How to Enable or Disable Profanity Filter in Windows 11 Captions

This guide explains how to control the profanity filter for Live Captions in Windows 11.

Live captioning is a feature added in Windows 11 build 22557 that turns spoken audio into text on your screen. It is designed to help everyone, especially those who are deaf or hard of hearing, follow along with videos or meetings. You can turn this on by pressing the Windows key + Ctrl + L, or by using the accessibility menu in Quick Settings.

With Live Captions, you can enable or disable it, move the Live Captions bar, enable Live Captions in different languages, switch languages, include microphone audio, and more.

What is the Profanity Filter?

The profanity filter is a setting that hides bad language in your captions. Why use this? You might want to use it if you are in a public place or a professional setting where you do not want to see offensive words. What happens when done? If you turn it on, the system replaces bad words with symbols like asterisks. If you turn it off, you will see exactly what the speaker says.

How to change the filter in settings

This is the easiest way to change your preferences:

1. Turn on Live Captions by pressing the Windows key + Ctrl + L.
2. Click the gear icon on the caption bar.
3. Select Preferences.
4. Toggle the Filter profanity option to On or Off.

How to change the filter using the Registry Editor

You can also use the Registry Editor to lock in this setting. What happens when done? Editing the registry changes how Windows handles the caption text directly in your system files.

⚠️ Admin Privileges Required

1. Open Windows Registry editor as an administrator.
2. Go to this path: Computer\HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\LiveCaptions\UI
3. Double-click the ProfanityFilterOn item on the right side.
4. Type 1 to turn the filter on or 0 to turn it off.
5. Click OK.

If you do not see the ProfanityFilterOn item, follow these steps:

1. Right-click an empty space on the right side of the window.
2. Select New, then choose DWORD (32-bit) Value.
3. Name it ProfanityFilterOn.
4. Open it and set the value to 1 or 0.
5. Click OK.
6. Restart your computer to apply the change.

Summary

Live Captions is a great tool for reading audio in real time. The profanity filter gives you control over whether or not you see offensive language. You can manage this through the quick settings menu or the advanced Registry Editor. If you use the registry method, remember to restart your computer to make sure the new settings start working.