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How to Highlight Key Words in Captions in DaVinci Resolve

Captions where every word looks the same are easy to skip. When the word that matters changes color, grows or gets a box behind it, the viewer gets the message even with the sound off. Here's how to do it in DaVinci Resolve.

Updated October 1, 2026 · by The Bigger Studio

Three ways to make a word stand out

• Color: the key word in yellow, green or your brand color, the rest in white. The simplest and the most common.
• Size: the key word bigger than the rest, sometimes on its own line.
• Highlight box: a solid box behind the word, like a marker on paper.

Use one key word per caption, two at most. If everything is highlighted, nothing is.

By hand: Text+ in DaVinci Resolve

This works in DaVinci Resolve Free and Studio.

1. Add a Text+ title above your clip and type the caption.
2. Open it in the Fusion page. In the Text+ tool, right-click the text field and add a Character Level Styling modifier.
3. Select only the key word in the viewer and change its color or size in the modifier. The rest of the caption stays as it was.
4. For a highlight box, add a Background shape (or a Rectangle mask on a solid color) behind the word, sized to it, and keyframe its width from 0 to full over 3–4 frames so it draws in.
5. Save the result as a Macro so the next key word takes seconds, not minutes.

Automatically: Bigger Subs

Bigger Subs listens to how you say each phrase and suggests which words to emphasize. You choose how: highlight it, give it an impact (a clean hit as it comes in) or build a layered phrase where the key word sits big between smaller ones. Change any of them with a click.

• Every style has its own emphasis, made for it, instead of the same yellow word everywhere.
• Sounds can follow the emphasis: a camera or paper click when a word is highlighted, a clean hit on an impact.
• It lands on your timeline as one clip with transparency, ready to move, trim or grade.

It works with DaVinci Resolve Free and Studio, on Mac and Windows. It's a one-time $59 purchase, and you can try the full app free for 2 days.

FAQ

Which words should I highlight?

Numbers, results, prices, the surprising word and the call to action. Skip filler like "really" or "very".

Yellow or another color?

Yellow on white reads well on almost any footage. If your brand has a strong color, use it for the key word only.

More guides: Word-by-word captions · Hormozi-style captions · Animated subtitles in DaVinci Resolve