How to replay one sentence on YouTube (and write it down)
Scrubbing back for one line gets old fast. SubLater, a Chrome extension, moves through YouTube captions line by line: replay a line, loop it, then type out what you heard.
Quick answer
R replays the line R R loops it A / D previous / next line W dictation
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Step by step
- Add SubLater to Chrome on your computer and refresh any YouTube tab that was already open.
- Turn on captions with CC — SubLater won’t do it for you. Wrong language? Pick yours under ⚙ Settings → Subtitles/CC.
- Press play. Captions now appear a beat after the audio (free: 2.0 s, on or off).
- R — restart the line on screen, with the caption shown right away.
- R R (two quick taps) — loop that line; R R again stops it. YouTube keeps L for skipping ahead 10 seconds.
- A / D — previous / next line.
- P — pause at the end of every line. R replays, D moves on, Space keeps playing.
- W — dictation. The video pauses and the caption hides. Type what you heard; Enter checks it word by word, and Enter again plays the next line. Tab replays, Shift+Tab replays at 0.7×, Esc closes.
Lines you replay (R) or loop (R R) and dictation lines you miss collect in Saved lines (V) on their own; E stars a line yourself. Free keeps up to 50 different lines (repeats just add to the count). Once it’s full, new lines aren’t added, but replay keeps working. Press / for the full shortcut card.
Does it work with auto-generated captions?
Yes. Auto captions build up word by word, as they do on YouTube, a beat later; human-written captions arrive as whole lines. For dictation, use captions in the spoken language.
Which languages?
Built for Korean speakers learning English, SubLater also works the other way round for people learning Korean. Dictation is scored in English and Korean. The translation line (Korean, or English under Korean captions) comes from YouTube’s auto-translate and doesn’t always show up; T hides it.
What’s free
R, R R, A/D and P stay free after the trial, plus 10 checked dictation lines a day and up to 50 Saved lines. Ladder (G) and fine-tuning the delay are Pro.
FAQ
Does it work on Shorts or in the YouTube app?
No. It runs on the watch page (youtube.com/watch) in a desktop browser, not on Shorts, embedded players or videos without captions. During an ad, line jumps show a short notice instead.
Can I use it on an iPad or Mac?
Yes, with the SubLater Safari app from the App Store. On iPhone, YouTube works once Request Desktop Website is on.
Next time a line slips past, press R
14-day full trial · the core features stay free forever