Last year, my son bought me a Netflix subscription for Christmas. I have a problem hearing and so rely on subtitles. While Netflix provides subtitles for its content, I find them too small to see clearly. Luckily, it’s easy to make them bigger.
Log into your Netflix account (www.netflix.com), click your account dropdown menu at the top right, then click Your Account. In the My Account section, click the ‘Subtitle appearance’ link (in the My Profile section). You’ll see options to change the font type and size using dropdown menus. Clicking Save will apply these changes to all the devices you watch Netflix on – such as your PC, TV (via Chromecast), tablet and so on.
Change size and colour of Netflix subtitles
Netflix has added settings to its TV app that let you change the colour of subtitles and make them bigger.
You can choose small, medium or large subtitles, and pick one of four colours: the default white text, drop shadow (white text with black background), light (black text on white background), and contrast (yellow text with black background, pictured).
Previously, subtitles were shown in only one size, and only one colour – white without a background.
To access the settings, log into Netflix, then scroll down a show’s main page and select ‘Audio and subtitles’. Now choose your subtitle language and press play to start the show.
Next, press down on your remote control to bring up Netflix’s playback options. Press down again and click across to the Settings (cog) icon at the far right. You’ll now see options to change the size and colour. As you select, you’ll see what they look like on screen.
These options were already available through the online version of Netflix, as well as on phones and tablets.
A recent YouGov poll of 3,609 UK adults found that 28 percent use subtitles when watching TV. The figure is highest among 18-24-year-olds (61 percent), but falls to 22 percent of over-65s.
Thank you. This did in fact work. Changing the size on the Roku itself did not seem to work. I did notice that I had to turn off the TV (a Roku TV) first, and restart for the subtitle change to take effect. I also noticed that many of the settings came out AWFUL. For example selecting the white text only – it is more like light grey and totally unreadable. The extra large text literally took up 50% of the screen. The middle size, with black background and white text was the only viable option. Also, when you are editing them in your Roku profile (using a computer), be sure you are on the correct Profile. Seems like each Profile can have a different settings.
Thank you so much for sharing this helpful tip! I’ve been struggling to read the subtitles on Netflix for a while now and this solution really worked for me. I’ll definitely be bookmarking this page for future reference.