How to translate Google Slides, including the text in images

Google Slides does not have a "Translate presentation" command. As of October 2026, Google documents a built-in translator for Google Docs (Tools → Translate document), not for Slides. To translate a deck, you use a Marketplace add-on, translate it as a PowerPoint file, or pass the text through a Google Doc. Google Translate's document feature does not translate the words inside pictures, so this guide also covers screenshots, charts and diagrams.

Four ways to translate a Google Slides deck

Method 1: a Google Workspace Marketplace add-on

The add-ons that rank for "google slides translator" (Slides Translator, Translate My Slide, Document Translator and others) are third-party tools. To install one:

1. In your presentation, click Extensions → Add-ons → Get add-ons.
2. Search for "translate", open a listing, then click Install → Continue.
3. Read the access request and click Allow only if you accept it (Google Docs Editors Help: use add-ons).

Before you allow access, check four things:

• What it can read and change. One popular listing asks to see, edit, create and delete all your Google Slides presentations, connect to an external service, and see your email address and personal info. An add-on that writes translations into your slides needs edit access, but the whole request should match your company's rules.
• Where your text goes. Some listings name their engine: Google Translate, DeepL or Gemini, for example. If yours does not, ask the developer before translating a confidential deck.
• What it translates. Listings differ: some mention speaker notes, at least one mentions images. Test on a two-slide copy with a table, a grouped shape, speaker notes and a chart first.
• Limits and price. Free versions can be capped: one listing gives a daily quota, another a number of free slide translations a month.

Google also notes that some add-ons may not work correctly if the browser does not support third-party cookies.

Method 2: download as PowerPoint and translate the file

This is the free route for a full deck.

1. In Slides, click File → Download and pick the PowerPoint (.pptx) format (Google Drive Help).
2. On a computer, open Google Translate and choose the Documents tab. Set the languages (or Detect language), click Browse your computer, select the file, click Translate, then Download translation. The tab accepts .docx, .pdf, .pptx and .xlsx files up to 10 MB and is not available on smaller screens or mobile (Google Translate Help).
3. Upload the translated file to Drive, double-click it and choose Open with Google Slides (Google Workspace Learning Center).

A deck with many photos can exceed 10 MB. Split the deck, or delete the pictures you plan to replace anyway (see below) from the copy you export. Check fonts and spacing after the round trip through PowerPoint format.

Method 3: short decks, through a Google Doc

For a five-slide deck, copy the text of each slide into a new Google Doc, run Tools → Translate document, and paste each translated block back into its text box. It is slow, but you see every string and no third-party add-on gets access to your presentations. The Google Docs translation guide covers that command and what to check in the copy.

Method 4: Apps Script, for developers

Google publishes a quickstart, "Translate text from Google Slides", that builds an Editor add-on translating the selected text in shapes, tables and grouped objects with Apps Script's Language service. The sample offers nine target languages (Google for Developers). It is a starting point for an internal tool, not a finished product.

The part most methods skip: text inside pictures

A screenshot, an exported chart, a diagram pasted as a PNG or a photo of a sign is an image to Slides. Its words are pixels, not text. Google's document translator says so directly: text in images appears in the output file but is not translated (Google Translate Help). Add-ons translate text elements; at least one listing also says it translates text inside images and diagrams and regenerates the image with the translated text (Slides Translator by Automagical Apps), so if that matters, test it on a slide that contains a screenshot.

Quick test: click a word on the slide. If the whole picture gets selected, the word is part of an image, and a method that only translates text will leave it as it is.

Charts linked to Google Sheets: translate the source

A chart inserted from Google Sheets with Link to spreadsheet checked stays linked to its source. Translate the chart title, series names and category labels in the spreadsheet, then click Update on the chart in Slides, or use Tools → Linked objects → Update all to refresh every linked object at once (Google: link a chart). Link options → Open source takes you to the spreadsheet.

Pictures: extract, translate, replace

1. Get the image file. The best source is the original: the screenshot on your computer, the exported chart, the diagram file. If you only have the deck, download it in PowerPoint format, make a copy of that file and change its extension from .pptx to .zip. PowerPoint files are ZIP packages (Microsoft Learn), and Microsoft documents that pictures are in the media subfolder of the ppt folder (Microsoft Support).
2. Translate the image. Upload it to the image translator (JPG, PNG or WebP, up to 10 MB), set the source language or auto-detect, and pick the target language. In a browser window at least 1280 px wide you can also pick the business type: Technical documentation for diagrams and spec sheets, Default mode for screenshots, Marketing for promotional visuals. For a deck with many figures, batch translation takes up to 10 images per run from the Pro plan, each in one or more languages (50 translated images at most per run).
3. Swap it in. Right-click the picture in Slides, click Replace image and choose Upload from computer (Google: insert or replace images). The translated file is a newly generated image and its pixel size can differ from the original, so check that it is not stretched or cropped. Read every number and label against the original: generated images can alter digits and small text.
4. Update the alt text. Select the picture, click Image options → Alt text (or press Ctrl + Alt + Y, ⌘ + Option + Y on a Mac) and write the description in the new language (Google accessibility help).

Content-specific guides: diagrams, charts and infographics, software screenshots.

Which pictures are worth translating

Checklist after translating a Google Slides deck

• Overflow. Translated text is often longer, and short strings grow the most: IBM figures quoted by the W3C give an average expansion of 200–300% for English source strings of up to 10 characters translated into European languages (W3C). Check slide titles, labels and table headers on every slide.
• Fonts for the target script. A theme font may not include Japanese, Korean, Chinese, Arabic or Cyrillic characters. Choose one that covers the script, in the theme (Slide → Edit theme) and in any text box that uses another font.
• Right-to-left languages. For Arabic or Hebrew, check paragraph direction, bullet position and the order of arrows in process slides.
• Theme layouts. Footers and fixed labels placed in the theme (Slide → Edit theme) are not part of each slide, so slide-by-slide methods can miss them.
• Speaker notes. Check whether your method translated them. The presenter may need them in a different language from the audience.
• Alt text and links. Translate the alt text of every picture, and point links to localized pages where they exist.
• Numbers and dates. Use the target locale's conventions for decimal separators, date order and currency. Compare every figure on chart images with the original.

The same job in Microsoft PowerPoint works differently (a built-in Translator for selected text, Save as Picture, Change Picture): see How to translate a PowerPoint presentation.