How to translate messages in Messenger

Tom Littrell -

Facebook Messenger is easy until someone writes to you in a language you do not read. Then every message means a trip to a translation site and back, and the conversation stops being a conversation. Here is how to translate inside Messenger instead, on iPhone, iPad and on the web.

On iPhone and iPad

Mate for iPhone and iPad attaches itself to iOS rather than to any one app, so it opens over Messenger and hands you back where you were. Pick whichever of these fits the message in front of you.

  • Select, then tap Translate. On iOS 18.4 and later, Mate can be your default translator. Press and hold a message, select the text, tap Translate, and Mate opens with the result. Set it up once in Mate's Settings under Integrations > Default Translator, or in the Settings app under Apps > Default Apps > Translation.
  • Share. Select the text, tap Share, then Translate with Mate. Works on every iOS version. If the action is buried, scroll to the end of the share sheet, tap Edit Actions and move Mate to the top.
  • Copy, then Paste and Translate. Messenger does not always let you select part of a bubble. Copy the whole message, press and hold Mate's icon on the Home Screen, and tap Paste and Translate.

For a message that is a picture, a meme or a screenshot, open Mate, switch to Camera and tap Pick a photo. Mate recognises the text in the image and shows the translation over it, or as a list.

On the web

If you use Messenger in a browser tab, Mate's extension for Chrome, Firefox, Edge or Opera is the fastest option: select the message text and press Shift+T, or click the small Mate button that appears next to your selection. The translation opens in a tooltip next to the message.

Mate deliberately does not offer whole-page translation on Facebook, because replacing the text of the page breaks it. Selected-text translation works there without any trouble, which is what you want in a chat anyway.

Replying in the other language

Write the reply in Mate in your own language, then copy the translation into Messenger. Two settings matter:

  • Use the Advanced or AI translation style. Both cope far better with chat-speak, contractions and idioms than the Basic style does.
  • Set Tone to informal for friends, formal for anyone you would use a surname with. Languages like German, French, Spanish, Portuguese, Dutch, Polish, Russian and Japanese make this distinction, and getting it wrong is the fastest way to sound odd.

Advanced, AI and the tone control are part of Mate Pro. The Basic style is free and covers all 248 languages.

Save the phrases you keep needing

If you have the same sort of exchange over and over, put it in the Phrasebook. Open the menu on a translation card, choose Add to Phrasebook, and make a list called "Messenger". Lists are tied to a language pair, so keep one per person or per language.

With Mate Pro and sync switched on, that list is also on your Mac and in the browser extension, and the extension can export it as CSV for Anki or Quizlet. Details in Phrasebook: save and organize words you want to remember.

Twenty ways to say hello

Openings are worth memorising: they are short, they repeat, and they set the register for the rest of the chat. The first form is polite, the second is casual.

  • Portuguese — Olá / Oi
  • Danish — Goddag / Hej, Halløj
  • Dutch — Goedendag / Hoi, Hallo
  • Hebrew — Shalom / Hey
  • Swahili — Shikamoo / Habari, Hujambo
  • Hindi — Namaste, Namaskar / Hai, Helo
  • French — Bonjour / Salut
  • Swedish — God dag / Hej, Tjena
  • Arabic — Asalaam alaikum / Ahlan
  • Greek — Yassas / Yassou
  • Indonesian — Selamat siang / Halo
  • Chinese — Nín hǎo / Nǐ hǎo
  • German — Guten Tag / Hallo, Hi
  • Russian — Zdravstvuyte / Privet
  • Spanish — Hola / ¿Qué tal?
  • Polish — Dzień dobry / Cześć, Witaj
  • Korean — Annyeong haseyo / Annyeong
  • Turkish — Merhaba / Selam
  • Italian — Salve / Ciao
  • Japanese — Konnichiwa / Yā, Yō

Tap the speaker button on a translation to hear it. Mate uses the best voice installed on your device, so installing a higher-quality system voice in iOS Settings under Accessibility > Spoken Content > Voices improves Mate too.

Sending someone an article they can read

Sharing a link is only useful if the other person can read it. With Mate installed in your browser, right-click the page and choose Open full page translation, or click Translate to English in the bar Mate shows on foreign-language pages. Copy the part you want and send that alongside the link.

One Mate Pro subscription covers the Mac app, the iPhone and iPad app and all four browser extensions, and your History and Phrasebook sync between them. There is no native app for Android or Windows; there you use the extension or the online translator.