FAQ
Is Slides Translator free?
Yes, for 30 slides a month, with no credit card needed. A slide counts once for each language you translate it into, and the count resets on the 1st of every month. A paid plan gives unlimited slide translations. See Free slides and limits and pricing.
Does it change my presentation?
Yes. The translation replaces the text in the deck you have open, after you confirm. To keep the original, make a copy first and translate the copy: the What to translate window and the confirm window both have a Make a copy first link. See Keep the original.
How do I get the original back?
Use File > Version history in Google Slides and restore the version from before the translation. Changes made by an add-on cannot be undone with Ctrl+Z.
Does Slides Translator make the copy for me?
No. Make a copy first opens Google's own Copy document page for this deck in a new tab, the same as File > Make a copy. You make the copy, open Slides Translator in it and translate there. Slides Translator creates no files and saves nothing to Google Drive.
Which languages can it translate into?
100+ languages: Afrikaans, Albanian, Amharic, Arabic, Armenian, Assamese, Azerbaijani, Basque, Belarusian, Bengali, Bosnian, Bulgarian, Burmese, Catalan, Cebuano, Chichewa, Chinese (Simplified), Chinese (Traditional), Corsican, Croatian, Czech, Danish, Dari, Dutch, English, Esperanto, Estonian, Filipino (Tagalog), Finnish, French, Frisian, Galician, Georgian, German, Greek, Haitian Creole, Hausa, Hawaiian, Hebrew, Hindi, Hmong, Hungarian, Icelandic, Igbo, Indonesian, Irish, Italian, Japanese, Javanese, Kannada, Kazakh, Khmer, Korean, Krio, Kurdish (Kurmanji), Kyrgyz, Lao, Latin, Latvian, Lithuanian, Luxembourgish, Macedonian, Malagasy, Malay, Malayalam, Maltese, Maori, Marathi, Mongolian, Nepali, Norwegian, Odia (Oriya), Pashto, Persian, Polish, Portuguese (Brazil), Portuguese (Portugal), Punjabi, Romanian, Russian, Samoan, Scots Gaelic, Serbian, Sesotho, Shona, Sindhi, Sinhala, Slovak, Slovenian, Somali, Spanish, Sundanese, Swahili, Swedish, Tajik, Tamil, Telugu, Thai, Turkish, Ukrainian, Urdu, Uyghur, Uzbek, Vietnamese, Welsh, Xhosa, Yiddish, Yoruba and Zulu. Search the list by the English name or the language's own name: Mongolian and Монгол both find it.
The language of your slides is recognised from the text, so you only choose the one to translate into. If you need a language that is not in the list, email info@skyfield.cloud.
Can I translate into several languages at once?
One language per run. For the next language, make another copy of the original and translate that one.
Is the formatting kept?
Yes. Bold, italics, underline, strikethrough, links, fonts, font sizes and colours stay where they were. The layout of the slides is not changed: text boxes keep their size and position.
Why does the translated text run past its box?
Many languages take more room than English: German, Spanish and French often run noticeably longer. Slides Translator keeps your font size, so a box that was full in English can overflow after translation. Look through the deck and, for the slides where it happens, make the text a little smaller or the box a little wider. In Google Slides, Format options > Text fitting > Shrink text on overflow does it for one box.
Does it work with Arabic and Hebrew?
Yes, both are in the list. Slides Translator writes the translated text but does not change the paragraph direction or alignment, so check those slides and set the direction in Google Slides where needed.
Are speaker notes and tables translated?
Yes. Text in shapes, tables, groups and speaker notes is translated. To leave the speaker notes as they are, turn off Translate speaker notes under the cog at the top right of the Translate tab.
Can it translate text in images?
No. Text inside a picture, a screenshot, a logo or a chart that is an image stays as it is. To translate it, put the text in a text box on the slide instead of in the image.
Can I translate only some slides?
Yes. Select the slides, or the text boxes, in Google Slides, click back in the sidebar, and set What to translate to Selection. Or choose Current slide. See Language and slides.
How do I keep a product name in English?
Add it to the Glossary as a term and leave Translate as empty. The name then stays exactly as it is in every language. See Glossary.
Why are some lines listed as needing a check?
They came back from the translator incomplete, so they were left as they were instead of being written half-translated. Click the pencil on one, write the translation and save. See Check the translation.
Can I close the sidebar while it translates?
Keep it open until it is done. Closing it stops the run at the next step. See If the sidebar was closed.
Where does the text of my slides go?
It is sent to Skyfield's server, which has it translated by an AI provider (Gemini or Claude) acting on our behalf and sends the translation straight back to the sidebar. Skyfield does not keep the text of your slides. Each run is recorded with your email address, the number of slides and the target language, to count your free slides. See the privacy policy.
Which permissions does it ask for?
Your account email, the presentation you have it open in (to read and write its text), the sidebar itself, and reaching skyfield.cloud for the translation. It asks for no access to Google Drive and cannot open your other presentations.
Can Slides Translator see my other files?
No. It reads and writes only the presentation you have it open in. It has no access to Google Drive, creates no files and does not open your other presentations.
Can I use it at school?
Yes. Teachers use it for multilingual classes, parent evenings and newsletters. See Classrooms, families and teams. The text of the slides you translate is sent to Skyfield's server and translated with Gemini or Claude, as described above, so follow your school's rules on what may be shared with an online service. Skyfield is based in the EU, in the Netherlands.
Our Google Workspace blocks add-ons. How do we get it?
If your school or company restricts the Google Workspace Marketplace, an administrator has to allow Slides Translator first. Send them this:
Please allow this add-on for our domain: Google Admin console, Apps, Google Workspace Marketplace apps, Apps list, Add app. Search for Slides Translator and allow it for the relevant organizational units.
Once they have allowed it, reload the presentation. It can take a few minutes. See Add-on not loading.
Can my school pay by invoice, or get a discount?
Yes. For schools and organizations we can issue an invoice you can pay by bank transfer, and a quote for a purchase order. Schools, universities and non-profits qualify for reduced pricing. Email info@skyfield.cloud and we'll arrange it.
Do I need a Gemini, Google AI or Claude account?
No. Every plan, including the free one, translates with Gemini or Claude through Skyfield. There is no key to set up.
Does it work in Google Docs or Sheets?
No, only in Google Slides.
Why does it say the run needs more slides than I have left?
On the free plan, the run you set up needs more slides than you have left this month. A run that does not fit is refused as a whole, before anything is translated, so nothing is counted. Pick fewer slides, or upgrade. See Free slides and limits.
Is the translation perfect?
It is a machine translation by Gemini or Claude, and a strong first draft. For anything important, such as a letter to families or a client deck, have someone who speaks the language look through the deck. Lines that came back incomplete are listed for you to fix.