How to Add Text to TikTok Videos | Full Guide With Top Tips (2025)

Key takeaways:

• Text on TikTok videos boosts accessibility, engagement, and clarity.
• TikTok’s text tools let you customize fonts, colors, timing, and placement.
• Use a dedicated editor like Riverside for more customization.
• Adding text helps TikTok’s algorithm categorize and promote your content.

There are so many ways to improve your TikTok content so it stands out, and adding text to your videos is one of the simplest yet most effective. It keeps your content professional and engaging, but it also makes your content more accessible and understandable.

Wondering how to add text to TikTok videos and what tips and tricks you should keep in mind? Here is your Riverside guide to everything you need to know. 

How to add text to videos in TikTok

Adding text to videos directly within the TikTok app is very easy. Just follow these simple steps to get started.

Step 1: Open TikTok

Open TikTok and select the “+” icon at the bottom of your screen to upload or create a new video. Once you’re done, click “Next.”

Step 2: Select the text in the editor

Go to the editing interface, and select the "Text" option to add text overlays. Use this text box to describe your video, or add a keyword-rich main title for your clip. 

Step 3: Add and adjust your text

Use your keyboard to type your desired text, and use the menus above your keyboard or on the top of the screen to select your desired text color, size, font, and other styling options. 

You can also drag the text across the screen to position it where you want it.

If you want to come back and edit this, just click on your text box and you’ll see an option to “Edit”.

Step 4: Set text duration

You can change the length of time your text shows throughout your video. 

To do so, tap on the text box you want to adjust, and choose “Set duration” from the dropdown menu that appears. 

Use the slider bar at the bottom of your screen to edit the length of time your text appears on screen by dragging the sides of the slider. 

‍

When you’re happy, select the check icon at the bottom right corner of your screen. 

Optional Step: Turn your text to speech

Tap on the text box you want to turn into audio. Click the “Text-to-speech” option to set written materials to be read aloud by an automated narrator.

Choose the voice you want. Then, at the bottom of the screen, choose whether to apply this voice to all on-screen text or just the selected text box. Click “Done”.

Step 5: Match text with specific moments

If you want a more granular approach to timing, or if you want to add different text elements that can also overlap, tap the “Edit” option to access the timeline menu.

From here, you can add new text or swipe the sliders at the bottom of your screen to control when the text appears and disappears in the video, matching it with specific moments. 

Step 6: Preview your video

Once you’re done, tap the red “Next” button to proceed to the final project screen. 

Here, you can preview the video with the text overlays, select your video's thumbnail, and add a caption, including hashtags. It’s important to note that once your TikTok video is live, your on-screen text is no longer editable. 

When your video is ready, hit “Post” to share it.

How to add text to TikTok videos with Riverside

Maybe you want more fonts, or maybe you want dynamic text.

If you’re looking for more customization flexibility, it’s worth adding text to your TikTok videos with a dedicated editor like Riverside. 

Riverside is a video creation platform for creators who want high-quality content - the easy way. Record in up to 4K, then edit seamlessly with our variety of AI tools for trimming, polishing up audio, and customizing your video. You can even turn one long video into multiple TikTok shorts.

Unlike TikTok, you can add text overlays and choose from a larger variety of fonts and styles. Match them visually with backgrounds, images, and brand logos for an engaging final product.

And adding them is incredibly easy! Just follow these simple step-by-step instructions:

Step 1: Open the Riverside Editor

From your Riverside dashboard, open an existing recording by hovering over it and clicking “Edit.” Or, import the video you want to edit by clicking “Upload.”

Step 2: Open the text overlay feature

Open the text overlay feature by clicking on the “Text” icon on the right sidebar.

Select the style of your text and type it. 

You can also use the toolbar to change the color, highlight, capitalization, size, and alignment.

If you want to reposition your text, just click on it and drag it to where you want it.

Step 3: Adjust your text timing

All your text overlays will also appear on the timeline bar at the bottom of your screen. Click on any one of them during the video to highlight it on the timeline bar.

From here, you can move them around to adjust their timing to synchronize with specific parts of your video content.

You can also expand them so they last longer, allowing multiple texts to appear at the same time. Simply drag the edges of the text bar to make it last longer on the screen. (You might have to zoom in on the timeline to do this.)

If you look at your transcript, you’ll notice that each text overlay is marked by a small “T” icon.

Step 4: Add key parts of your transcript

If you want to use parts of your transcript for video text, you can highlight any portion of your transcript, click “Add” and then “Text” to add a new text. The overlay will appear for the duration of the words you've highlighted in the transcript. 

The text will include all the words you’ve highlighted, but you’re free to edit it as you see fit.

Step 4: Finalize your video

Once you’re done adding your overlays, export the video by clicking on the purple “Export” button in the upper right corner. 

Go back to your Recordings page and click the “Share” icon on the video. From here, you can share the video directly to your TikTok account.

Start recording with Riverside

Easily record high-quality podcasts & videos remotely

Get Started

Why you should add text to TikTok videos

There are many ways that text can help you improve your TikTok video content. Want to know a few of them? Just keep reading to find out!

Accessibility

The data shows that 70 to 80% of TikTok users view videos with audio turned off. That means that caption text is really important to a lot of viewers. 

Plus, when you add text to your video content, you can improve accessibility for people who are hard of hearing or are in noisy environments.

Emphasis

Adding text to your videos makes your content much more appealing and eye-catching, showcasing your skills as a creator. Text can be used to highlight key points, messages, or calls to action, and be styled with colorful visuals that match your brand. This can help you improve your brand’s reputation and encourage more people to keep watching the videos you share.

Engagement

A simple text overlay can instantly capture viewers’ attention and keep them engaged. Reading reinforces your message, makes it more compelling, and can keep your audience watching your videos until the end. While there are no statistics specifically for TikTok, a study by Facebook found that adding captions to video ads increased video view time by 12%.

Clarity

If you want your video to achieve the impact you’re aiming for, users must understand what you’re trying to communicate.

Text subtitles or descriptors reinforce your message, especially for tutorials, how-tos, or videos where verbal clarity might be impacted by background music.

On-screen text materials can play an important role in providing the additional context audiences need to enjoy your content. 

Reach

The TikTok algorithm uses information coming from your video’s audio and text to understand its niche, category, and potential audience. If you add text to your videos, TikTok will receive some extra insight into the kind of content you create and the audience who is most likely to enjoy it.

FAQs about adding text on TikTok videos

Still unsure about how to add text to TikTok videos? Here are the answers to a few frequently asked questions!

Can I change the font and color of the text on TikTok?

Yes, on TikTok you can change the font, color, and style of your text after you’ve added it. Just click on the text, and an editing menu will appear with all the customization options needed to adjust the appearance of the text. 

For more advanced editing features like branded logos, backgrounds, and overlays, you can try Riverside instead.

Can I add multiple text boxes in one TikTok video?

Yes, you can add as many text boxes in a single TikTok video as you like. You can choose the timing, position, and style of each box, and they can appear at the same time or in sequence. You can use text boxes to add captions to your video - or any other text you like.

Does adding text on TikTok affect video quality?

No, adding text directly within TikTok’s editor does not affect the video quality in any way. Text is rendered as an overlay, so your video’s resolution will remain the same even with added captions or text elements. 

However, the overall quality of the video could be perceived as higher since content including bright, colorful elements might look more professional. 

Also be sure to record your video in the highest quality possible. The maximum resolution you can upload to TikTok is 1080p. You can check out our TikTok Video Size Guide for more details.