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.

v1.5.0 · Sep 29, 2026 All downloads, checksums and individual plugins →

Now open source · Browse the code and licenses →
QTranslate — a translation, its backward translation, and the Quick Dictionary open beside them QTranslate — a translation, its backward translation, and the Quick Dictionary open beside them
Now availableQTranslate 1.5.0 · September 29, 2026

A familiar workspace, with more ways to work.

Version 1.5.0 keeps the original QTranslate's fast service switching and adds parallel comparison, offline system tools, and more control over the workspace. Download it above for Windows, macOS, or Linux.

Classic service selector in QTranslate's light theme Classic service selector in QTranslate's dark theme
Classic service tabs stay visible across the width. More holds the services that do not fit, and the gear stays separate.
Several translation providers shown together in the Comparison layout, in the light theme Several translation providers shown together in the Comparison layout, in the dark theme

Compare translations

Build one ordered translator set and read the results together in the new Comparison layout. Classic and Side by Side remain; Comparison replaces Compact.

Services and Presets settings, with the System Services entries, in the light theme Services and Presets settings, with the System Services entries, in the dark theme

Use your computer's own tools

System Services brings offline OCR, speech and spell checking. Windows and macOS include the engines; Linux uses installed system tools.

Read the 1.5.0 release notes and downloads for the full list.

What it does

Translate anywhere Ctrl+Q

Select text in any application and read it translated, in place.

Replace as you go Ctrl+Shift+T

Swaps your selection for the translation, without a round trip.

Screen OCR Ctrl+I

Draw a box over anything on screen. Or drop an image in, or paste one from the clipboard.

Read it aloud Ctrl+E

Hear the pronunciation of the source or the translation.

Quick Dictionary Ctrl+D

Definitions for any word without leaving what you were reading. Translate a single word and the definition is simply there.

See the word Ctrl+Shift+Q

Reference pictures from Wikimedia Commons, for the words a definition does not settle. Diagrams, not stock photography.

Whole documents

DOCX, PDF, TXT, SRT and VTT. DOCX structure and subtitle timing are preserved; PDF layout is best effort.

Summarize & rewrite

Shorten a passage, or recast it formal, casual or simplified.

Backward translation

Translate the result back to spot phrasing that has drifted.

Spell checking

Live suggestions as you type, before you translate.

Translation rules

Pick the target language automatically from the language detected.

History you can search

Every translation kept, browsable, and restorable in a click.

Right-to-left, properly

The whole window mirrors for Arabic, Hebrew and Farsi — not just the text.

Three layouts, 30+ themes

Classic, Side by Side, or Comparison. Themes follow your system light and dark, and five icon sets change how the whole interface is drawn.

Every key rebindable

Switch between Legacy QTranslate and Modern presets, or customize every binding as a global or app-only shortcut.

Private, local AI

Point it at Ollama or LM Studio and nothing leaves your machine. No account, no API key, no per-word cost. For anything under an NDA.

Your network, your rules

An HTTP proxy with credentials, timeouts you set yourself, and a cap on how much any one service may open. In one place, not once per plugin.

Translate the app itself

A built-in editor lists every string with its English beside yours, shows what is still missing, and can draft a suggestion for you to correct. Translators are credited by name.

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.

Twelve plugins are bundled with 1.5.0. Some providers need an API key or your own server:

Plugin Provides Setup
Google TranslateOCRSpeechSpellingDictionary None
System Services OCRSpeechSpelling Offline; Linux uses installed system tools
AI Services TranslateSummarizeRewriteSpellingDictionaryVision OCR OpenRouter key or a local compatible endpoint
Bing TranslateSpeechSpelling None
DeepL Translate Optional key — free tier works without one
LibreTranslate Translate Self-hosted — nothing leaves your machine
Mozhi Translate None — tests public instances, picks the fastest
MyMemory Translate None
Reverso Translate None
Yandex Translate None
Wikimedia DictionaryImages None — Wikipedia, Wiktionary and Commons via the MediaWiki API
CSV Dictionary Dictionary None — reads a file you choose; nothing leaves your machine

You can build your own plugin — a minimal translator is about 50 lines of Kotlin.

Screenshots

Real application captures at twice the size for sharp detail. The gallery follows the site theme: every shot is captured in both themes, so the gallery you see is the same set either way.

QTranslate 1.5 — Classic service selector QTranslate 1.5 — Classic service selector QTranslate 1.5 · Classic selector QTranslate 1.5 — Comparison layout QTranslate 1.5 — Comparison layout QTranslate 1.5 · Comparison layout Everything at once Everything at once Everything at once Main window Main window Main window Quick translate popup Quick translate popup Quick translate popup Translation history Translation history Translation history Document translation Document translation Document translation Side by side Side by side Side by side Dictionary docked Dictionary docked Dictionary docked Quick Dictionary popup Quick Dictionary popup Quick Dictionary popup Arabic — with dictionary Arabic — with dictionary Arabic — with dictionary Arabic — main window Arabic — main window Arabic — main window General General General Appearance Appearance Appearance Services & Presets Services & Presets Services & Presets Plugins Plugins Plugins Keyboard & Hotkeys Keyboard & Hotkeys Keyboard & Hotkeys Behavior Behavior Behavior Languages Languages Languages Layout Layout Layout Popups Popups Popups Network Network Network

Installation

Windows

  1. Download the Windows build above and unzip it anywhere.
  2. Run QTranslate.exe. Nothing else to install — the Java runtime is inside.

macOS & Linux

  1. Install Java 17 or later if you do not have it — Adoptium is the usual source.
  2. Download the portable zip above and unzip it anywhere.
  3. Run QTranslate.jar, or from a terminal: java -jar QTranslate.jar

The app starts in the system tray. The portable zip carries every bundled plugin, the language files and the themes — nothing is written outside its own folder, so it travels on a USB stick.

