Premiere Pro captions are missing from the export: check how they were delivered

Check whether the captions should be part of the picture

Keep the project and the previous export. Choose a short passage with two recognizable caption blocks, including a gap between them, for the comparisons below. This makes timing and visibility easier to judge than repeatedly exporting the whole edit.

Match the export method to the delivery

Adobe's export settings reference distinguishes these options:

Burned-in text cannot be switched off by the viewer. Do not choose it merely to hide an unresolved delivery requirement: a client expecting selectable captions may need a different result.

Inspect the sequence and Export workspace

1. Confirm that you are exporting the sequence that contains the intended caption track, not an earlier sequence or an isolated source clip.
2. Open Export from Premiere's header. Inspect the Captions section and its export method.
3. If Captions is disabled, check whether that source sequence actually contains caption tracks. A visible title graphic is not evidence of a caption track.
4. For burn-in, inspect Captions > Caption Tracks and the enabled tracks you intend to include. Export the short passage to a distinct filename.

Adobe's caption-track export guide covers track selection and format restrictions. Embedded captions are not available in every video format; do not assume an MP4 preset offers the same choices as a supported QuickTime or MXF workflow.

Inspect the delivery outside Premiere

For a sidecar delivery, locate both output files. Load the caption file using the receiving player's or platform's supported caption workflow. Check the first caption, the gap, and the next caption against the audio. Do not assume that placing files beside each other makes every destination load them automatically.

For burn-in, view the newly exported file at a time where the chosen caption should appear. If the text is absent, return to the selected tracks and export range. For embedded output, check the destination's supported caption format and playback controls before concluding that the stream is missing.

When the settings and result disagree

Record Premiere's exact version, caption track type, output format, export method, and whether the issue affects the short comparison too. Use the help route linked from Adobe's export guide with a non-confidential example. Do not flatten or recreate every caption to diagnose one missing output.

We reviewed Adobe's documentation; we did not export a caption sample. If subtitles are present but the overall vertical framing is wrong, see the separate black-bars guide.