Photos and screenshots
Menus, street signs, receipts, chat screenshots, a page of a textbook, or a whole album at once. The bot reads the text in the picture and translates it, keeping the line breaks.
出口Exit
Telegram Translate not working or the button is missing?
Most of the time it is one setting. Go through the checks below; if the problem is on Telegram’s side, there is a backup that works right now.
Open in Telegram
Free to start. Nothing to install, no sign-up.
배송이 지연되고 있습니다새 예상 도착일: 10월 3일
English
Your delivery is delayed New estimated arrival: October 3
Spanish
Tu envío está retrasado Nueva fecha estimada de llegada: 3 de octubre
Russian
Доставка задерживается Новая ожидаемая дата: 3 октября
Quick checks
Work through these in order; each takes a few seconds.
- Update Telegram from the App Store, Google Play or telegram.org. Old versions lack the feature.
- Open Settings → Language and make sure Show Translate Button is on.
- Open Do Not Translate on the same screen and remove the language you want translated.
- Check that the message is not already in your app language: then there is nothing to translate.
- If you use an unofficial Telegram app, try the official one. Not every third-party app supports translation.
Whole-chat translation won’t start
Translating an entire chat is a Telegram Premium feature. Without Premium the bar at the top of the chat does not appear, and you can only translate message by message. If you do have Premium and the bar is gone, open the chat menu and choose Translate there; it reappears after you close it.
When Telegram says translation is unavailable
If the Translate option is there but returns an error, the problem is on Telegram’s side rather than in your settings. It usually fixes itself. In the meantime, forward the message to the bot and pick a language.
When the button can’t help at all
Some things never get a Translate option, because there is no message text: photos, screenshots, memes, stickers with text and files. That is not a fault in your settings. For those, send the picture to the bot; it reads the text in the image and translates it into any of 86 languages.
The Translate button or the bot?
Telegram can translate text messages on its own. Here is what each option covers, so you can pick the right tool for the job.
| Telegram’s Translate button | World Translate Bot | |
|---|---|---|
| Translate a text message | Yes | Yes |
| Translate the text inside photos and screenshots | No | Yes |
| Translate PDF, DOCX and TXT files | No | Yes |
| Summarise a long text | No | Yes |
| Save the translation as DOCX or PDF | No | Yes |
| Translate a whole chat automatically | Premium only | No |
What you can send
Text messages
Type or paste any text, or forward a message from another chat or channel. The bot works out the source language by itself.
¿Dónde está la estación?Where is the station?
PDF, Word and text files
Send a PDF, DOCX or TXT file, scanned pages included. The translation comes back in the chat or as a file you can open anywhere.
MietvertragRental agreement
Summary and downloads
Under every translation there is a button for a short summary of it, and buttons to save it as TXT, DOCX or PDF.
Rapport annuel, 42 pagesThe main points in ten lines
Group chats and any chat
In a group, reply /tr to a message to read it in your language. In any other chat, type @world_translate_bot and your text to send it already translated.
Bis später!See you later!
Questions
Why did the Translate button disappear?
Usually the setting was switched off after an update or on a new device. Turn on Settings → Language → Show Translate Button again.
Why won’t Telegram translate a photo?
The built-in translation only works on message text, and text in a picture is part of the image. Send the photo to @world_translate_bot to translate it.
Do I need Premium to translate messages?
No. Single messages translate for free. Premium is needed only to translate whole chats and channels at once.
Is there a way to translate that doesn’t depend on Telegram’s feature?
Yes: forward the message or send a screenshot to the bot. It works in every Telegram app and on every account.
Try it on the next thing you can’t read
Open the bot, send a picture or a message, pick a language. It takes about ten seconds.
Open in Telegram
Free to start. Nothing to install, no sign-up.