You're halfway through a high-stakes episode of The Bear or maybe some trashy reality TV, and suddenly, the white text starts crawling across the bottom of the screen. It’s distracting. It’s blocking the cinematography. Or maybe you actually need them, but they’ve glitched into a language you don’t speak. Whatever the reason, you're sitting there wondering, how do I turn off subtitles on Hulu before the next scene starts?
It sounds like a simple toggle. In a perfect world, it would be. But Hulu is a bit of a chameleon. The interface changes depending on whether you’re clutching a Roku remote, staring at a MacBook, or tapping an iPhone.
The Quick Fix for Most Devices
Let's get straight to the point. For the vast majority of people watching on a smart TV, gaming console, or streaming stick, the process follows a predictable rhythm. You don't need to exit your show. Just pause it.
When the playback bar appears, look up. Usually, in the top right or sometimes just above the play button, you'll see a small gear icon or a speech bubble. That's your ticket. Navigate to it using your directional pad. Click it. You'll see "Subtitles" or "Audio & Subtitles." Switch that bad boy to "Off."
Boom. Done.
But wait. Sometimes that menu doesn't show "Off." Sometimes it says "English (CC)" and clicking it does absolutely nothing. If you’re on an Apple TV, for instance, you might need to swipe down on the touch surface of your remote to reveal the top menu where those settings live. It's subtle. If you blink, you'll miss the prompt.
Why do they keep coming back?
This is the part that drives people up the wall. You turn them off, watch a movie, and the next day—presto—they're back like an uninvited house guest. Hulu often tethers your subtitle preferences to your specific profile. If you’re sharing an account with someone who’s hard of hearing or just likes reading while they watch, their settings might be bleeding into yours if you aren't careful about which profile you’ve selected.
Also, check your hardware. Honestly, sometimes it isn't Hulu's fault at all. If you have "Closed Captioning" enabled at the system level on your Samsung TV or your PlayStation 5, those settings will force their way onto every app you open. You could toggle the Hulu setting until your thumb goes numb, but if the TV itself is demanding captions, you're going to see them.
Handling the Web Browser and Mobile App
Watching on a laptop feels different. The interface is cleaner, but the buttons are smaller. To handle how do I turn off subtitles on Hulu when you're in a browser, move your mouse to wake up the interface. Look at the bottom left.
There’s a small gear icon next to the volume slider. Clicking that opens a menu where you can toggle "Subtitles" to "Off." It’s instantaneous.
💡 You might also like: Bronx Academy for Software Engineering Bronx NY: Is It Actually Right for Your Kid?
Mobile is a similar story but more cramped. Tap the screen once. Look for the gear in the corner. If you’re on an iPad, it’s usually in the top right. On an Android phone, it might be tucked away in a menu labeled "Quality" or "Audio."
The "Subtitles for the Deaf and Hard of Hearing" (SDH) distinction
Hulu is legally required to provide accessibility options. This is why you’ll often see "CC" (Closed Captions) instead of just "Subtitles." Captions include non-speech information like [door slams] or [ominous music builds]. Pure subtitles just translate the dialogue. On some older Hulu titles, you might find that you can't have one without the other, or the formatting is stuck in a weird yellow box.
If your subtitles look hideous—I'm talking giant purple comic sans—that’s usually a setting you have to change in your device settings (like your iPhone's Accessibility menu), not inside the Hulu app itself. Hulu basically "borrows" the styling from your device.
Troubleshooting the "Ghost Subtitles"
What happens when the menu says they are off, but you still see them?
First, try the "Toggle Dance." Turn them on, wait five seconds, then turn them back off. This forces the app's metadata to refresh. If that fails, it’s likely a caching issue.
- On Roku: Highlight the Hulu channel, press the (*) button, and select "Check for updates." If it's current, try a system restart from the settings menu.
- On Fire Stick: Go to Settings > Applications > Manage Installed Applications > Hulu. Select "Clear Cache." This fixes about 90% of weird UI bugs.
- On Browsers: Refreshing the page is obvious, but clearing your browser's "Site Data" for Hulu specifically can stop the player from getting stuck in a loop.
I've seen cases where users are watching "Hard-Subbed" content. This is rare on Hulu but common in some international films or older licensed content. If the subtitles are literally burned into the video file, no button on Earth will turn them off. If they look slightly blurry or different from the usual Hulu font, they might just be part of the movie itself.
💡 You might also like: Taiwan Based Tech Giant NYT Explained: What Really Happened with the TSMC Trade Deal
Dealing with Language Mismatches
Sometimes the issue isn't that you want them off, but that they’re stuck in the wrong language. Hulu’s library is vast. If you’re watching a show like Shōgun, you’re going to have a different experience than watching Bob’s Burgers.
For foreign language content, Hulu often defaults to "English" subtitles. If you try to turn these off, you might lose the translation for the non-English dialogue entirely. In these specific shows, there's usually a "Forced Narrative" track. This is the "smart" version of subtitles that only pops up when someone speaks a language other than your primary one. If you've accidentally selected "English (CC)" instead of the standard "English" or "Off," you'll get way more text than you bargained for.
Summary of Actionable Steps
If you’re currently staring at a screen filled with unwanted text, follow this exact sequence to get your screen clear:
- Locate the Menu: Pause the video and find the Gear Icon or Speech Bubble. This is your primary control center for how do I turn off subtitles on Hulu.
- Verify Profile Settings: Ensure you are on your personal profile. Subtitle settings are "sticky" to the profile, not the device.
- Check System-Level Captions: If Hulu says they are off but you still see them, go to your TV or phone's main "Accessibility" settings. Turn off "Closed Captions" or "SDH" there.
- Perform a Power Cycle: If the app is glitching, "Clear Cache" on your streaming device or restart your smart TV entirely. Pulling the plug for 30 seconds actually works more often than people care to admit.
- Update the App: An outdated version of Hulu can lead to "UI desync," where the button says one thing and the video does another.
By following these steps, you should be able to reclaim your screen real estate and get back to your show without those pesky white lines of text getting in the way. If the problem persists specifically on one show but not others, the issue is likely with that specific video's encoding, and you'll have to wait for a fix from Hulu's engineering team or simply endure it for that episode.