Google Translate 2.0.17 for Windows

Google Translate 2.0.17 is the Windows entry of Google Translate, Google's multilingual neural machine translation service. On a PC it works in the browser, through the website translate.google.com and a browser extension for Google Chrome, and you can download it free of charge.

About Google Translate

Google launched its translation service on April 28, 2006, and it has since become a daily tool for people who read news in foreign languages, study, travel or work with international colleagues. The service uses neural machine translation, which looks at whole sentences rather than word by word, so results read more naturally than older systems. On Windows it is used in the browser. The website takes longer texts, while the extension brings translation to the pages you visit, so you can understand a paragraph without copying it to another tab. For students writing essays in a second language, remote workers exchanging messages across countries or shoppers on foreign websites, this saves many small steps every day.

Key facts

• Version: 2.0.17
• Developer: Google
• First release: April 28, 2006
• Type: machine translation service and website
• Interface: multiple languages
• Size: about 1.09 MiB according to catalogue data

How to set it up

1. Install or update Google Chrome if you do not use it yet.
2. Add the Google Translate extension from the Chrome Web Store and check that the publisher is Google.
3. Pin the extension to the toolbar for quick access.
4. For longer texts and documents, open translate.google.com.

Privacy

Text you translate is sent to Google's servers. Do not paste passwords, contracts, medical records or other confidential material into an online translator. Install the extension only from the Chrome Web Store: fake translator extensions are a known way to collect browsing data.

Getting better translations

Write short, clear sentences without slang, check names and numbers after translating and, for important texts, ask a native speaker to review the result. Machine translation is a strong helper, but it can miss tone and context.

Useful habits

Keep the translator for understanding rather than for publishing. When you write to someone in their language, translate your text, then translate it back to your own language to spot obvious errors. For recurring phrases, such as greetings in business emails, save a checked version and reuse it. When you read a long foreign article, translate the headings first to decide whether the full text is worth your time.

Price

Google Translate is free.

Pros and cons

• Pro: free and quick.
• Pro: translation right on the page.
• Pro: many languages.
• Con: requires an internet connection in the browser.
• Con: not suitable for confidential texts.

Alternatives

For browsers with built-in translation tools, see Microsoft Edge and Opera in our listings.