If you are planning a holiday, working with colleagues or clients in different countries, or if you are just wanting to research something that happens to be in a different language, then you may be wondering if it is possible to translate a webpage into English or another language so you can read them.
The really good news is that this will soon become a simple process as Apple’s iOS 14 and macOS Big Sur will include a new feature that will make translations easier than ever.
How Translations will work in iOS 14 & macOS Big Sur
Once iOS 14 and macOS Big Sur arrive this autumn it will be possible to translate an entire webpage from or to the following languages: English, Spanish, Simplified Chinese, French, German, Russian, or Brazilian Portuguese. The new webpage translation feature will initially be in Beta, even once the operating systems are out of beta.
To find out how to use Siri and the new Apple Translate app on the iPhone read: How to translate text and speech on iPhone.
How Safari Translations will work in iOS 14
- When you arrive at a website you want to translate you will just need to tap on the button on the left or the address bar: it looks like aA.
- This will bring up some additional options compared to iOS 13, including a new Translate to English option (This will default to your device’s language).
- Tap Enable Translation if required.
- If you want to return to the original, tap on Translate (which will have replaced the aA button).
- Tap View Original.
Read more about the features in iOS 14 here.
How Safari Translations will work in macOS Big Sur
Apple hasn’t revealed exactly how the Translation feature will work in Safari on the Mac as yet. However, we expect that it will be performed in a similar fashion to the iPhone and iPad.
Read more about the new features in macOS Big Sur here.
How to translate webpages now
Right now there are a few options if you want to translate webpages on the iPhone, iPad or Mac. These include using the Microsoft Translator app, Google Chrome on iPhone, iPad and Mac, or using the Google Translate website. We’ll cover each below.
Using Microsoft Translator
One way to easily translate webpages is to use the free Microsoft Translator app on your iPhone or iPad. There is no Microsoft Translator app for the Mac.
Here’s how to use Microsoft Translator app:
- Download the Microsoft Translator app here.
- Open the webpage you want to translate in Safari and tap on the Share button at the bottom.
- Scroll down and you should see Translator.
- The app will begin to translate the page into your default language (you can change this language in the app’s settings). A yellow bar at the top of the page will give an indication of how much progress has been made with the translation.
Using Google Chrome on iOS
You can also use Chrome to automatically translate webpages.
Chrome for iOS includes a built-in translator.
- Download the Google Chrome app for iOS here (it’s free)
- Open Chrome on your iPhone or iPad.
- Go to the page you want to translate.
- At the bottom of the screen you will see an invitation to translate the page into a language – it will show you the language the page is written in and your default language.
- Tap on English (assuming that’s your default language).
- The page will translate into your language. If you want to see the original then just tap on the other language shown.
Sometimes we found that the translation option wasn’t immediately visible, this may be due to a delay while the translation takes place or it may just need to be triggered by scrolling around on the page a bit.
Using Google Chrome on a Mac
You can also translate webpages using Chrome on the Mac.
- Open Chrome on your Mac. (You can download it here)
- Go to the page you want to translate.
- In the address bar you will see a Google Translate icon. Click on it.
- You will see two language options: your own language and the one the page is written in. Choose your language.
Using Google Translate on a Mac
If you would rather not use Chrome, you can just use the Google Translate webpage to translate entire webpages.
- Go to the Google Translate webpage.
- Paste the URL of the website you wish to translate into the first box and choose the language it is written in. If you aren’t sure you could choose Detect Language.
- Now choose the language you wish to translate it into.
Once you are viewing the page in the translated language any links you click on within the page will be automatically translated for you. This is particularly useful if you want to translate entire websites.
Another language related feature coming in iOS 14 is the new Translate app. You can learn how to use that here: How to use Apple Translate.
Author: Karen Haslam, Editor
Macworld editor since 2008, Karen has worked on both sides of the Apple divide, clocking up a number of years at Apple's PR agency prior to joining Macworld almost two decades ago.
Karen's career highlights include interviewing Apple's Steve Wozniak and discussing Steve Jobs’ legacy on the BBC. Her focus is Mac, but she lives and breathes Apple.