Google Translate

1. About Google Translate

   Google Translate is a free, automatic translator. Google Translate currently supports translation between dozens of languages. To see a full list of the supported languages, or to learn about how our translations are created, visit the About Google Translate page.

2. How to use Google Translate

   Translate text instantly 

   1. Visit translate.google.com
   2. Select your languages for translation. If you aren't sure what language you're attempting to translate, click the Detect language button. (The accuracy of the automatic language detection increases with the amount of text entered.)
   3. Start typing and the translation will appear instantly

   You'll need to have JavaScript enabled to take advantage of our instant translation feature. If you do not have JavaScript, you can click the Translate button to trigger a translation. To turn off instant translations, click Turn off instant translation at the bottom-left of the page.

   Read and listen to your translation

   If you're translating to a non-Roman (Latin) script, you'll see a button with the symbol Ä next to the translation. Clicking this button will spell out the translation in Roman (Latin) alphabet characters.

   For many languages, you may also see a speaker button near the translated text which you can click to hear a spoken version of your translation.

   Dictionary results

   When you translate a single word or a common phrase, you may see a simple dictionary underneath the translation indicating parts of speech and possible alternative translations. Next to each dictionary entry, you'll see a corresponding set of reverse translations back into the original language. The bar next to each entry indicates how commonly that particular translation is used on the Web. 

   

   Click on any alternative translation to replace your original phrase with the alternate wording.

   Show example usage of words

   When you search for translations of single words or phrases, it is often useful to see the translation used in context. Click the example usage icon next to your translation to see an example sentence containing your translation.

   Translate words or phrases by voice

   Often the easiest way to enter your translation is to speak it, especially if you aren’t sure of the spelling for the word or phrase. Follow the instructions below to translate by voice:

   1. Click the microphone icon in the input box
   2. Speak the word or phrase you want to translate
   3. Click outside of the input box or on the microphone icon to finish recording

   Save your translations in your phrasebook

   Click the star icon next to your translation to add it to your phrasebook. Your phrasebook is synced to your Google Account, so you can have quick and easy access to your saved translations, no matter if you’re accessing Google Translate from a web browser or using the Google Translate Android app.

3. Modify your keyboard to search in other languages

   It can be difficult to input a translation for certain languages if you don't have a special keyboard layout that supports the language's script. For these supported languages, you'll see an input method icon at the bottom of the text box. Click the input tools icon to toggle the currently selected input tool on and off. You can also click the drop-down arrow next to this icon to select a different input tool. Depending on the language, there may be input tools for phonetic typing, virtual keyboards, or handwriting.

   Phonetic typing

   Phonetic typing allows you to type in a language written in a different script using a Roman (Latin) alphabet representation of the words. For example, you can type aap for आप in Hindi and when you press space, the word will be converted to Hindi script. Phonetic typing is on by default if your browser language is set to a different language from the input language. When the phonetic typing input tool is selected, you can click the input method icon to toggle phonetic typing on or off. Phonetic typing does not interfere if you are using a native-layout keyboard for such languages.

   Virtual keyboard

   The virtual keyboard input tool opens up a language-specific keyboard on your screen. These keyboards are designed specifically for inputting text in your chosen language. For example, if your input language is set to Russian, you can select a Cyrillic keyboard. You can control the virtual keyboard with your physical keyboard or by clicking on the virtual keyboard keys.

   Handwriting

   The handwrite tool allows you to translate a written expression, even if you don’t know how to type the characters. Instead, draw the characters on your screen and you’ll instantly see the translation. Once you’ve chosen your languages for translation, use the input tools icon to switch to handwrite.

   

4. Translate webpages and documents

   Translate entire webpages

   Translate an entire web page directly from Google Translate simply by entering its address (e.g. www.google.com) into the input box and click Translate.

   

   Click on the translated link to view the page in your preferred language. To see all of the original text of the page, click the View: Original radio button in the top right corner of the translated page.

   Translate documents from your computer

   Google Translate also provides an easy way to translate whole documents, without the need for copying and pasting large blocks of text. Simply click the translate a document link and submit your file as a PDF, TXT, DOC, PPT, XLS or RTF. Alternatively, you can simply drag your file into the browser window. Please note that some of your original formatting may not be preserved.

   

   If you need to create and translate content in other languages, use Translator Toolkit. This tool allows you to translate and edit your documents online, and collaborate with others.

5. Help improve Google Translate

   Let us know how we’re doing

   We're constantly working to improve the quality of our translations. If you have other questions about Google Translate, want to learn more, or would like to give us your feedback, please share your comments and inquiries through the Send Feedback option at the bottom of the Google Translate homepage.

   Help us support new languages

   We're working to support other languages and will introduce them as soon as the automatic translation meets our standards. In order to develop new languages and improve the quality of existing languages, we need large amounts of bilingual texts. You can help by using Translator Toolkit to manage translation projects or uploading your translation memories into Translator Toolkit.

6. General information for webmasters

   Preventing translation of your webpages

   If you're a webmaster and would prefer your web page not be translated by Google Translate, just insert the following meta tag into your HTML file:
   <meta name="google" value="notranslate">

   If you don't mind your web page being translated by Google Translate, except for a particular section (like an email address, for example), just add class=notranslate to any HTML element to prevent that element from being translated. For example:
   Email us at <span class="notranslate"> sales at example dot com

   Search engine indexing

   The automatically translated version of your web page will not be indexed by search engines.

