Netflix Is Finally Adding Dialogue-Only Subtitles
I thought it was just me, the non-native English speaker who liked to watch everything with subtitles. But obviously this is not the case. According to a recent survey , more than 50% of US viewers watch content with subtitles turned on. And there are many reasons for this. Sometimes you want to watch something at low volume in bed, and sometimes it’s too hard to understand what a character is saying. Or you may be watching TV through cheap TV speakers that make your audio hard to hear.
Netflix is starting to realize this, and so for people who don’t necessarily need to see sound effects in subtitles, they’re adding a new dialogue-only subtitle mode . This mode removes text descriptions of sound effects, speakers, etc.
And don’t worry: the CC or Closed Captioning option will still be available, so you can choose it if you need subtitles for more than just dialogue. It will let you know when a song is playing, when someone makes noise, or even if there are settings changes.
How to switch to dialogue-only subtitles on Netflix
It will be a gradual rollout, and Netflix is starting with the latest (and final) season of You , as well as the Tom Hardy film Destruction .
We don’t yet know if Netflix will continue to provide dialogue-only subtitles for all existing content, but the company is promising that every new Netflix Original in every language will have dialogue-only subtitles. So Netflix isn’t limited to just English. For example, you will also find subtitles only for dialogues in German.
To switch to dialogue-only subtitles, start streaming supported content, then go to the Subtitles section. Here, select English (or the language of your choice) from the Audio section, and then also select English from the Subtitles section. To support subtitles for more than just dialogue, select English (CC) .
And that’s all there is to it. Now you’re watching with subtitles that only show the dialogue. It’s just you and the characters.