Updated 2026-10-15
Choose “Computer audio”, press “Start Listening”, and what your PC plays appears in your language as it is spoken. To get live translated subtitles for what your Windows PC plays — a video, a livestream, an online class, a webinar or a meeting you are only listening to — install Tingdong and choose “Computer audio”. It listens to the sound coming out of the PC, works out the language by itself, and shows subtitles in your language while people are still talking, in its main window or in a small window that stays on top of other apps. It works with the browser or player you already use, with no extension, no virtual audio cable and no driver. It listens to speech; it does not read text on the screen.
Get it from the Microsoft Store (Tingdong for Windows), open it, and choose “Computer audio” at the top. That is the sound of every app on the PC: your browser, a media player, a course app, a meeting app.
Leave the menu left of the arrow (“They speak”) on “Detect automatically”; choosing a language there only helps recognition and does not change the direction. Then play the video or open the stream. “Original” is on by default: the original appears as it is spoken, and the translation follows clause by clause.
A small frameless window stays on top of other apps and shows the last few lines. Drag it from anywhere, for example under the video, and double-click it to close. Click the “A” button (Text size) to switch between three text sizes, turn off “Original” to see only the translation, or turn on “Read aloud” to hear each translated sentence through this PC’s speakers or headphones.
Two other options may be enough. Chrome’s help page describes Live Translate for audio played in Chrome — “You can generate captions and send them to Google to translate videos, podcasts, games, live streams, video calls, or other audio media from Chrome browser” — and says “You can send captions to Google to automatically translate them.” Windows 11 has Live captions. Microsoft’s support page says “The ability to translate is available on Copilot+ PCs running Windows 11, version 24H2 and later”, translating “from over 40 languages into English and 27 languages into Chinese (Simplified)”, and that captions work “even when disconnected from the internet” (both pages read on 2026-10-14). So if everything you watch plays in Chrome, or you have a Copilot+ PC and want English or Simplified Chinese, try those first. Live captions also works offline, which Tingdong does not (why Tingdong runs in the cloud). Tingdong is for the rest: sound from the apps on a Windows 11 PC, no Copilot+ PC needed, translated into whichever of 60+ languages you choose (Tingdong for Windows). Point by point: Windows Live captions vs Tingdong.
Speech that comes out of the PC: a YouTube video or a Twitch stream in your browser, an online class or a webinar, a recorded lecture in a course player, a podcast, a video file in a media player, a meeting you are only listening to. A livestream in a language you don’t speak works the same way as a recorded video: Tingdong detects the language by itself, and neither the streamer nor the other viewers can tell you are using it. It hears the sound, not the picture, so it does not read text on the screen, subtitles burned into the video, or the chat. “Computer audio” takes in every app at once, so pause music or a second video you don’t want subtitled. Speech under loud music or game effects is harder to recognize, as it is for a person. Paid streaming services with copy protection have not been tested on Windows yet. Meetings heard through a Bluetooth headset have not been tested on Windows yet either. And it needs an internet connection: recognition and translation run on a cloud streaming engine, and the audio is not stored (why not on the device).
No. Tingdong is a Windows app from the Microsoft Store. “Computer audio” uses Windows’ own audio capture to hear what the other apps play, so it works the same in your browser, media player or course app, and there is no extension, virtual audio cable or driver to install.
No. “Computer audio” takes in the sound of every app on the PC at once. Pause the videos or music you don’t want subtitled, and turn off notification sounds if they get in the way. To add the people talking in the room as well, choose “Both”: the room and the computer are two separate streams and use credits as two.
No. Tingdong only listens to sound your PC is already playing. It joins nothing, posts nothing and sends nothing into a call or a stream. “Read aloud” plays on this PC only; from speakers, your own microphone can still pick it up, so use headphones.
Spoken dialogue, yes: when a character or a commentator speaks, it is subtitled like any video. Text, no: Tingdong does not read the screen, so menus, signs, chat messages and subtitles burned into the picture stay as they are.
It needs an internet connection. While you listen, the audio goes to a cloud streaming engine for recognition and translation and is not stored; without a connection Tingdong shows no subtitles rather than guessing. If offline matters most, Windows Live captions translates on the device on a Copilot+ PC, into English or Simplified Chinese. Why Tingdong made the other choice: why not on-device. Details and download: Tingdong for Windows.
Every new computer gets a free trial of about 100 minutes of subtitles, with no sign-up and no card. Subtitles use 1 credit a minute for each stream (Both is two streams); Read aloud uses 8 credits a minute while it speaks. If nobody speaks for 15 minutes, it stops by itself so silence does not use credits. It is made for Windows 11; Windows 10 22H2 should work but is not yet tested. Details on the Windows page.
Get it for Windows Download free for macOS
Free trial: about 100 minutes of subtitles · No signup or card
Windows 11 (subtitles and Read aloud only, nothing sent into calls)