Translate

Use Translate to translate an existing document from personal Files or a project. The translated file is delivered as a download; the app does not automatically write it back into Files or the project.

How the flow works

1. Open Translate from a document action or through /translate.
2. Select the document.
3. Choose a target language from the fixed list.
4. Start the translation job.
5. Wait for background status updates and then download the result.

The actual format matrix

Not every upload format is also a translation format.

Source file	Backend path	Result	Notes
.docx	Google document translation	new .docx file	preserves Word format; this is the only Word-native translation path
.pdf	DeepL document translation	new .pdf file	useful for non-editable documents
.pptx	DeepL document translation	new .pptx file	.ppt upload is supported, but translation supports .pptx only
.xlsx	DeepL document translation	new .xlsx file	spreadsheet stays spreadsheet
.htm, .html	DeepL document translation	new HTML file	mainly relevant if such files already exist in your document layer
.txt	DeepL document translation	new .txt file	plain text stays plain text
.md, .json, .xml	DeepL text translation	new .txt file	structure is not preserved as native output
Other upload formats	unsupported	error response	for example audio, images, .ppt, email, CAD

Status values on the Translate page

You may see stages such as:

• queued / waiting
• active
• downloading
• translating
• translating_text
• completed
• failed

Practical consequences

• An uploadable file is not automatically a translatable file.
• Presentations are the clearest example:
  • .pptx translates;
  • .ppt uploads, but does not translate.
• For technical or structured text files (.md, .json, .xml), you get a .txt result back.

Quality tips

• Make sure the source is readable; poor OCR produces poor translations.
• Manually verify legal key terms.
• Use chat afterwards to review terminology and consistency.

More: Files and Chat.