Translate in any app
Translate where you are typing, not in a tab
An inline translator for any app: select text or type it, press one shortcut, and the translation replaces it, in Slack, Outlook, WhatsApp, Word or your browser. Live translate for chats, 50+ languages, free plan.
Every translation tool is a place you go: a website, an app, an extension with a box. You carry the text there and carry the result back, twenty times a day if you work across languages.
KeyShift translates in the field you are in. Select the text and press one shortcut, or type the sentence and add keyshift translate to Spanish and two spaces. The translation is typed where the original was. For a long chat, Live translate turns every double space into a translation, so you write in your language and they read theirs.
How to use it
- Selected text: press Ctrl+Shift+A, choose Translate, pick the language (or type to search it). Replace puts the translation in place; Copy keeps it.
- While typing: finish the sentence, type keyshift translate to German, press space twice. The sentence is replaced and the trigger words vanish.
- A long conversation: Settings → Live translate → pick the language. From then on, every double space translates what you just typed.
- One keypress: Settings → Shortcuts → Yours → bind a key to Translate alone, for example Ctrl+Shift+L, and skip the menu.
What makes it different from a translation box
- Instructions, not a menu: "translate to Brazilian Portuguese, informal" or "to German, formal, as a business email" is one action.
- Both directions: translate what they sent you (opens in a window, since you cannot edit their message), then answer and translate your reply.
- Reply across languages: select their message in Italian, choose Reply, write the gist in English, send it in Italian.
- Text you cannot select: press Ctrl+Shift+O, drag over a subtitle, an image or a scanned PDF, and translate that.
- Voice: dictate in your language with Ctrl+Shift+M and translate before inserting.
- On your phone: the KeyShift keyboard for Android translates inside WhatsApp, Telegram, Instagram and any other app.
Compared with translation websites and extensions
| Translation websites and extensions | KeyShift | |
|---|---|---|
| Where the translation appears | In their box; you copy it back | In your text field, replacing the original |
| While chatting | Tab switching | Live translate on double space |
| Tone and register as input | No | Formal, casual, short: part of the instruction |
| Languages | A fixed list | 50+, free-text instructions, dialects |
| Images, video, PDFs | Upload or camera | Any region of the screen |
| Works in | Browser, their app | Any app on Windows, macOS, Android |
| Cost | Free with limits | Free plan: 25 actions a month; Pro from €4 a month |
Tips
- Live translate is the feature people miss: turn it on once for a WhatsApp or Slack chat with someone abroad and leave it on.
- Set a dedicated hotkey for Translate if you do it more than ten times a day.
- Add "keep the formatting" to the instruction when translating lists or bullet points.
How KeyShift works, in any app
- Quick Actions: select text, press Ctrl+Shift+A (⌘⇧A on Mac), pick an action. The result replaces the selection.
- The typed trigger: write normally, add keyshift plus your instruction, press space twice. No selection, no shortcut.
- Voice (Ctrl+Shift+M), text from screen (Ctrl+Shift+O) and clipboard history (Ctrl+Shift+V) for the text you do not have yet.
- Undo any replacement with Ctrl+Shift+Z, up to 20 steps.
Windows 10 and later, macOS 11 and later, and Android. See the getting started guide.
Questions people ask
Which languages are supported?
50+ languages, with automatic detection of the source. Because the instruction is free text, dialects and registers work too: Swiss German, Brazilian Portuguese, informal Spanish.
How good is the quality compared with DeepL or Google Translate?
Translations come from current frontier models (OpenAI, Claude, Gemini, or your own choice on Pro). For messages, emails and documents the quality is on par, and you can ask for a tone, which a box cannot do.
Can I translate text someone else wrote?
Yes. Select it and run Translate; the result opens in a window because you cannot edit their message. For text in an image or video, use Text from screen.
Does it work on my phone?
On Android, with the KeyShift keyboard from Google Play. iPhone is in development.
Try it in your own apps
Free plan, 25 AI actions a month, no card needed. Pro from €4 a month billed yearly.