Easily translate with ChatGPT and Office products! Introducing methods and benefits.

1. How to Translate Office Products - Word, Excel, PowerPoint, and Outlook Documents

1-1. Use standard features of Office applications

Each Office application comes with a built-in automatic translation function. We will explain how to use it for each application. Please note that the input and output data when using the standard automatic translation in any application will not be reused. Data reuse refers to the use of translation input and output data for the training of machine translation models and improvement of services. Please be aware of the data reuse policy as there is a possibility of confidential information leaking to external sources.

For Word: You can use it from the "Proofing" tab on the ribbon, "Language" → "Translation". You can translate the selected range with "Translate Selection", or translate the entire file with "Translate Document". If you select "Translate Selection", the translated text will be displayed in a separate panel and can be inserted into the main text. If you select "Translate Document", a separate file will be created after the translation is executed and that file will be displayed in a separate window of Word.

For Excel: The translation function can be accessed from the "Review" tab on the ribbon, then "Language" and "Translate". It is possible to translate selected text. The translated text will be displayed in a separate panel. However, it is not possible to insert the translated text into a table.

For PowerPoint: The translation function can be accessed from the "Proofing" tab on the ribbon, then "Language" and "Translate". It is possible to translate selected text. The translated text will be displayed in a separate panel and can be inserted into the slide.

For incoming emails in Outlook ("New Outlook" and Windows Classic): When displaying a foreign language email, a link will automatically appear at the top of the email that says "Translate message to Japanese". Clicking on this link will translate the entire email.

For new Outlook emails ("New Outlook"): Translation function is not available.

For new Outlook emails (Windows legacy version): Select the text and right-click to display the context menu, then choose "Translate" from the menu to translate.

1-2. Copy the document and paste it into an external translation tool

The translation function of the Office app standard uses Microsoft's automatic translation service. If you have doubts about the accuracy of the translation or want to translate it in a different way, you may consider using online services from other companies such as DeepL or ChatGPT. The usage of each service will be explained below. Additionally, the data reuse policy will also be explained.

Note: The use of Google Translate is not recommended for business purposes as the data may be reused. However, if you wish to use Google Translate, please use an automatic translation service that connects to Google Translate API (Google Cloud Translation API) such as our MTrans (MTrans) service, as data will not be reused when using Google Translate via API.

In the case of DeepL: Access https://www.deepl.com/translator in your web browser, select the desired language for translation, and paste the text into the left text field. Alternatively, access https://www.deepl.com/translator/files and upload an Office document.

Note: When using the free version, the data you input may be used to improve DeepL's services. Therefore, please be sure to use the paid version, DeepL Pro. For more information on DeepL's secondary use policy, please refer to the following article.

Is confidentiality maintained with DeepL translation? What about security?

For ChatGPT: Access https://chat.openai.com/ on your web browser and enter "Translate to ＜language＞" in the chat box at the bottom of the page, then paste your text to translate. You can specify the type of document, such as "Translate website text to Japanese", "Translate marketing documents to English", or "Translate software technical documents to Chinese", to use appropriate terms and expressions for each document. ChatGPT handles input data differently depending on the free version or paid plan. For more information, please see the article below.

Is confidential information retained by ChatGPT, Microsoft Copilot, and Google Gemini?

1-3. Use Copilot for Microsoft 365

Microsoft Copilot is an AI service provided by Microsoft that has been customized for each of their products using OpenAI's large-scale language model GPT-4. Specifically, Copilot for Microsoft 365 is provided for Microsoft 365 services, including Word, Excel, PowerPoint, and Outlook. The service was launched in November 2023 for large enterprises and in January 2024 for small and medium-sized enterprises.

Copilot automates processing, analysis, document creation and modification, presentation, and messaging based on natural language instructions (prompts) similar to ChatGPT. Unlike ChatGPT, Copilot has pre-defined common prompts and is integrated into each Office application for quick access when needed. Compared to ChatGPT, it allows for more efficient use of Office applications in collaboration with AI.

For Word: You can use Copilot in two places, the inline editing screen (Copilot dialog) or the right panel (Copilot panel).

・Copilot Dialog
The Copilot icon will appear on the left side when the cursor is placed on an empty line.

Click on the Copilot icon (or press Alt+I) to display the "Create Draft with Copilot" dialog. Enter a brief draft and click "Generate" (or press Ctrl+Enter) to generate text based on it. Please note that this dialog is for drafting purposes only and cannot be used for any other tasks such as translation.

・Copilot Panel
Select "Copilot" from the "Home" ribbon to display the Copilot panel on the right side of the screen.

