Adding a caption to a photo or video indexes the media within the Photos app. This allows you to search for it using keywords later. In addition, the Photos app automatically groups the same captions. You can give a single one-word caption to multiple photos, allowing you to quickly find them together.

How to Add Captions to Photos/Videos in iOS

Note: the Captions feature is only available in iOS 14. It won’t work if your device is running an older version of iOS.

  1. Open the Photos app on your iPhone. Navigate to the photo that you want to add a caption to. Swipe up on the photo to reveal additional options.
  2. You will now see an “Add a Caption” text field at the bottom of the photo.
  3. Type your caption here. Once done, tap on the Done button in the top-right corner.
  4. Repeat the same process for all photos and videos you want to add a caption to. Unfortunately, you can’t add a caption to multiple photos/videos at a single time, so you’ll have to repeat the process for each and every one of your photos/videos.
  5. The Photos app will start indexing the captions. To search for a photo or video based on its caption, go to the Search tab.
  6. Tap the Search bar at the top and type in a word or phrase from one of your captions. The search should reveal all matching photos/videos. If you have given a bunch of photos the same caption, they’ll all be grouped together.
  7. In the “Search” tab, once you’ve entered in your keyword, scroll to the bottom of the page. You’ll find a “Captions” section here. You’ll see different groups listed within this section, based on different captions. Tap the caption to see all photos and videos. There’s one thing you need to keep in mind. When you share a photo or video using Airdrop or iCloud, your device will share the caption as well. In some cases you may not want this. Fortunately, you can disable this from the Share menu.
  8. Tap on the Share button in the bottom left to access the Share menu.
  9. Select “Options” from the top.
  10. Tap the toggle button next to the “Captions” option. This will disable sharing captions while sharing photos/videos. That’s it for adding captions to your photos or videos on iOS. There are plenty of things you can do with the Photos app, too, including editing photos on your device.