Translating Text

Written by Allen Wyatt (last updated November 7, 2022)
This tip applies to Word 2010, 2013, 2016, 2019, and 2021


2

Joan would like to use the Word translation feature, that was introduced in the Word 2010 version, but she's not having much success. It doesn't appear on the screen in the new language (Spanish). She wonders if there is a special trick to using this feature.

There is no special trick, but there are things you need to make sure are in place in order for the translation tool to work correctly.

First, you need to understand that all translation occurs within the Research pane; it is not done in "real time" as you type. Follow these steps if you are using Word 2010:

  1. Display the Review tab of the ribbon and click Research in the Proofing group. Word displays the Research pane at the right side of your document.
  2. Within the Research pane, use the drop-down list to choose Translation. The display within the Research pane is modified to reflect your choice.
  3. Using the "From" and "To" drop-down lists (visible after step 2), specify the languages you want to translate from and to.
  4. Within the text of your document, select the word phrase you want to translate.
  5. Hold down the Alt key as you click on the selected word or phrase. This copies the selection to the Search For box in the Research pane, and the translation of that word or phrase is shown in the pane.

Follow these steps if you are using Word 2013:

  1. Display the Review tab of the ribbon and click Translate in the Language group.
  2. Click Translate Selected Text. Word displays the Research pane at the right side of your document with Translation already chosen.
  3. Within the Research pane, use the "From" and "To" drop-down lists to specify the languages you want to translate from and to.
  4. Within the text of your document, select the text you want to translate. The translation is displayed in the Microsoft Translator box of the Research pane.
  5. Click Insert. Word displays the translated text inside your document.

Follow these steps if you are using Word 2016 or a later version:

  1. Display the Review tab of the ribbon and click the Language tool and then click Translate.
  2. Click Translate Selection. Word displays the Translator pane. (A window may appear on the screen after clicking Translate Selection asking you to turn on Translation Services. If so, click on the "Turn On" button and Word will display the Translator pane.)
  3. Within the Translator pane, use the "From" and "To" drop-down lists to specify the languages you want to translate from and to.
  4. Within the text of your document, select the text you want to translate. The selected text and the translation are displayed in the respective To and From boxes of the Translator pane.
  5. Click Insert. Word displays the translated text inside your document.

The translation is done by Word sending your word or phrase over the Internet to a translation service and then receiving back and displaying the translation. The quality of the translation depends on a lot of factors, but you would be wise to never blindly trust the translation done by a computer program. (Think of how transliterated instructions for electronic devices—such as a smart phone—look to you. That's how a machine translation will probably look to a native reader.)

You may also benefit by reading through this article about translation at one of Microsoft's sites:

https://office.microsoft.com/en-us/word-help/translate-text-in-a-different-language-HA010354288.aspx

WordTips is your source for cost-effective Microsoft Word training. (Microsoft Word is the most popular word processing software in the world.) This tip (6706) applies to Microsoft Word 2010, 2013, 2016, 2019, and 2021.

Author Bio

Allen Wyatt

With more than 50 non-fiction books and numerous magazine articles to his credit, Allen Wyatt is an internationally recognized author. He is president of Sharon Parq Associates, a computer and publishing services company. ...

MORE FROM ALLEN

Pop-up Windows in Word

Want to add a small pop-up window over a word in your document? There is no way to do this directly in Word, but you can ...

Discover More

Stopping EHR from Correcting

When you type words into a document, Word can modify those words. If you don't want Word to make those modifications, ...

Discover More

Easily Changing Username and Initials

Word uses usernames and initials to mark changes made while Track Changes is turned on. If you want to change those ...

Discover More

Do More in Less Time! Are you ready to harness the full power of Word 2013 to create professional documents? In this comprehensive guide you'll learn the skills and techniques for efficiently building the documents you need for your professional and your personal life. Check out Word 2013 In Depth today!

More WordTips (ribbon)

Finding Related Words

One part of the grammar tools provided with Word is a thesaurus that helps you find all sorts of word variations. One ...

Discover More

Word Count is Zero

If you use the Word Count tool and are surprised that it returns a count of 0, it could be because of what you selected ...

Discover More

Turning Off Hyphenation for Individual Words

Word does a semi-decent job when it comes to automatically hyphenating your documents. It even lets you exclude certain ...

Discover More
Subscribe

FREE SERVICE: Get tips like this every week in WordTips, a free productivity newsletter. Enter your address and click "Subscribe."

View most recent newsletter.

Comments

If you would like to add an image to your comment (not an avatar, but an image to help in making the point of your comment), include the characters [{fig}] (all 7 characters, in the sequence shown) in your comment text. You’ll be prompted to upload your image when you submit the comment. Maximum image size is 6Mpixels. Images larger than 600px wide or 1000px tall will be reduced. Up to three images may be included in a comment. All images are subject to review. Commenting privileges may be curtailed if inappropriate images are posted.

What is six minus 5?

2021-03-29 09:11:13

Kiwerry

Thanks, as ever, Allen.
The method you described above worked as expected for me (Word 365), but when I tried to record a macro, the macro was empty. Is accessing the word translation service via VBA not possible?
I haven't tried it, but I've seen code for accessing the Google translation service on Stackoverflow.


2019-09-22 15:58:15

C

How do we do it with VBA?
When recording a macro, following these steps does not save a single line of code.
Thanks

C.


This Site

Got a version of Word that uses the ribbon interface (Word 2007 or later)? This site is for you! If you use an earlier version of Word, visit our WordTips site focusing on the menu interface.

Videos
Subscribe

FREE SERVICE: Get tips like this every week in WordTips, a free productivity newsletter. Enter your address and click "Subscribe."

(Your e-mail address is not shared with anyone, ever.)

View the most recent newsletter.