On a computer, right-click any empty spot on the page and choose translate: that is the route that works even when the icon is missing from the address bar (Solution 1). To avoid asking every time, tick the option to always translate that language in the small window that appears (Solution 2). On a phone, the prompt shows up as a bar at the bottom of the page and the control lives in the browser's language settings (Solution 4). When the button disappears, the site is usually flagged as being in your own language, or you clicked 'never translate' at some point; the fix is in the language list (Solution 5). Never rely on machine translation for a contract, a medicine leaflet, a medical document or legal wording: use it as support and confirm against the original.
What causes this problem
- The browser identified the page as being in the same language as your system, so it does not offer to translate.
- You clicked 'never translate this site' or 'never translate this language' at some point, and that choice was saved.
- The page's language is not declared in the site's code, so the browser cannot detect it on its own.
- The option to offer translation is switched off in the browser's language settings.
- The page text is an image or sits inside an element the translator cannot reach, such as an embedded PDF or a heavy web app.
- You are in an incognito window, on a different profile, or running extensions that interfere with the built-in translator.
- Confirm which browser you are using. Chrome and Edge have similar paths, but the menus are not identical and the two use different translation services.
- Check that you are signed into your usual profile. Language settings and 'never translate' lists belong to the profile, not to the computer.
- Have your target language in mind, written the way the browser shows it (English - United States, for example). That avoids confusion when picking from the list.
- Update the browser before changing settings. The three-dot menu usually flags a pending update.
Solutions, in the order to try them
1Translate the open page with a right-click
This is the fastest route and the only one that works when the address bar icon is missing. It covers both pages the browser never offered to translate and pages you previously told it not to translate.
- Right-click an empty area of the page, away from any image, link or text field.
- In Chrome, choose the option to translate to your language. In Edge, choose the option to translate the page.
- Wait a few seconds: the page reloads the text already translated, keeping the layout.
- To go back to the original, click the translation icon in the address bar and choose to show the original.
- If the right-click menu does not show the option, the page may be identified as being in your language. Go to Solution 5.
2Set that language to translate automatically from now on
If you visit a lot of sites in another language, it is worth having the browser translate on its own without asking. The choice applies to the whole language, not just that one site, so doing it once covers everything that follows.
- Open a page in the foreign language and wait for the small translation window to appear in the address bar. If it does not, force it through Solution 1 and then click the translation icon.
- In that window, open the three-dot menu or the options button.
- Tick the option to always translate pages in that language.
- Reload the page to confirm: from now on it opens already translated.
- Repeat for each language you want automatic. The list of always-translated languages lives in the browser's language settings, and you can remove any of them later.
3Set up the browser's language list
The translator decides what to offer by comparing the page's language with your list of preferred languages. If that list is wrong (for example, with a language marked as one you understand), the browser will never offer to translate pages in it.
- In Chrome, open the three-dot menu > Settings > Languages. In Edge, open the three-dot menu > Settings > Languages.
- Check that your main language sits at the top of the list. Drag it, or use each item's menu to move it.
- Turn on the option asking the browser to offer to translate pages that are not in your language.
- Remove from the list any language you do not actually read. Keeping a language on that list is the most common reason the browser stops offering to translate sites written in it.
- On that same screen, Chrome keeps a list of always-translated languages and a list of never-translated ones. Review both.
4Turn translation on for your phone
On a phone the behaviour differs from the desktop: the translation prompt appears as a bar at the bottom of the page, not as an icon in the address bar. People looking in the wrong place conclude the feature is missing from the app.
- Open a foreign-language page in the browser app and look at the bottom of the screen: a bar should appear with the original language and yours.
- Tap your language to translate. Tap the original to go back.
- If the bar does not appear, open the app's three-dot menu and look for the option to translate the page.
- To make it automatic, tap the options button on that bar (usually three dots or a gear) and tick always translate that language.
- If it still does not work, go into the app's settings, find the languages section and confirm the translation prompt is turned on.
- On iPhone and iPad, both Chrome and Edge keep their own translation inside the app, independent of what Safari does.
5When the translate button does not appear
This is the most common complaint, and it almost always comes down to one of three things: the site declared the wrong language, you ticked 'never translate' before, or the translation prompt is switched off. Work through the steps in order, since they go from the most frequent cause to the rarest.
- Try the right-click route first (Solution 1). If it translates that way, the feature works and only the automatic prompt is the problem.
- In the language settings, find the list of never-translated sites and languages and clear whatever is there.
- Confirm the option to offer translation is on, as described in Solution 3.
- Reload the page bypassing the cache: hold Ctrl and click reload (or press Ctrl+Shift+R). Pages that load their text after opening sometimes fool the detection.
- Test the same page in an incognito window. If it translates there, the problem is an extension or a setting in your profile.
- If the page has little text, or the text is inside images, the translator has nothing to work with. There is no browser-side fix for that.
6Translate only a selected passage
You do not always want the whole page in another language: on a technical forum, a comment or a single paragraph, translating just the passage keeps the rest original and avoids technical terms being changed for no reason.
- Select the passage with the mouse.
- Right-click the selection and look for the option to translate the selection.
- In Edge, the translated passage appears in a side panel, leaving the original page untouched.
- In Chrome, the right-click menu offers to search or translate the selected text, and the result opens in a side panel.
- If the option does not appear for your selection, select a longer passage: very short selections are sometimes treated as a search rather than as text to translate.
7Sort out conflicts with extensions and profiles
Third-party translation extensions compete with the built-in translator and can hijack the right-click menu or stop the prompt bar from appearing. The incognito test is the quickest way to confirm that.
- Open an incognito window (Ctrl+Shift+N in Chrome, Ctrl+Shift+N in Edge) and test the same page. Extensions are disabled there by default.
- If it translates in the incognito window, go back to the normal window and disable extensions one by one until you find the culprit.
- In Chrome, the extensions page is under three-dot menu > Extensions > Manage extensions. In Edge, under three-dot menu > Extensions.
- Also confirm you are on the right profile: the round icon to the right of the address bar shows the active profile, and each profile has its own language list.
- If your browser is managed by a company or a school, some options may be locked by policy and appear greyed out. In that case, talk to whoever administers it.
8Know where machine translation gets it wrong
Machine translation is excellent for grasping the general sense of a text, but it fails in ways that cost money. It swaps technical terms for everyday synonyms, flips negations in long sentences, and adapts numbers and units unpredictably. Knowing the limit prevents bad decisions.
- Never sign, accept or decline anything based only on the translated version of a contract, terms of use or policy. Confirm against the original, or with someone who reads the language.
- A machine-translated medicine leaflet, lab report or medical instruction can invert dosage, frequency or a contraindication. Treat it as support for understanding the subject, not as an instruction.
- In legal documents, similar words carry different technical meanings in different countries. The translation picks one and never warns you there was ambiguity.
- Be suspicious of numbers, dates, units of measurement and monetary values: always check them against the original before using them.
- Compare critical passages by switching the translation on and off (through the address bar icon) so you can see the original alongside the translated version.
Applies to
| System | Status |
|---|---|
| Google Chrome on Windows, macOS and Linux | Confirmed |
| Microsoft Edge on Windows and macOS | Confirmed |
| Chrome and Edge on Android | Confirmed |
| Chrome and Edge on iPhone and iPad | Translation works inside the app, with menus arranged differently from the desktop |
Menu names can change slightly between versions. If a step above does not match what you see on screen, the official support page from the manufacturer has the most current wording for your version.
Frequently asked questions
Last checked: Aug 4, 2026 · We review this guide whenever the manufacturer changes the process.