The short answer: There’s no separate Google Translate keyboard. It’s the Translate tool inside Gboard, Google’s keyboard. At the top of Gboard, tap Open features menu (the four squares), tap Translate, pick your two languages and type: the translation goes into your message box as you type. It only translates what you write, and only while Gboard is your keyboard. Swift Translate Keyboard also translates the messages you copy.
What the Google Translate keyboard is
Gboard is Google’s keyboard for Android, and Google Translate is built into it. On Google Play, Gboard lists Google Translate among its features: you translate as you type, inside the keyboard. There’s no other Google Translate keyboard app to download.
Many Android phones come with Gboard already. Galaxy phones come with the Samsung Keyboard instead, which has its own Translate tool (see the fixes below). If Gboard isn’t your keyboard yet, install it from Google Play and set it as your keyboard.
How to translate as you type with Gboard
- Make sure Gboard is the keyboard you’re using.
- Open any app you can type in, such as Gmail, Keep or a chat app.
- Tap the place where you type, so the keyboard opens.
- At the top of the keyboard, tap Open features menu (the icon with four squares).
- Tap Translate.
- Pick the language to translate from. You can leave it on Detect language.
- Pick the language to translate into.
- Type your text in the box above the keys. You see a preview of the translation as you type. Tap the preview to see other ways to translate it.
- To use the translation, tap Select.
The translated text goes into the app’s message box, so you can send it as usual. To close the translator, tap Close features menu.
Google notes that some of these steps only work on Android 7.0 and up. Its own help page, Translate as you type, shows the same steps with the icons.
Put Translate on the toolbar
To skip the features menu next time, open it and drag the Translate icon up to the row of shortcuts at the top of the keyboard. That row holds five shortcuts at most, so you may have to remove one first. This is how you add Google Translate to your keyboard so it stays in view.
Speak instead of typing
You can speak into the translation box instead of typing. Google notes that talk-to-text doesn’t work with every language, so it may not work for yours.
Gboard Translate not showing or not working? Why, and how to fix it
| What you see | Why, and what to do |
|---|---|
| No Translate button at the top of the keyboard | It’s inside the features menu. Tap Open features menu (four squares), then Translate. To keep it in view, drag it to the toolbar (see above). |
| No features menu at all | You’re probably not using Gboard. This is common on Galaxy phones, which use the Samsung Keyboard. Install Gboard and choose it as your keyboard, or use Samsung’s own tool: tap More options (the three dots) on the keyboard, then Translate. |
| Translate is missing or acts strangely | Update Gboard from Google Play, then open the keyboard again. |
| Your language isn’t in the list | Gboard translates the languages Google Translate offers. If yours isn’t one of them, Gboard can’t translate it. |
| A message that the network is unavailable | Check your phone’s connection (Wi-Fi or mobile data), then try again. |
| Speaking into the box doesn’t work | Talk-to-text doesn’t work with all languages. Type your message instead. |
Can Gboard translate messages you receive?
No. Gboard’s Translate works on what you write. Google’s help doesn’t describe a way to translate a message someone sent you. For that, Google has other tools:
- Tap to Translate, in the Google Translate app. Open the Translate app, tap Menu > Settings, then Tap to Translate > Enable. After that, highlight the message, tap Copy, and tap the Google Translate bubble that appears. Choose the language you want. It works with text, not images, and the first time it may ask to display over other apps.
- Circle to Search. On phones that have it, touch and hold the Home button or the navigation bar, then tap Translate.
- Live Translate on Pixel 6 and later. It can translate messages in some chat apps. Turn it on in Settings > System > Live Translate.
- WhatsApp’s own Translate, for WhatsApp messages. See how to translate WhatsApp messages.
The Google Translate keyboard on iPhone
Google’s help still lists Translate for Gboard on iPhone, with the same steps: Open features menu, Translate, pick the languages, type, then Select. But Google hasn’t updated the iPhone app since 2022.
Apple’s own keyboard has no translate button. In Apple’s Messages app, Live Translation can translate a conversation on iPhones with Apple Intelligence: see how to translate iMessages. For your other chat apps, Swift Translate Keyboard for iPhone translates what you type and the messages you copy. Our iPhone roundup compares the other options.
What Gboard’s Translate doesn’t do
Gboard’s Translate is useful, and it’s already on many phones. It also has clear limits:
- It doesn’t translate what you receive. It works on what you write. To read their reply, you need another tool (see above).
- You set the languages. Gboard doesn’t know which language the other person writes in. You pick the language to translate into, and you change it when you write to someone else.
- It only works while Gboard is your keyboard. If you prefer another keyboard, you have to switch each time.
If you only write a line in another language now and then, Gboard’s Translate is all you need.
A keyboard that translates both ways: Swift Translate Keyboard
Swift Translate Keyboard handles the writing half much as Gboard does, and adds the reading half.
- To write: type your message in your language and tap Translate. It turns into their language right in the message box. If you want to change something, the pencil brings your own words back.
- To read: copy a message in another language, and Translate copied text appears on the keyboard. Tap it to read the message in your language on a card, without leaving the chat.
It translates between more than 100 languages and detects the language of a message for you. The keys come in more than 60 languages, with word suggestions and auto-correction. It works in WhatsApp, Messenger, Instagram, Telegram, your texts and the other apps where you type. Nothing you type is sent until you tap Translate.
Want to keep Gboard? Swift Translate, our main app, works with whatever keyboard you use. Drag its floating bubble onto a message to read it, and a translation card appears next to the text. To reply, type in your language, drag the bubble onto what you wrote, check the card and send.
FAQ
Is there a Google Translate keyboard app to download?
No. The Google Translate keyboard is Gboard, Google’s keyboard, which you get from Google Play. Its Translate tool is in the features menu at the top of the keyboard.
How do I add Google Translate to my keyboard?
In Gboard, tap Open features menu, then Translate. To keep it on the keyboard, drag the Translate icon to the toolbar at the top. On a Galaxy with the Samsung Keyboard, use Samsung’s own Translate (under the three dots), or install Gboard.
Does Gboard Translate work in WhatsApp?
Yes. It works in WhatsApp’s message box like in any other app where you type. To read the WhatsApp messages you receive, use WhatsApp’s own Translate in the message menu.
Why is Gboard Translate not working?
Check that Gboard is your keyboard, that Translate is in the features menu or on the toolbar, and that Gboard is up to date. If you see that the network is unavailable, check your connection. If your language is missing, Google Translate doesn’t offer it.
Is there a Google Translate keyboard for PC?
Not as an app. On a computer, the Google Translate website has an on-screen keyboard for letters your own keyboard doesn’t have. Next to “Detect language”, click the arrow and choose the language you’re typing in. Then click the arrow at the bottom left of the text box and pick a keyboard.
Does Gboard Translate work on Samsung phones?
Yes, once you install Gboard and choose it as your keyboard. Or use the Samsung Keyboard’s own Translate, which is already on your phone: tap More options (the three dots), then Translate.
Related: Best translator keyboards for Android · Translator keyboard: how to translate while you type · Translate keyboard for Android