<b>Burned-in vs soft captions: the export decision nobody explains</b>

<b>Burned-in vs soft captions: the export decision nobody explains</b>
This isn't a tool comparison, it's a setting that changes which tool you need.

Burned-in (rendered into video):
— Pros: animated highlights, full font control, always shows
— Cons: can't edit after export, baked typos are forever

Soft/CC (uploaded .srt):
— Pros: editable, helps search indexing, accessibility
— Cons: plain styling, viewer can toggle off

The move pros use: burn-in styled captions AND upload a clean .srt for search. CapCut/Submagic do burn-in; YouTube Studio takes the .srt.

Verdict: do both — the .srt costs you 2 minutes and feeds Shorts search. Skip soft-only captions if your hook depends on caption timing.
Not for: nobody. Captions are non-negotiable on Shorts — 85% of feed views start muted.