Microsoft Edge lets you do a lot of cool things while surfing the web, whether on your smartphone or on your PC. For example, you can play a surfing game offline, share files between your devices, and have Edge read aloud, among other things.
But did you also know that Edge can translate websites into different languages? In this article, you’ll learn everything you need to know about translating web pages with Microsoft Edge.
How to Translate Websites in Microsoft Edge on Desktop
Thanks to its built-in translation engine, newer versions of Microsoft Edge can easily and automatically translate websites on both desktop and mobile app. You can choose a language from the dozens of languages supported by Microsoft Edge Translator.
Here’s how to translate a foreign language website when using Edge on desktop.
- First, make sure your Edge browser is up to date. We’ve explained how to update your Microsoft Edge browser.
- Open the foreign language website you want to translate. For this demonstration, we will translate the content of a Spanish website into English.
- If you are using the latest Microsoft Edge browser, you will automatically be prompted to translate the website to the default language of your Edge browser or Windows system. In this case, it will probably be English.
- If that fails, just click the Translation button nestled between the Favorites and read aloud Icons.
- In the future, if you want Edge to automatically translate all foreign language websites into English, check the box Always translate web pages from XYZ box, where XYZ is the foreign language you are translating from.
- Now you should see options to translate the page. Click on Translate.
The page will be automatically translated in the same window. There are currently over 78 different languages to choose from in Microsoft Edge Translator.
How to Translate Websites in Microsoft Edge on Mobile
If you’re using the Microsoft Edge mobile app, you can also take advantage of Edge’s translation feature. To translate a foreign language website on the Edge mobile app:
- Update your Edge browser if you haven’t already. Learn how to update your Microsoft Edge mobile app.
- Now go to the foreign language website you want to translate.
- You will automatically receive a translation prompt at the bottom of your screen. Tap the three points to your right to display more menu options.
- Here you can add more languages, adjust your translation settings, or report that the page displays the wrong language.
Just like the desktop browser, the Microsoft Edge mobile app also supports over 70 different languages, ranging from Afrikaans to Welsh.
How to Manage Your Language Translation Preferences in Microsoft Edge
You can also manage how translation works in Microsoft Edge by changing a few key settings in your browser’s language manager. For example, you can configure Microsoft Edge to:
- Translate different websites into different languages.
- Always translate a particular website into a particular language for all your visits.
- Never translate a particular website into a particular language for all of your visits.
- Never translate a specific website or language.
- Always translate all websites into a particular language for all visits.
- Never translate a website into a particular language.
There are two easy ways to do this, on desktop and on the mobile app. On the desktop, navigate to the foreign language website you want to translate, navigate to the Translator dialog box, and click Not now.
On the Edge mobile app, open the foreign language website you want to translate, tap the three dots buttonthen select your translation preferences.
Managing your translator settings in Microsoft Edge
Microsoft Edge also lets you change your translator settings directly from your browser settings. Here’s how:
- Launch Microsoft Edge on your desktop.
- Click on the three dot menu button (More Actions) in the upper right corner.
- Scroll all the way down and click Settings.
- In the left pane, click Languages.
- To add languages that are not listed in your “Preferred languages”, click Add languages. If you can’t find the language you need, here’s how to add language packs to Windows 10.
- Select from the options presented or use the search box to search for the particular language you want to add.
- Click on To add once you have finished. Any language you add this way will appear under your “Preferred languages”. Note that foreign language websites you visit will be translated into the first language listed under your “Preferred languages”.
- To change your preferred language in Edge, be sure to add it to your list of preferred languages, as described above.
- Then click on the three dots button (more actions) to the right of the tongue.
- Click on Show Microsoft Edge in this language. The selected language will then become your preferred language in Edge.
This is the language that Edge will translate foreign language websites into by default. This may be different from your preferred language in your Windows operating system.
You can also tell Edge to stop offering to translate foreign language pages that are not in a language you read or understand by simply disabling the Offer to translate pages that are not in a language I read rocker switch.
If you leave this setting enabled by default, Microsoft Edge will automatically pass content from a page written in a language that is not in your “Preferred languages” list to the Microsoft Translator service for translation.
Browse in your preferred language with Microsoft Edge
With Microsoft Edge’s translate feature, not only can you browse a website in your preferred language, but you can also read it aloud in any supported language.
While Microsoft Edge Translator does a decent job of translating websites, like all machine learning models, it also has its limitations. Therefore, if you are working on an academic paper, for example, you might want to check your translations with an actual native speaker.
That being said, the Microsoft Edge browser is undoubtedly a feature-rich and capable browser. Like most modern browsers, it’s also built on the Chromium platform, but can give Chrome a run for its money.