7. Google Translate app for Android

   Get the best of Google Translate on the go by downloading the Google Translate app for Android.

   Learn how to use the app

8. Google Translate app for iOS

   Get the best of Google Translate on the go by downloading the Google Translate app for iOS. 

   Learn how to use the app

Website Translator plugin for websites

1. About the Website Translator plugin

   The Website Translator is a plugin powered by Google Translate that can be easily and quickly added to any website to make your website available in other languages. After you add the Website Translator to the pages on your website, your international visitors will be offered the option to view a translated version of your website.

   Visitors to your website whose web browser language is different than the language of your website will see an info banner at the top of the page asking them if they'd like to translate the page. Visitors can also translate the page by using the Website Translator's language selector that's embedded in the page.

   When a visitor translates a page, the Website Translator sends the text of the web page to Google Translate and displays the translated text without reloading or redirecting visitors from the page. If the visitor clicks on a link in the translated page and the linked web page also has the Website Translator plugin embedded in it, the linked web page will also be automatically translated for the them, allowing them to seamlessly browse through your website in their language.

2. Add the Website Translator plugin to your site

   Visit the Website Translator setup wizard and follow these simple steps:

   1. Enter the URL of your site. 
   2. Select the translation languages you would like to make your web page instantly available in. You can pick all languages, or select individual languages by selecting the "Specific languages" radio button then checking the languages you'd like to automatically translate your web page into.
   3. Choose the way you'd like the Website Translator plugin to be displayed on your page.
   4. Copy the customization meta tag and paste it before the closing tag in the HEAD section of the web pages. 
   5. Copy and paste the Website Translator plugin code snippet into the BODY section of web pages that you would like to make instantly available in other languages.

3. Help improve the automatic translation of your site

   You can improve the automatic translations on your website by creating correction entries and or glossary entries.

   Corrections

   A correction entry can be used to improve the translation of specific text segment. The correction entry will only replace the automatic translation of the text segment if it matches it completely.

   Follow the instructions below to add a correction to the translated version of a webpage:

   1. Make sure the Website Translator plugin has been added to the page.
   2. Translate the web page use the Website Translator’s language dropdown.
   3. Hover your mouse cursor over the translation you’d like to correct. The phrase or sentence will be highlighted and a tooltip window displaying the original text will appear.
   4. If you’re not logged in with your Google Account, click Sign in. 
   5. Click Contribute a better translation and submit the corrected translation. 

   The next time any user translates the page, your correction will appear instead of the automatic translation. The correction will also appear in the Website Translator manager where you can edit or delete it.

   About Glossaries

   A glossary entry can be used to improve the translation of a particular word or short phrase that may frequently appear in several text segments. The glossary entry will replace the automatic translation of the word or short phrase in any text segment that contains the source word or short phrase.

   When to use Glossaries

   Glossary entries can be helpful if your site contains special terminology or product names which may not be translated in the context of your site. Glossaries work best for nouns or noun phrases (1-2 words in length). They’re not as effective when used for verbs or when translating into languages that are highly inflected. Glossary entries should be used with caution since they can have unintended consequences and can impact many translations.

4. Link to a translated version of your site

   To create a link that automatically translates your Website Translator-enabled page without prompting your users, use the parameter #googtrans(en|TARGET_LANG_CODE). For example, the link http://translate.google.com/support/#googtrans(en|fr) automatically translates the page http://translate.google.com/support/ into French.

5. Embedding the plugin in intranet pages

   The Website Translator plugin will work if it's embedded on a web page that's hosted within a corporate intranet. However, since the Website Translator plugin cannot distinguish intranet web pages from normal web pages, intranet web pages are handled like normal web pages. So unless it is hosted on a secure server, a secure connection will not be used to send the content of the web page to Google for translation. As with the translation of normal web pages, Google may log a small portion of the text for translation quality purposes but not in a way that is associated with a Google Account. Please check with your system administrator or IT department before embedding the Website Translator plugin on intranet pages.

6. Manage translation suggestions from site visitors

   When a visitor views the translation of your site using the Website Translator plugin or web page translation feature in Chrome or Google Toolbar, they can suggest a better translation by hovering the mouse cursor over the translation they’d like to correct. The phrase or sentence will be highlighted and a tooltip window displaying the original text will appear. The visitor can click Contribute a better translation and submit the corrected translation.

   Suggestions will appear in your Website Translator manager for you or another authorized Editor to approve.

   To approve a suggestion:

   1. Check the checkbox next to the suggestion
   2. Click Approve
   3. The suggestion then becomes a correction and will appear on the Corrections page

   The next time any user translates the page, the correction will appear instead of the automatic translation.

7. Invite editors to help manage your page’s translations

   Follow the instructions below to invite editors to help add correction and glossary entries and approve suggestions in the Website Translator manager:

   1. Click the Editors link in the left navigation bar
   2. At the bottom of the Editors table, enter a Google Account email address in the text field and click Invite
   3. An email invitation with you cc-ed will be sent to the email address you entered

Google Translate partners

1. European Patent Office

   The European Patent Office (EPO) and Google have been working together to develop Patent Translate, a translation service optimised for patent documents. The EPO's Espacenet website provides free access to millions of patent documents worldwide, and its users can use Patent Translate to read patents from around the world in their own language.

   Learn more:

   • Use the EPO-Google Patent Translate Service
   • Read about the EPO-Google Partnership