Translate images

You can use your phone’s camera to translate text in the world around you with the Translate app. For example, you can translate signs or handwritten notes.

Translate using your camera

For some languages, you can translate text by pointing your phone’s camera lens. Translations of small, badly lit, or stylized text could be less accurate.

  1. Open the Translate app Translate app.
  2. At the top left, tap the language shown and then the language you’re translating.
  3. At the top right, tap the language shown and then a language you read.
  4. Tap Instant translate Instant translate. If it’s not there, tap Take photo Take photo.
  5. Point your camera at the text you want to translate.
    • If you’ve downloaded the language and it’s available for instant translation, any text on your screen is translated.
    • To turn on instant translation, tap Toggle instant translation Toggle instant translation. You could be asked to download the language.
    • If instant translation isn’t available or you can’t download the language, tap Take photo Take photo. Then use your finger to highlight the text you want to translate.

Notes: To pause the camera, at the bottom right, tap Pause Pause. To resume, tap Play Resume. For some languages, like Arabic, the icon could be different.

Translate images already on your device

You can translate text in photos you’ve already taken.

  1. Open the Translate app Translate app.
  2. At the top left, tap the language shown and then the language you’re translating.
  3. At the top right, tap the language shown and then a language you read.
  4. Tap Instant translate Instant translate.
  5. Tap Import Import picture.
  6. Choose the photo you want to translate.
  7. Use your finger to highlight the text you want to translate.
Languages that can be translated instantly

If you've downloaded the languages to your device, you can translate text in images back and forth between various languages, including:

  • English Back and forth Spanish
  • English Back and forth Russian
  • English Back and forth Portugese
  • English Back and forth French
  • English Back and forth Italian
  • English Back and forth German
  • English Back and forth Bulgarian
  • English Back and forth Catalan
  • English Back and forth Chinese
  • English Back and forth Croatian
  • English Back and forth Czech
  • English Back and forth Danish
  • English Back and forth Dutch
  • English Back and forth Filipino
  • English Back and forth Finnish
  • English Back and forth Hungarian
  • English Back and forth Japanese
  • English Back and forth Indonesian
  • English Back and forth Lithuanian
  • English Back and forth Norwegian
  • English Back and forth Polish
  • English Back and forth Romanian
  • English Back and forth Slovak
  • English Back and forth Swedish
  • English Back and forth Turkish
  • English Back and forth Ukrainian

You can translate text in images to these languages:

  • English Translate Arabic
  • English Translate Hindi
  • English Translate Thai
  • German Translate Arabic

Turn "Improve camera input" on or off

To translate images, Google Translate sends camera images to Google for text recognition.
The first time you translate an image:
  1. To send images for translation, tap OK.
  2. Choose whether to let Google keep those images to use in improving the Translate service for everyone.

Important: "Improve camera input" is on only if you approved it when you first translated an image, or turned it on from Settings.

To turn "Improve camera input" on or off at any time:
  1. Open your Google Translate app Translate app.
  2. At the top left, tap Menu Menu and then Settings and then Data usage.
  3. Turn Improve camera input on or off.

 

Was this article helpful?
How can we improve it?