How to translate offline on Windows 11

Set up Windows Live captions

1. Open Windows Settings. Choose Accessibility, then Captions, and turn on Live captions.
2. Finish setup while online. Accept on-device voice processing and complete the initial language-file download.
3. Choose the caption language. In the Live captions window, open Settings, then Change language. Choose English (United States) or Chinese (Simplified), select Continue and finish any requested download.

Processing happens on the PC, and captions work offline after setup. This translates spoken audio into captions. Glassline adds a translator for phrases you type into Search.

Turn on Glassline translation

Glassline translation is optional, in beta and off until you turn it on.

1. Install Glassline from the Microsoft Store. Open it before following the steps below.
2. Open Glassline Settings. Right-click the menu bar and choose Glassline Settings.
3. Choose Search. Under Translation (beta), turn on Translate in Search. This switch enables the optional translator.
4. Choose your languages under Languages. There are 49 languages. English is built in; each other language downloads once when chosen, using 30 to 100 MB. Finish those downloads while connected.

Translate and copy a phrase

1. Press the Windows key. Glassline Search opens.
2. Type translate good morning to spanish. The translation appears in the results. The first translation can take up to 10 seconds; the next ones appear at once.
3. Press Enter on the translation. Glassline copies the answer so you can paste it where you need it.

Once the languages are downloaded, you can repeat this with your connection off. The translation is made on the PC, so the text you type stays there.

Set your usual language

1. Open Settings, then Search. Find Preferred language and choose the language you usually translate into.
2. Type translate apple in Search. Glassline uses your preferred language whenever you leave the destination out. Name a language in the query whenever you want another destination.

Keep word lookups offline

Whole phrases come out well because the surrounding words give context. A single word sometimes translates less well, so try the phrase it belongs to.

For offline use, leave Look up single words online off in Settings, Search. That separate switch is off by default. Turning it on sends the word to Wiktionary for a lookup; leaving it off keeps translation on your PC.