How to Add Caption to Images in WordPress (Beginner's Tutorial) (2024)

Do you want to add captions to your images in WordPress?

Captions are brief text descriptions that you can add to your images. They are typically used to provide additional details about an image. WordPress comes with the built-in capability to easily add a caption and other metadata, including title and alternative text for each image.

In this beginner’s guide, we will show you how to easily add a caption to images in WordPress.

Why Add Caption to Images in WordPress?

An image can be worth a thousand words but doesn’t show the whole story. Captions are short descriptions that you can add to your images. They help describe the picture and provide context.

For example, if you have an online store, then you can add captions to product images. This helps provide additional information to potential customers. You can describe different features and benefits, helping convert visitors.

Similarly, if you have a wildlife photography website, then you can use captions to add the location of the image or give credit to others who assisted in capturing the moment.

Besides that, images with captions can also help boost your WordPress SEO. You can include relevant keywords in the captions and help search engines to discover and understand your pictures easily.

That said, let’s look at how to add captions to images in WordPress.

Adding Captions to Images in WordPress

The first thing you need to do is to create a new post or edit an existing one. Then, on the post-editing screen, click the ‘+’ icon and select the Image block.

Next, you will need to upload an image or select one from the media library.

Upon clicking on it, the Image block will be added to the post.

You can now click on the ‘Upload’ button to select and upload an image from your computer to WordPress. You can also select a previously uploaded image by clicking on the ‘Media Library’ button.

To learn more, see our article on how to add and align images in WordPress.

As soon as you add an image, it will appear inside the editor with a text box labeled ‘Add caption’ below it.

That’s where you can add a caption for your image.

Once done, you can save your post by clicking on the ‘Publish’ or ‘Update’ button. Wasn’t that easy?

Add Captions to Your Gallery Images

The WordPress content editor also comes with a Gallery block. It allows you to upload multiple images and display them in a grid layout with rows and columns.

Let’s see how to add captions to images in a WordPress Gallery block.

To create a gallery, create or open an existing post or page in the block editor. Then click the ‘+’ icon and select the Gallery block.

You will see the Gallery block added to your page/post area.

Now, you can upload images one by one from your computer or select the pre-uploaded pictures from your media library.

If you upload images individually, then you can add a caption after uploading each one.

When an image is uploaded, simply click on the image, and the ‘Add caption’ field will appear. You can add a caption by clicking on it and typing text into the field.

If you select pre-added images from the library, you can add a caption to each one in the ‘Caption’ field on the right.

If the photos already have a caption, then you don’t need to add it again.

If you want to create a more advanced image gallery in WordPress, we recommend using the Envira Gallery plugin.

Envira comes with modern templates to create beautiful galleries, a drag and drop gallery builder, and the ability to add image captions, lightbox effects, watermarks, and more.

For more details, see our tutorial on how to create an image gallery in WordPress.

Adding Captions to Images in the WordPress Media Library

WordPress allows you to upload images directly to the media library without embedding them in a post or page.

Here, we will show you how to add captions to images when uploading them directly to the Media Library.

First, you need to visit the Media » Add New page in the WordPress admin area.

From here, you can upload an image by dragging and dropping it or by selecting one from your computer.

Once done, you will see the uploaded image below the ‘Upload New Media’ box. You need to click the ‘Edit’ link.

This will open the Edit Media page in a new tab. You may notice that it looks similar to the post-editing screen. That’s because WordPress treats attachments (for example, images) as a default post type.

This allows it to store image metadata like title, description, and caption in the WordPress database.

From this screen, you can edit your image title and add image metadata, including a caption, alternative text, and description.

Once you have added the necessary information, you can update your image. This image metadata will now be saved in your media library.

You can add this image to as many posts as you like without having to add the caption and other metadata again. Whenever you add this image to your post from the media library, it comes with the metadata already saved.

Adding Caption to Images in WordPress with the Classic Editor

If you are still using the old Classic Editor on your WordPress website, then this is how to add captions to images in WordPress.

Simply click on the ‘Add Media’ button above the post editor to upload an image or select one from the media library.

Once the image has been uploaded, you can enter metadata like a title, alt text, and a caption.

Then, simply click on the ‘Insert into post’ button to add the image to your post or page.

You will now be able to see the image preview in your post editor with the caption.

You can save your changes and preview the post to see how it will look on your live site.

Adding Captions to Gallery Images in WordPress With the Classic Editor

You can also add captions to images when creating a gallery using the Classic Editor.

Simply upload and select multiple images and then click on the ‘Create Gallery’ link from the left column.

After that, you will need to click on the ‘Create a new gallery’ button in the bottom right corner of the popup.

From here, you can add captions to each image.

You will be able to add captions directly below each image or click on an image to load its settings in the right column and then add the caption.

You can now click on the ‘Insert Gallery’ button to add the gallery to your WordPress post or page.

This is how the images look on our demo website.

We hope this article helped you to add caption text to your images in WordPress. You may also want to see our guide on how to fix common image issues in WordPress and our expert picks for the best social media plugins for WordPress.

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