Captions and titles for a YouTube Shorts texting story
A Short has a title, a description and whatever text you burn into the video. This guide shows what each one should say for a chat-bubble story.
Try it: start from this sample
Did you read the notes I sent?
Yes. All forty pages.
It was four pages.
It felt like forty.
Three places for words
On a Short you write a title, an optional description and any text inside the video. The title sits at the bottom with the channel name, so it is the one viewers read first. Keep it to the situation, such as "When the notes feel endless", and leave the joke to the chat itself.
Captions inside the video
Viewers often watch without sound, so a line of on-screen text helps. Keep it under about twelve words and big enough for a phone at arm's length. In the meeting sample, a caption above the chat reading "Four pages. Maybe forty." adds a second joke. The Creator plan can generate captions and add voiceover; proofread them, as names and numbers are easy to mistake.
Contrast matters as much as size. Light text on a light chat background disappears, so give the caption its own plain strip or pick the opposite colour scheme to the bubbles. Check it at the smallest size a viewer might see, the thumbnail in a feed.
Description that does a job
Use the description for two things: a fiction label ("Fictional conversation, invented characters") and a pointer to the next part. Hashtags are optional, and no special one is needed for the video to count as a Short.
Worked example for the notes sample: use the title "When the notes feel endless" and the description "Fictional conversation, invented characters. Part 2 tomorrow." The label is short, the pointer gives a reason to come back, and nothing repeats the title.
Where not to put text
As of November 2026 the title and channel name sit at the bottom and the buttons run down the right, so keep burned-in text out of the bottom 20 to 25 percent and away from the right edge. Layouts change; check the platform's own help page and test with a private upload.
Tips
- Make the title a situation and the caption a second joke.
- Proofread every auto-generated caption line against your script.
- Use the same label wording on every upload in a series.
- Keep the title short enough to read in two seconds.
- Place on-screen text above the chat, not on top of bubbles.
Questions
What should the title of a chat-story Short say?
State the situation in a few words and leave the punchline for the video. A title that gives away the last bubble gives viewers a reason to scroll on.
Do I need on-screen captions?
They help viewers who watch with the sound off. Creator plan users can generate captions automatically and edit them before exporting.
How do I show that the story is fictional?
Add a plain line in the description, such as "Fictional conversation, invented characters". It takes a few words and removes doubt for anyone who finds the clip without context.
Can captions be in a different language from the chat?
Yes. You type the text yourself, in any language. Voiceover supports English, Spanish, French, German, Italian, Portuguese, Polish and Hindi on Creator and Agency.
Use it for simulated, labelled content. ChatsRat makes mock-ups and fictional conversations for creators, designers and teachers. Do not use it to pass off a made-up conversation as a real one, to impersonate a real person, or as proof of anything. See the Acceptable Use policy.
About the watermark. Exports on the Free plan carry a visible ChatsRat watermark, and every export carries an invisible mark that the verify page can read. Plans list what changes on paid plans.
ChatsRat is not affiliated with, endorsed by or sponsored by any messaging app. App names on this page describe a style only.