Occasionally you may need to create a document that can be read by people that speak another language. While there is no replacement for a native speaker that can manually perform that translation for you, you might be happy with something passable that is fast, easy, and inexpensive.
Google Docs has a translation tool that can achieve this result for you. Our tutorial below will show you how to perform a translation of a document in Google Docs to any of a number of available languages. You will then have two copies of the document; the original version in the language that you typed, and the translated version in the language that you will select in the steps below.
Google Docs – Translate a Document to Another Language
The steps in this article were performed in the desktop version of the Google Chrome Web browser. Completing this guide is going to create a copy of your document that is translated into another language. You will be able to select a name for the new translated version of the document during the translation process.
Step 1: Sign into Google Drive and open the document that you want to translate to another language.
Step 2: Select the Tools tab at the top of the window.
Step 3: Choose the Translate document option.
Step 4: Enter a name for the translated copy of the document, then click the dropdown menu under Translate into.
Step 5: Select the desired language from the list of languages.
Step 6: Click the blue Translate button.
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Kermit Matthews is a freelance writer based in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania with more than a decade of experience writing technology guides. He has a Bachelor’s and Master’s degree in Computer Science and has spent much of his professional career in IT management.
He specializes in writing content about iPhones, Android devices, Microsoft Office, and many other popular applications and devices.