How to Add Lyrics to TikTok

Adding lyrics directly to your TikTok videos is one of the easiest ways to hook viewers and boost watch time. It makes your content accessible, encourages sing-alongs, and adds a dynamic layer that keeps people engaged. This guide breaks down the different ways to add perfectly timed lyrics, from TikTok’s built-in feature to more advanced customization techniques.

Why You Should Add Lyrics to Your TikTok Videos

Syncing lyrics to your videos isn't just a fun aesthetic choice, it’s a strategic move that can significantly enhance your content's performance. For creators, artists, and brands, lyric videos are a powerful tool for connecting with an audience and improving key metrics.

Here’s why it works so well:

• Increased Watch Time: When viewers are reading along with the lyrics, they're more likely to watch the video until the end. This is a huge signal to the TikTok algorithm that your content is engaging, which can lead to it being pushed to more For You Pages.
• Better Accessibility: Automatically adding subtitles makes your content accessible to the hard-of-hearing community and viewers watching with the sound off. Inclusivity isn’t just good practice, it expands your potential audience.
• Boosted Engagement: People love to sing along. When they know the words, they feel a stronger connection to the sound and the video. This can lead to more comments, shares, and duets - all forms of valuable engagement.
• Clarity and Context: Some lyrics can be hard to understand, especially in fast-paced songs or new releases. Displaying the text on screen eliminates any confusion and helps the story of your video land more effectively. It also gives you a chance to highlight a particularly clever or emotional line that resonates with your message.
• Creates a Trend-Friendly Format: Lyric videos are their own format on TikTok. Doing a "point of view" video where you act out the lyrics is a classic trend. By mastering how to add them, you open up new creative avenues for your content.

Now, let's get into the step-by-step methods you can use to start adding lyrics today.

Method 1: Using TikTok's Built-In Lyrics Feature (The Easy Way)

The simplest and quickest way to add lyrics is by using TikTok's native feature. It’s designed to automatically sync lyrics from its commercial music library to your video. The biggest catch is that it only works with songs that have the lyrics data enabled by the artist or label, so your favorite indie or niche sound might not have this option.

Despite that, it’s the perfect place to start.

Step-by-Step Guide:

1. Create Your Video: Open the TikTok app and tap the + icon to start a new project. You can either record a video directly in the app or upload one from your camera roll.
2. Add a Sound: Tap "Add sound" at the top of the screen. Search for the song you want to use from TikTok's commercial music library. Select it and tap the red checkmark to add it to your video. Remember, only certain songs in the library are compatible with the lyrics feature.
3. Go to the Editor: After you've recorded or uploaded your clip and synced it with the sound, tap "Next" to move to the editor screen. This is where you'll find all the stickers, effects, and text tools.
4. Open the Lyrics Tool: On the right-hand panel, look for an icon that says "Lyrics" or looks like a text box with music notes. If you don't see it immediately, tap the "More" option or the downward arrow, sometimes it's nested there with other features. If a song is compatible, this button will pop up after you've added the sound.
5. Generate and Customize: Once you tap the Lyrics button, TikTok will automatically process the audio and generate synchronized, on-screen text. You’ll be given a few different font styles and color palettes to choose from. Swipe through the options to find one that matches your video's vibe.
6. Finalize and Post: After you've selected your preferred style, tap "Done." The lyrics are now part of your video. You can drag them around to reposition them or pinch to resize them. Once you're happy, add your caption, hashtags, and post your video.

Pro-Tip: This method is fantastic for its speed and simplicity. It's the go-to for quick, trend-focused content where perfect execution isn't as important as participating in the conversation.

Method 2: Manually Adding Your Own Lyric Text on TikTok

What if the song you want to use doesn’t have the automatic lyrics feature enabled? Or what if you're using an original sound, a dialogue clip, or want full creative control over the look and timing of your text? This is where manually adding and timing text layers comes in.

This process takes more time, but the trade-off is complete creative freedom.

