The Distracting Overlay
Google Chrome features a powerful, AI-driven accessibility tool called “Live Caption.” When enabled, the browser actively monitors any audio playing through a web tab (whether it’s a YouTube video, a podcast, or a Zoom web meeting) and automatically generates real-time, on-screen text subtitles in a floating black box at the bottom of the screen. While this is an incredible feature for deaf or hard-of-hearing users, it can be highly distracting for standard users. Furthermore, because the AI transcription happens locally on your machine, it constantly consumes CPU resources whenever media is playing. You must disable the transcription engine.
How to Turn Off Live Caption
You can permanently sever the background audio monitoring via the Accessibility settings.
- Open the Google Chrome desktop browser.
- Click the three vertical dots (⋮) in the top right corner and select Settings.
- In the left-hand sidebar, click on Accessibility.
- At the very top of the main window, locate the master toggle switch labeled Live Caption.
- Toggle this switch to the Off position (the grey position).
Silent Media Playback
The change is instantaneous. Google Chrome will completely shut down the local machine-learning transcription engine. The floating black subtitle box will immediately disappear from your screen, and the browser will completely stop analyzing the audio streams of your open tabs. This guarantees a clean, unobstructed viewing experience and instantly frees up the CPU power previously dedicated to real-time speech-to-text processing.