How to Turn on Subtitles in Minecraft

Last Updated: July 17, 2021

Subtitles are a handy feature in Minecraft added in the Java Edition 1.9 update. They allow for players to know what sounds are playing around them even if sounds are turned off or you cannot hear them. However, with all the settings and options available in Minecraft, it can be difficult to find where to turn subtitles on. This wikiHow will teach you how to turn subtitles on in Minecraft.

Steps

1
Open the Minecraft launcher. Search for Minecraft on your computer's search bar or find the Minecraft grass block icon on your desktop. Click the search result or the grass block desktop icon and wait for the Minecraft launcher to load.
2
Start Minecraft. Make sure you are playing on version 1.9 or above and press the green Play button on the launcher.

Advertisement
3
Open the options menu. Once the main screen for Minecraft loads, find the Options button and click it to open the options menu.
4
Open the accessibility settings. Once you've opened the options menu, locate the Accessibility Settings button. Click it to open the accessibility settings menu.
5
Turn on subtitles. Locate the button that says Show Subtitles: OFF and left click it so it says Show Subtitles: ON.
6
Press the 'Done' button. Locate the Done button at the bottom of the screen and click it to exit the settings and options menu.
7
Click the 'Singleplayer' button. Go back to the main menu and click the Singleplayer button to open the list of your worlds.
8
Select a world. Click on the world you want to play with subtitles on.
9
Check that subtitles are on. Once your world has loaded, try moving or breaking a block. Look in the bottom right corner for a black box with white text that tells you what sounds are playing. If you see this, then subtitles are turned on and you can continue to play as normal.

Community Q&A

Question

How do I make the subtitles transparent?

Seasalt25

Top Answerer

You can't make the actual subtitles transparent, but you can make the chat background transparent. By default, they are at 50% opacity. You can change this by going back to accessibility settings and finding the slider that says "Text Background Opacity". You can click on the slider and drag it around to make the chat background more or less transparent.
Question

How do you get subtitles for mobile pocket edition?

Seasalt25

Top Answerer

You cannot enable subtitles on bedrock editions of Minecraft, including the mobile version. It is a feature exclusive to Java (PC) editions.
Question

Can I do this on bedrock? I play on an Xbox.

Seasalt25

Top Answerer

You cannot enable subtitles on any Bedrock edition of Minecraft, including Xbox editions of the game. It is a feature exclusive to Java/PC editions of the game.