QTranslate
A free, open-source desktop translation tool for Windows, macOS, and Linux. Select text anywhere, press Ctrl+Q, and the translation appears. No browser tab needed.
Download on GitHub
Windows: no Java needed · Other platforms: Java 11+
Now open source
·
MIT License · Browse on GitHub →
What it does
- Translate text from any application — select it and press Ctrl+Q
- Translate in place with Ctrl+Shift+T — replaces your selection
- Screen OCR — draw a rectangle over anything on screen with Ctrl+I, or drag an image / paste from clipboard
- Text to speech — hear selected text with Ctrl+E
- Spell checking with live suggestions as you type
- Summarize or rewrite text in different styles
- Backward translation to spot awkward phrasing
- Translation Rules — auto-select the target language based on detected source language
- Quick Dictionary — look up any word with Ctrl+D
- Document translation — drop in a DOCX, PDF, TXT, SRT, or VTT file and get it back translated with formatting intact
- Full translation history with browse & restore dialog
- Optional floating translate button — appears next to selected text in any app
- RTL layout support for Arabic, Hebrew, and Farsi
- 30+ themes via FlatLaf, with OS Default that follows system dark/light
- Every hotkey is rebindable
Plugins
QTranslate uses a plugin system — translation engines, OCR, TTS, and
spell checkers are all separate .jar files installed at
runtime. When a service breaks or changes its API, you swap the plugin
without reinstalling the app.
The following plugins are included:
- Google — Translator, OCR, TTS, Spell Checker, Dictionary
- Bing — Translator, TTS, Spell Checker
- AI Services — Translator, Summarizer, Rewriter, Spell Checker, Dictionary, Vision OCR (300+ models via OpenRouter)
- DeepL — Translator (API key optional, free fallback included)
- Reverso — Translator
- MyMemory — Translator (no API key needed)
- LibreTranslate — Translator (self-hosted, nothing leaves your machine)
- Mozhi — Translator (tests public instances, picks the fastest)
- Yandex Web — Translator
- Wikimedia Reference — Wikipedia and Wiktionary lookups via the official MediaWiki APIs
You can build your own plugin — a minimal translator is about 50 lines of Kotlin.
Screenshots
Installation
-
Download from
GitHub Releases
— pick the Windows build (
windows-x64.zip) or the portable zip for macOS/Linux. - Unzip anywhere.
-
Windows: run
QTranslate.exe— no Java needed, the runtime is bundled.
macOS / Linux: runQTranslate.jar(requires Java 11+, Adoptium). The app starts in the system tray.
Getting "this application requires a Java Runtime Environment"? This video walks through installing Java and setting JAVA_HOME — the first 7 minutes cover everything.
Releases
All new releases are published on GitHub Releases. Versioning restarts from 1.0.0 with the open-source release — the old versions below were pre-open-source and are kept here for reference only.
GitHub releases — current
Version 1.3.0 Latest Aug 14, 2026 Download
New
- Document translation — drop in a DOCX, PDF, TXT, SRT, or VTT file and get it back translated with formatting intact
- Windows package with bundled Java — extract and run
QTranslate.exe, no JDK or JAVA_HOME needed - Six new translation services — DeepL, Mozhi, MyMemory, LibreTranslate, Reverso, and Yandex Web join Google, Bing, and AI Services
- Wikimedia Reference — Wikipedia and Wiktionary lookups via the official MediaWiki APIs
- Optional floating translate button next to selected text — off by default, under Settings → General
- Six new rebindable shortcuts: copy translation, clear input, swap languages, open settings, show history, translate document
- New QTranslate Light and QTranslate Dark themes built on the project's own palette, WCAG-checked
Improved
- Extra output panel loads on its own — translations no longer held back waiting for the slower of two requests
- Window opens immediately on startup instead of waiting for all plugins to initialise
- Instant translation debounce reduced from 700 ms to 350 ms
- Plugin manager rebuilt — search, filter, enable, configure, and install by file picker or drag-and-drop
Fixed
- Every network service failed in the Windows package due to a missing elliptic-curve crypto provider — translation, dictionary and TTS all broken
- Global hotkeys now work on non-US keyboard layouts
- Quick Translate reads the original text aloud, not the translation
- Google translation now supports Croatian and Farsi
- Selected-text capture more reliable across applications
Version 1.2.1 May 11, 2026 Download
Themes
- Dropdown now grouped into Light, Dark, and Installed sections
- New Sync with OS checkbox — tick it and the app follows your system preference automatically
Hotkeys
- Recorder redesigned — plain field with embedded + button for special keys (Enter, Escape, F1–F12, arrows)
- Alt+1 / Alt+2 / Alt+3 focus the Input, Output, and Extra Output panes — configurable in Settings
Localisation
- 20 previously untranslated strings now localised across all 12 non-English languages
Fixed
- Target language no longer resets to Arabic on every launch
- Tab key now moves focus instead of inserting a literal character
- Caret now visible in read-only output panes across all themes
- Ctrl+C, Ctrl+X, and text drag-out work reliably in all panes
- Translator service order is now stable across restarts
- Hotkey chip text renders with proper antialiasing
Version 1.2.0 May 10, 2026 Download
New
- AI Services via OpenRouter — 300+ models (GPT-4o, Claude, Gemini, Llama…) for translation, summarize, rewrite, spell check, dictionary, and vision OCR — one API key covers everything
- Quick Dictionary — press Ctrl+D on any word for an instant floating lookup
- Translation History dialog — browse all past translations and restore any entry with one click
- Redesigned Settings — two-column services grid, hotkey chip badges, unsaved-changes indicator
- 30+ themes including OS Default that follows system dark/light preference
- Cancel translation and Stop TTS buttons
- OCR snap dialog — copy text, copy image, save image, re-crop without closing
- 13 interface languages — Bengali, Hungarian, and Italian added
Version 1.1.0 Apr 26, 2026 Download
New
- Translation Rules — automatically select the target language based on detected source language
- Image OCR via drag & drop and clipboard — drag an image or paste (Ctrl+V) to OCR and translate (PNG, JPG, BMP, TIFF)
Improved
- Window size and position now persist across restarts
- Auto-detects OS language on first launch
Fixed
- Race condition in plugin DataStore causing Google plugin to fail on startup
- Language dropdowns appearing empty and falling back to Arabic
- Multiple app instances now prevented — second launch brings existing window to front
Localisation
- Italian added (thanks @bovirus) · Hungarian added (thanks @JohnFowler58)
Version 1.0.0 Mar 25, 2026 Download
- Open-source release — full plugin system, AI plugin, RTL support, and more
- New versioning starts here. All future releases will be on GitHub.
Legacy releases — pre-open-source
Version 1.1.0 legacy Download
- Cycle between translators via Ctrl+Tab
- Customisable hotkeys in Settings
- Selected languages saved between sessions
Version 1.0.0 legacy Download
- First public release
Contact
For bugs and feature requests, please use GitHub Issues. For everything else — feedback, plugin ideas, questions — email buzz.webra@gmail.com or reach out on WhatsApp.