You can enter any prompt in the input field at the bottom. If you enter "Translate the text into English", Copilot will refer to the text and translate it into English. However, since the translation result will be displayed in the Copilot panel, you will need to click the "Copy" button and manually paste it into the text after copying it to the clipboard.

For Excel: Select "Copilot" from the "Home" tab on the ribbon to display the Copilot panel. In the input field of the Copilot panel, enter "Translate the following to English: <target sentence>" and press Ctrl+C to copy the translated text to your clipboard. Then, paste it into the desired cell.

For PowerPoint: Select "Copilot" from the "Home" tab on the ribbon to display the Copilot panel. Enter "Translate slides to English" in the input field of the Copilot panel to translate the slides. However, if the slides are not translated and you are prompted to use the standard translation function, please continue to execute the same prompt until the slides are translated.

For incoming emails in Outlook ("New Outlook" and Windows Classic): With Copilot, you can summarize foreign language emails in Japanese. However, since the Copilot panel does not exist and you cannot enter any prompts, you cannot directly translate the email.

For new Outlook emails ("New Outlook"): You can use Copilot to create drafts and receive coaching, but the Copilot panel does not exist and you cannot enter any prompts, so it cannot be translated.

For new Outlook emails (Windows legacy version): Copilot is not available and cannot be translated.

1-4. Use MTrans for Office

There is also a way to translate using an add-in with translation function. Our company, Human Science, has developed "MTrans for Office" as an add-in to add translation function to Word, Excel, PowerPoint, and Outlook. By installing this add-in, you can easily translate selected text in documents and emails. You can choose from four translation engines: "DeepL", "Google", "Microsoft", and "ChatGPT". All engines are connected via API, so input and output data will not be reused.

Automatic translation software for Office applications, "MTrans for Office"

In the case of Word: You can perform translation by overwriting while editing, or by using the panel on the right (translation pane). Select the language and machine translation engine in the "MTrans" → "Settings" on the ribbon, and then execute the following.

・Overwrite Translation
Place the cursor on the paragraph to be translated or select the paragraph, click "MTrans" → "Translation" → "Selected Paragraph" on the ribbon, and the selected paragraph will be translated by overwriting it.

・Translation Pane
Place your cursor on the paragraph to be translated or select the paragraph, then click "MTrans" → "Translation" → "Translate While Reading" on the ribbon.

The translation pane will appear on the right side of the screen, displaying the translated text. You can select multiple machine translation engines and display the translated text from ChatGPT, DeepL, and Google at the same time. Click the "Replace" button ( ) to replace the paragraph being translated with the translated text.

For Excel: Select the language and machine translation engine in the "MTrans" → "Settings" tab on the ribbon, then select the target cell and choose "MTrans" → "Translate" → "Translate Selected Cells". The target cell will be translated and overwritten.

For PowerPoint: Select the language and machine translation engine in the "MTrans" → "Settings" tab on the ribbon, and then select "MTrans" → "Translate" → "Translate Current Slide" while viewing the slide to be translated. The translated slide will overwrite the original.

For received emails in Outlook ("New Outlook"): Select the email and choose "More actions" ( ) on the top right of the email, then select "MTrans for Outlook" and choose "Translate".

The translation pane will appear on the right side. Select the machine translation engine and language, then select "Execute Translation" to display the translated subject and body of the email in the translation pane.

For new Outlook emails ("New Outlook"): Create a new email, select "Message" on the ribbon, then select "More Options" ( ) → "MTrans for Outlook" → "Translate".

The translation pane will appear on the right side. Select the text to be translated in the email body, click "Execute Translation" in the translation pane, and the translated text will be displayed. You can select multiple machine translation engines and display the translated text from ChatGPT, DeepL, and Google at the same time. When you press the "Replace" button, the text to be translated will be replaced with the translated text.

For received emails in Outlook (Windows legacy version): Select the language and machine translation engine in the "MTrans" → "Settings" tab on the ribbon, and then select "MTrans" → "Translate" → "Entire Email" while viewing the email to be translated.

The translation pane will appear on the right and the translated text will be displayed.

For new Outlook emails (Windows legacy version): Select the language and machine translation engine in the "MTrans" → "Settings" tab of the ribbon, and choose the "Insert translation in draft location" option ("After", "After with standard phrases", "Inline", "Translation pane"). Then, place the cursor in the paragraph to be translated or select the paragraph and choose "MTrans" → "Translate" → "Selection".

Depending on the option "Insert translation at draft", the translated text will either be added after the paragraph or displayed in the translation pane.