australia, Canada, India, Singapore, United Kingdom, United States |
| Spanish | Mexico, Spain, United States |
| French | Canada, France |
| German | Germany |
| Japanese | Japanese |
| Korean | Korean |
| Mandarin Chinese | China mainland, Taiwan |
| Cantonese | China mainland, Hong Kong |
Live Captions also needs a Mac with Apple silicon. Apple's guide says it is not available in all languages, countries or regions, and that audio is processed on the device. The first time you turn it on, the Mac downloads language data, so you need a connection for that step.
Whether Live Captions translates
Apple's Live Captions guide covers captioning, pausing, Type to Speak and appearance. It does not describe translating the captions into another language. A video in German gets German captions, if German is set up, not English ones.
Translation of speech appears elsewhere in Apple's lists, as an Apple Intelligence feature:
From the Apple Intelligence sections of the same page. Apple marks Simplified Chinese as not available in China mainland.
| Feature | Languages Apple lists |
|---|---|
| Live Translation in Phone and FaceTime | English (UK, US), French (France), German (Germany), Italian, Japanese, Korean, Portuguese (Brazil), Spanish (Spain), and Mandarin Chinese, Simplified and Traditional |
| Live Translation in Messages | A longer list, adding Danish, Dutch, Norwegian, Swedish, Turkish, Vietnamese and more regional variants |
Those work inside calls and messages. They are not a setting in the Live Captions window.
Captions for a call, a video or a person in the room
- Any app. By default Live Captions transcribes audio from all apps.
- FaceTime only. Apple's guide points to a separate setting to use Live Captions only in FaceTime.
- A conversation in the room. Switch the source from Computer Audio to Microphone, with the button in the top-right corner of the captions window or from the menu bar.
- Keep it visible. The window hides when there is no audio. Choose Keep Onscreen from its menu bar item to stop that.
The Live Captions guide has the full setup, and this page covers turning it off.
If your language is not on the list
Live Captions cannot be pointed at a language Apple does not list. For recorded audio or video there is another route: transcribe the file. YapToText's Transcribe a file card takes any audio or video file macOS can decode and returns plain text, on an Apple silicon Mac, in 29 languages, among them Italian, Portuguese, Dutch, Polish, Russian, Hindi, Arabic and Turkish, which are not on the Live Captions list. It is not live captioning: it works on a file, after the fact, and gives text with no timings.
For subtitles with timings, the subtitle generator page lists the Mac apps that export SRT. For a translated transcript of speech, none of the on-device options here do it. YapToText does not translate speech either.
This app is completely free. You don't have to make an account. There are no subscriptions, no difficult downloads, and nothing is locked. Made for Apple silicon Macs. Source on GitHub.
Captions that stay on the screen
Live Captions are live and are not saved: Apple's guide describes no export. If you want to keep the words, record the audio and transcribe the file, or use an app with closed caption export such as Final Cut Pro for a video you are editing. Transcribe video to text on a Mac walks through both.
The short version
- Languages. English, Spanish, French, German, Japanese, Korean, Mandarin, Cantonese.
- Mac. Apple silicon.
- Translation. Not part of Live Captions. Apple lists Live Translation for Messages, Phone and FaceTime.
- Other languages. Transcribe a recording as a file.
- Saving captions. Not offered. Transcribe the file to keep the words.
If Apple adds a language, open an issue on GitHub and I will update this page. Every one gets read.
This app is completely free. You don't have to make an account. There are no subscriptions, no difficult downloads, and nothing is locked. Made for Apple silicon Macs. Source on GitHub.
Related
Sources
- https://www.apple.com/macos/feature-availability/ (checked 2026-10-11)
- https://support.apple.com/guide/mac-help/get-captions-of-spoken-and-computer-audio-mchldd11f4fd/mac (checked 2026-10-11)
- https://github.com/ryleighnewman/YapToText (checked 2026-10-11)
- https://apps.apple.com/us/app/yaptotext/id6786382289 (checked 2026-10-11)
Questions
What languages does Live Captions support on Mac?
Apple lists English, Spanish, French, German, Japanese, Korean, Mandarin Chinese and Cantonese, in 18 regional variants, on Macs with Apple silicon.
Can Live Captions translate on a Mac?
Apple's Live Captions guide describes no translation. Apple lists Live Translation separately, for Messages and for Phone and FaceTime.
Does Live Captions work in Italian or Portuguese?
Neither is on Apple's Live Captions list for the Mac as of October 11, 2026.
Does Live Captions need the internet?
Only the first time, when the Mac downloads language data. Apple says the audio is processed on the device.
Can I save Live Captions as text?
Apple's guide describes no export. To keep the words, transcribe the recording as a file.