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
1.5.0 Latest Sep 29, 2026 Downloads →
New
  • System Services. Offline OCR, speech, and spell checking through your computer's own engines; Windows and macOS include them, while Linux uses installed tools.
  • Comparison layout. See results from an ordered set of translators together, alongside Classic and Side by Side.
  • Hotkey presets and window pin. Choose Legacy QTranslate or Modern bindings and keep the main window above other windows when needed.
  • More languages. Indonesian, Ukrainian, Traditional Chinese, and Korean bring the interface to 18 bundled locale files.
Improved
  • The Classic selector keeps the active translator visible and places extra services under More. Image Search adds a provider picker and a full-size viewer.
  • The portable ZIP and app-only JAR require Java 17+. The Windows build includes Java. Project source now uses MPL 2.0.
1.4.1 Aug 18, 2026 Downloads →
Fixed
  • The update dialog offered a plugin, not the application. Releases now match assets by name instead of taking the first one — which was always a bundled plugin. Windows users are offered the self-contained package, everyone else the portable archive, and the bare application JAR is the last resort. A release that does not resolve opens the release page rather than guessing wrong
  • The icon sets and license notices made it into the downloads. The portable ZIP and Windows package now ship Material Symbols, Tabler, Phosphor and Heroicons — plus the license for every bundled font, icon set and theme — beside the languages and themes folders
Improved
  • The application icon is now a multi-resolution set — 16 to 1024 pixel renditions in one set, drawn by the window and tray at a native size instead of scaling a single small copy up
1.4.0 Aug 18, 2026 Downloads →
New
  • A translation editor. Translate the app itself without leaving it: every string with its English beside yours, a filter for what is missing, and a draft suggestion you can correct. Translators are credited by name, and Settings says how complete each language is
  • Network settings. An HTTP proxy with credentials kept in the secret store, timeouts for the whole request and for each stage, a longer timeout for one particular service, configurable retries, and a cap on connections per service
  • Image search Ctrl+Shift+Q. Reference pictures from Wikimedia Commons for the words a definition does not settle, filtered to diagrams or photographs
  • A short definition under single-word translations, in the popup and the main window, with no click and no toggle
  • A local, private AI setup. Point AI Services at Ollama or LM Studio and nothing leaves your machine: no account, no API key, no per-word cost
  • CSV Dictionary plugin. Look terms up in your own CSV: a glossary, an abbreviation list, error codes, study mnemonics
  • Five icon sets. Lucide, Material Symbols, Phosphor, Tabler and Heroicons, or a folder of your own SVGs
  • Search the settings. Find any setting by name, by its section, or by a word that appears only in its explanation
  • Vietnamese, contributed by the community, plus improvements to Turkish, Hungarian and Italian
Improved
  • Plugin API v2. What a service is for now follows from the interfaces it implements, settings are typed and scoped per plugin, credentials live in their own store, and plugins are handed an HTTP client by the app. Plugins built against v1 must be rebuilt; existing service selections convert automatically
  • Settings reorganised into two groups rather than eight flat pages, and the Quick Translate popup can change languages and be driven entirely from the keyboard
  • API keys moved out of the plugin settings file into a separate credential store
  • Popup auto-hide raised from 3 seconds to 12, and definitions from 8 to 20, neither of which was long enough to read
  • Plugins can ship their own translations, so plugin text is no longer English-only
Fixed
  • QTranslate now renders at the display's scale. On a 150% or 200% screen it had been drawing scaled icons around unscaled text and opening at half the size its contents needed
  • The interface no longer grows by a further 25% on every theme or font change
  • Translation requests are no longer sent twice when a service fails mid-request, which could mean paying twice for one attempt
  • The Arabic interface lays out correctly, including the Settings dialog and the docked dictionary
  • Choosing English as the interface language now survives a restart
  • Unreadable settings are copied aside and reported instead of being silently replaced by defaults
  • A translation containing an ordinary percent sign could take down the window that showed it
  • Windows on a display left of or above the main one no longer fail when their position is saved, and a window saved on a monitor that is no longer attached comes back into view
1.3.0 Aug 14, 2026 Downloads →
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
1.2.1 May 11, 2026 Downloads →
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
1.2.0 May 10, 2026 Downloads →
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
1.1.0 Apr 26, 2026 Downloads →
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)
1.0.0 Mar 25, 2026 Downloads →
  • 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
1.1.0 legacy Download
  • Cycle between translators via Ctrl+Tab
  • Customisable hotkeys in Settings
  • Selected languages saved between sessions
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.

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