Tip of the Week: Translating an Email within Gmail

How often do you receive emails from someone written in another language? We bet the answer is “not often,” but you never know when being able to translate an email might come in handy—especially if you ever do business overseas. Let’s go over the built-in translation functionality that comes with Gmail.

Now, before we get started, it should be clear that these translation functions are not going to be 100% accurate, and the only way you’ll know exactly what is being said is by working with someone who is fluent in the language. That said, you should be able to get a decent idea of what is being said from Google’s translation, so if that’s all you’re after, then by all means, give it a try.

How to Translate an Email in Gmail

First, you might notice that Gmail is already offering to translate the message because it recognizes that the message is in another language. In cases like this, it will show the detected language, the language your Gmail is set to, and a Translate button. If you click it, it will run the translation right there.

If you don’t see the option, you will have to use the three-dot menu on the message to locate the Translate Message menu. This will open up the Translate bar, where you can either select the language from the drop-down list or you can have Gmail try to detect the language. After you do this, just click on the Translate Message button. You can then revert it back to the original by clicking on the button again.

If you would rather the message just automatically translate, you’ll see the option on the right side of the screen, along with the language you have selected, after you translate your message. You can also disable automatic translations in much the same way by using the same selection.

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