Step-by-Step Guide:

1. Create and Add Sound: Just like before, start by creating a new video and adding your desired sound. This can be a commercial track, an original audio uploaded by another user, or your own original sound.
2. Add Your First Line of Text: Go to the editor screen. Tap the "Text" ('Aa') icon on the right-hand side. Type out the first line (or even just the first word) of the song. Take this opportunity to style it exactly how you want - choose the font, color, background, and alignment.
3. Set the Text Duration: Once you’ve styled the text, tap on it. A menu will appear. Select "Set duration." This will open up a timeline editor at the bottom showing your video clip and the text layer.
4. Time the First Line: Listen to the audio and watch the video playback. Use the red handles on either side of the text layer to drag and trim its duration. Your goal is to make the text appear on screen at the exact moment the corresponding word is sung or spoken and disappear when it's over. You can drag the whole layer left or right to adjust its start time.
5. Repeat for All Other Lines: This is the part that requires patience. Tap "Done," then add a new text box for the second line of lyrics. Style it, tap "Set duration," and time it perfectly. Repeat this process line by line until you’ve covered the entire section of the song you're using.
6. Review and Post: Watch the entire video back to make sure your timing is precise and the visual flow makes sense. Make any adjustments needed, then add your caption and post.

Best Practices for Manual Lyrics:

• Keep it simple: Typing one word at a time creates a cool karaoke-style effect, but lining up dozens of text boxes is tedious. Start with full lines or phrases.
• Be consistent: Use the same font and color scheme for a clean look, or intentionally switch styles for emphasis on certain words.
• Use animations: TikTok's text tools allow for simple fade-in or "typewriter" animations, which can add a nice touch without needing an external app.

Method 3: Using Third-Party Video Editing Apps (Maximum Control)

For creators who want polished, professional-looking lyric videos with custom fonts, intricate animations, and layered effects, a third-party video editing app is the best way forward. Apps like CapCut (which is developed by the same parent company as TikTok), InShot, and Adobe Premiere Rush give you a level of control that TikTok’s internal editor just can’t match.

General Workflow for Third-Party Apps:

1. Prepare Your Assets: First, you need your video clip and the audio file. If you’re using a popular TikTok sound, you might need to screen-record it or find a version online to import it into your editing app.
2. Import into Your App: Open your preferred app (we'll use CapCut as an example since it integrates well with TikTok). Start a new project and import your video clip and the audio track.
3. Add and Animate Your Text: Use the app’s text tool to create your lyric layers. This is where outside apps shine. You can access massive font libraries (or even import your own), create intricate fade-ins and fade-outs, add shadows and glows, and control text animations with precision keyframes.
4. Time Everything Perfectly: Like the manual TikTok method, you'll need to time each text layer on the video timeline to sync with the music. However, most dedicated video apps have more precise controls, letting you adjust timing down to the millisecond.
5. Export Your Masterpiece: Once your video is complete, export it at a high resolution (1080p is standard for TikTok). Save it directly to your phone’s camera roll.
6. Upload to TikTok: Open TikTok, tap the + icon, and upload the video you just created. Since the audio is already baked into your video file, you don't need to add it separately. However, it's still best practice to find and link the original sound in TikTok. Tap "Add sound," find the song, and then adjust the volume slider to turn the "Original Sound" up to 100% and the "Added Sound" down to 0-1%. This correctly attributes the sound and puts your video in front of other fans of that audio, all while keeping your perfectly edited audio.

This method offers the best of both worlds: polished visuals and proper algorithmic association with the trending sound.

Final Thoughts

Adding lyrics to your TikTok videos transforms them from passive content into an interactive experience. Whether you use the lightning-fast native feature, take meticulous control with the manual method, or create a cinematic masterpiece with an external app, the right technique depends on your creative vision and how much time you have.

Planning this kind of content - especially when you’re managing multiple social platforms at once - is where the real challenge lies. As our team at Postbase knows from years of experience, keeping track of video shoots, editing queues, and posting schedules can quickly become overwhelming with spreadsheets. That's why we built our visual calendar to give creators a clean, bird's-eye view of their entire content strategy, making it simple to plan your next lyric video series across TikTok, Reels, and YouTube Shorts all in one place.