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Key takeaways
- ChatGPT Translate offers fast, no-frills text translations.
- The tool lets you refine clarity, tone, and intent using ChatGPT.
- It is free to use but limited to plain text and fewer languages.
OpenAI has a new AI tool: ChatGPT Translate.
Launched quietly without a big announcement or even an X post from CEO Sam Altman, ChatGPT Translate appears to be a standalone translation website that can open ChatGPT once it translates your text. So, if you already use ChatGPT for translations, you now have a dedicated place to do that with a Google Translate-like interface and support for more than 25 languages.
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You can access it directly from OpenAI's new website without opening a full ChatGPT chat and use it much like any other translation service. Just paste text on the left, and you will get a translation on the right. There is even a speaker icon to hear the translation. If this sounds familiar, it's because ChatGPT Translate is clearly positioned as an alternative to Google Translate.
(Disclosure: Ziff Davis, 's parent company, filed an April 2025 lawsuit against OpenAI, alleging it infringed Ziff Davis copyrights in training and operating its AI systems.)
How ChatGPT Translate works
I've used ChatGPT itself for translations before, but the chatbot can be overly chatty and a bit flowery. Sometimes you just want a quick response and to be done. This tool strips all that away, focusing on speed and delivering fast translations. What also makes it stand out is the ability to control clarity, tone, and intent, with access to ChatGPT's generative power a click away.
1. Go to ChatGPT Translate
ChatGPT Translate lives on its own page, separate from the main ChatGPT interface. The tool is free to use and does not require a paid account, although signing in enables full integration with ChatGPT. Presumably, paid tiers benefit indirectly through higher usage limits and faster model access.
How to access ChatGPT Translate:
- Sign in to your ChatGPT account (free or paid).
- Go to the ChatGPT website: https://chatgpt.com/translate/.
- ChatGPT Translate works on desktop and mobile browsers.
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Once loaded, you will see two large text boxes and familiar language selectors.
2. Enter the text you want translated
The left text box is where you start. You can type or paste text, and the tool will automatically detect the source language. You can also select the language yourself. There is no need to press enter, but you do need to choose a second language for the end translation.
At the moment, I count 28 available languages.
How to enter text for translation:
- Paste or type text into the left box.
- Leave the first language set to Detect language or choose one manually.
- Select the second language you want to translate your text into, such as Spanish, Hindi, Polish, and more.
- Wait for the translation to appear automatically.
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Right now, ChatGPT Translate only supports text input. There does not appear to be a way to speak text on desktop or mobile, and you cannot upload documents or images for translation.
3. Refine the translation using ChatGPT
This is where ChatGPT Translate opens into ChatGPT.
Below the translation, you will see one-tap options that let you further refine the result. For example, you can choose to make the translation more fluent or more business formal. You can also simplify it for a child or rewrite it for an academic audience, if needed.
How to refine your translation:
- Once your translated text appears, you can copy it and be done.
- Or select one of the options at the bottom to refine the result.
- For example, I translated the phrase "Can I have directions to the nearest bus station" from English to Spanish, then selected the one-tap option for explaining it to a child.
- Because I was logged into ChatGPT, I was immediately redirected to ChatGPT with a ready-made prompt: "Translate: 'Can I have directions to the nearest bus station?' to es with tone: simple."
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From there, I could keep editing, ask follow-up questions, or change the tone without starting over.
FAQs
What's the point of ChatGPT Translate?
Most translation tools stop once the text is converted. ChatGPT Translate treats that as a starting point. It assumes context, audience, and intent matter from the start, then lets you refine the result further. But let's say you are translating emails, doing schoolwork, or want professional writing, the tool then gives you more control over clarity, tone, and intent, not just accuracy.
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Basically, once you are in ChatGPT, you can do much more with your translated text, using AI to keep writing and editing from there.
How does ChatGPT Translate compare to Google Translate?
ChatGPT Translate is in its early stages. It only supports text translations on desktop and mobile. Voice input, real-time conversation mode, image uploads, document translation, and website translation are not yet available, unlike with Google Translate. Language support is also narrower than Google Translate, which supports more than 200 languages.
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While ChatGPT Translate is unique right now for its tone control and handoff to ChatGPT for deeper AI editing and writing assistance, Google Translate remains far more powerful overall, especially when it comes to its multimodal features.
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