How to Add Text to TikTok Clips

Adding text to your TikTok videos is one of the most effective ways to stop scrollers in their tracks, tell a story, and make your content more accessible. It’s a simple feature with a surprising amount of depth that can take your clips from good to great. This guide breaks down everything from the basics of placing text to advanced techniques that will make your content stand out.

The Basics: How to Add and Customize Text on TikTok

First, let’s cover the foundational steps of using TikTok's native text editor. This powerful tool is where all the magic begins. Follow these steps, and you’ll have a solid understanding of how it works in just a few minutes.

Step 1: Record or Upload Your Clip

To get started, open the TikTok app and either record a new video by hitting the red record button or upload footage from your camera roll by tapping the Upload option. Once you're happy with your clip, tap the red checkmark to proceed to the editing screen. This is where you’ll find all of TikTok’s editing tools, including the text function.

Step 2: Accessing the Text Editor

On the editing screen, look for the icons on the right-hand side. Tap the "Text" icon, which looks like an uppercase "Aa". This will open the text editor, bringing up your keyboard and a text box on the screen. It really is that simple.

Step 3: Styling Your Text (Fonts, Colors, and Backgrounds)

Once you’ve typed your message, it’s time to make it look great. TikTok offers a few simple but powerful customization options:

• Fonts: Along the bottom of the screen, just above your keyboard, you’ll see various font options like Classic, Typewriter, and Handwriting. Swipe left or right and tap on each one to see how it changes your text’s appearance. Choose a font that matches the vibe of your video, a sleek, modern font works well for tutorials, while a playful one might be better for comedic clips.
• Colors: To the left of the font styles, you'll see a series of colored circles. Tap one to instantly change your text color. Swipe to see more options. A high-contrast color that stands out from your video background is always a good choice.
• Highlight & Background: Look for the "A" icon with a boxy outline at the top left of the screen. Tapping this cycles through different background styles for your text. You can add a solid background, a translucent highlight, or just an outline. This is incredibly useful for making text readable when your video background is busy or has changing colors.
• Alignment: To the left of the "A" icon, you'll see an icon with horizontal lines. Tap this to cycle through left, center, and right text alignment, which helps you position your text more precisely.

Step 4: Placing and Resizing Your Text

After you’ve finalized the text style, tap "Done" in the top-right corner. You'll be taken back to the main editing screen, where your styled text appears on the video. Now you can move it around:

• To move it, simply tap, hold, and drag the text to any position on the screen.
• To resize or rotate it, use a two-finger pinching motion. Pinch in to make it smaller, pinch out to make it larger, and twist your fingers to rotate it.

You can add multiple, separate text boxes by tapping the "Aa" text icon again and repeating the process.

Mastering Text Timing: The "Set Duration" Feature

Simply adding text to your video is useful, but the real power comes from making it appear and disappear exactly when you want it to. This is essential for creating dynamic subtitles, telling a story in sequence, or emphasizing specific words as you say them.

How to Use "Set Duration":

1. Once you've added a piece of text and styled it, tap on the text box on your video preview. An option will appear that says "Set duration." Tap it.
2. This opens a timeline editor at the bottom of the screen, showing the full length of your video clip with your text selected. You'll see a red box overlaid on the timeline, representing the duration your text is visible.
3. Drag the handles at the beginning and end of the red box to adjust the start and stop times. You can trim from the front, the back, or both. As you drag, the video preview above will play just the selected portion, giving you a precise idea of the timing.
4. For example, if you want text to pop up at the 3-second mark and vanish at the 5-second mark, you would drag the left handle to 3s and the right handle to 5s.
5. Once you're satisfied, tap the checkmark. Repeat this process for every piece of text you add to orchestrate a perfectly timed story.

Pro Tip: Overlap the durations of different text clips slightly to create smooth, seamless transitions without any blank moments in between.

Giving Your Text a Voice: Using Text-to-Speech

Text-to-Speech is an immensely popular feature that adds character to your videos while also making them more accessible. It reads your on-screen text aloud in a computer-generated voice, creating the familiar "TikTok voice" that dominates so many trends.

How to Activate Text-to-Speech:

1. Add a text box to your video as you normally would.
2. Tap the text box on your screen.
3. From the options that appear, select the icon that looks like a person's head with soundwaves, labeled "Text-to-speech."
4. A menu with different voice options will pop up. You can preview each one until you find the perfect voice for your content. Some are comical, some are serious, and others have unique tones.
5. Select a voice, and TikTok will process the audio. Your text is now voiced! Keep in mind that once applied, the text must remain on screen for the duration of the audio, so you won’t be able to edit its duration after applying Text-to-Speech without first undoing the effect.

Creative Text Strategies to Boost Engagement

Now that you know the technical "how-to," let’s talk about some creative strategies for using text to make your content more compelling.

1. Piece-by-Piece Storytelling

Instead of putting a giant block of text on the screen all at once, break it down. Add one line or sentence at a time using multiple text boxes, each timed with the "Set duration" feature to appear in sequence. This method builds suspense and holds your viewer’s attention, guiding them through a narrative smoothly and preventing them from getting overwhelmed with information.

2. The Question and Answer Format

Start your video with an intriguing question displayed as text on screen. Let it sit there for a few seconds to hook the viewer, and then use a timed text box to reveal the answer. This is a classic engagement strategy because it sparks curiosity and encourages viewers to watch until the very end to get the payoff.

3. Create "Talking Head" Videos Without Showing Your Face

You can tell a compelling story just with visuals and text. Overlay your text onto b-roll footage - scenic shots, action clips, or anything that matches the mood of your story. Use "Set duration" to time the text as if you were narrating the video, with pauses and emphasis. Pair this with the Text-to-Speech feature to create a full-fledged, engaging video without ever needing to be on camera.

4. Using Text for Real-Time Gags and Callouts

Is something unexpected happening in the background of your video? Point it out with a timely text box and an arrow! Did you almost trip over a step? Add a text bubble that says, "oops, almost lost it." This kind of self-aware, immediate commentary makes your content feel more personal, relatable, and humorous.

Using TikTok's Auto-Caption Feature for Broader Reach

Finally, it's important to distinguish between decorative on-screen text and functional captions. Both are valuable, but they serve different purposes. TikTok’s built-in captioning tool automatically transcribes the audio from your video, which is a massive boost for accessibility and engagement.

Many users watch TikTok with the sound off. Without captions, your message is completely lost. Captions ensure everyone can appreciate your content, whether they are hard of hearing or just scrolling in a quiet place.

How to Turn On Auto-Captions:

1. On the final post screen where you write your description, tap on "More options."
2. Scroll down and find the "Captions" option. Make sure it's toggled on. TikTok will auto-generate captions from your audio.
3. After the captions are processed and appear on your video preview, tap on them to open the editor.
4. Here, you're able to edit any inaccuracies in the auto-generated text before publishing your video.

By using both stylized, on-screen text and functional auto-captions, you give yourself the best possible chance to connect with the widest audience.

Final Thoughts

Adding text to your TikToks is your first step toward transforming simple clips into engaging stories that capture attention and build a community. By mastering the text editor, timing, and creative strategies, you can make your content more accessible, entertaining, and memorable every time.

Once you’ve perfected your TikToks with creative text, the next challenge is managing your content calendar consistently across all your platforms. Creating amazing videos is half the battle, the other half is scheduling and publishing without the chaos. From what we've seen working with so many creators, trying to juggle Reels, Shorts, and TikToks with outdated tools that were built for photos just doesn't work. We built Postbase to fix that, offering a visual calendar and rock-solid scheduling designed specifically for the short-form video content that runs social media today.