How do I translate an article?

Open the article and click the Translate article button in its button row, or press Q. The title and the text change to your language in place, and a bar above the text says which language they were translated from.

Translate the open article

1. Open the article.
2. Click the Translate article button in the article's button row, or press Q.
3. Read the translation. The bar above the text names the source language.
4. To go back, click See original in the bar, click the button again or press Q.

The button is an icon with the tooltip "Translate article (Hotkey: Q)". The first time it appears, a hint says "Click to translate this article". Q works while the article's text is open and the article is offered for translation. If the button is missing, Why is the translation option not offered? explains why.

The translated article

While the translation runs, the text area shows "Translating..." and a second click does nothing. Then the title and the text are replaced, the icon stays highlighted and the view returns to the top of the article. Pictures, videos, embeds and code blocks stay. Links, bold and italic inside a paragraph don't survive the translation. Languages written right to left, such as Arabic, Hebrew, Persian and Urdu, switch the text direction. An article that is already in your target language comes back unchanged, and if the service can't answer you see "Cannot translate article. Please try again later."

The source language is detected automatically. The target is the language under Translate articles to in Preferences > Settings > Article translations, your interface language unless you change it. An article a rule is still translating shows "This article is currently being translated by a rule." with Refresh.

Load the full content first, then translate: loading full content removes an active translation.

Plans and limits

Free accounts get 10 translations a day, counted together for the web and the apps. The bar shows how many are left, and the translation isn't kept, so the article opens in its original language next time. On Pro there is no daily limit, and the translation is kept as your version of the article until you click See original, as Can I switch back to the original article? describes. To translate whole feeds as articles arrive, use a rule, as Can translations be automated? explains. The feature page Read any feed in your language has an overview, and the video shows the steps.