The translation tool that Questsoft abandoned. Rebuilt from scratch. Built to last.
Select text in any application → press Ctrl+Q → understand it without leaving what you're doing.
Translate with the provider you trust. Compare several translations, look up a word or picture, read a document, or use your computer's own OCR, speech, and spell checking.
Free and open source · Windows, macOS, Linux · Plugins for local and cloud services
Download QTranslate · See the features · Install a plugin · Wiki
One workspace for translation and reference, with a dictionary beside your text.
| Platform | Get this from the latest release | Run |
|---|---|---|
| Windows | QTranslate-<version>-windows-x64.zip |
Extract and open QTranslate.exe. Java is included. |
| macOS or Linux | QTranslate-<version>.zip |
Install Java 17+, extract, and open QTranslate.jar. |
The ZIP packages include the bundled plugins, languages, themes, and icon sets. The standalone app JAR is for an existing or manually assembled setup. Installation details · First shortcuts
- Several answers when one is not enough. Pick a translator with one click or configure a Comparison set to read provider results together.
- Useful without another account. System Services use your computer's OCR, speech, and spell checker. Wiktionary and Wikimedia Commons add word and image reference. Availability of system engines varies by platform.
- Your services, your setup. Plugins can be installed while the app runs. Use cloud translators, a self-hosted LibreTranslate server, or a local Ollama or LM Studio endpoint for AI features.
- Work where the text is. Quick Translate, document translation, selection OCR, inline replacement, and RTL interface layouts cover more than pasted sentences.
Comparison — read translations from your configured providers together.
I relied heavily on the original QTranslate while studying veterinary medicine. I was constantly reading material filled with medical terminology, anatomy, drug names, Latin terms, and unfamiliar words.
What made it special was not just translation. It was the lack of friction: select something → press a hotkey → understand it → keep reading.
When the original project was abandoned and its services gradually stopped working, I could not find another application that felt the same. So I rebuilt it from scratch.
The rewrite is built around one lesson from the original: a translation app should not die because one service changes its API. Translation engines, OCR, TTS, spell checkers, dictionaries, and AI services are plugins that can be replaced independently.
I built QTranslate for myself first, but I keep it free and open source because translation, reading, and learning tools should not require another subscription.
— Ahmed Hatem, creator of QTranslate
Select text anywhere → press Ctrl+Q → translation appears instantly. That's the core of it.
Quick Translate — select text in any app, press Ctrl+Q
For longer work, open the main window to translate text or a document, compare providers, check a term in the Dictionary or Images panel, and switch services without losing your place.
 Find visual context beside the text, with source and licence visible |
 Translate DOCX, PDF, text and subtitles with progress you can follow |
 Choose engines, build a Comparison set, and keep presets for different work |
 Use Arabic and other RTL languages in a mirrored interface |
 Install, configure, and enable or disable plugins without restarting |
 Open a result in place; keep its title, attribution, and source close by |
- Readers and language learners — understand unfamiliar words and passages without constantly switching applications.
- Students and researchers — translate terminology, documents, screenshots, and reference material with the services you choose.
- Professionals — work across desktop applications and choose local or cloud services based on the material being translated.
- Power users and developers — configure global hotkeys, build service presets, and extend QTranslate with plugins.
QTranslate lets you choose which services receive your text. You can point AI Services at a local Ollama or LM Studio server, or use a self-hosted LibreTranslate instance. Requests sent to those configured local endpoints stay on your machine or network; requests sent to a cloud service are handled by that provider.
Plugins run on your computer with access to local resources, so install third-party plugin JARs only from publishers you trust.
| Quick Translate popup | Ctrl+Q on any selected text — popup with result, no main window needed |
| Image search | Ctrl+Shift+Q on any selected word — a grid of reference pictures from Wikimedia Commons, enlarged in place, licence shown and source page a click away. For the words a definition alone does not settle |
| Instant translation | Translates as you type with configurable debounce |
| Inline replace | Ctrl+Shift+T — translates selected text and pastes the result back in place |
| Backward translation | See the round-trip result alongside the main output — spots awkward phrasing instantly |
| Summarize | Get a condensed version of long text, configurable length |
| Rewrite | Rewrite in a different style: Formal, Casual, Concise, Detailed, or Simplified |
| Translation history | Full undo/redo through every past translation |
| Translation rules | Auto-correct source text before translating — fix common mistakes, expand abbreviations, normalize input |
| Document translation | Translate DOCX, PDF, TXT, SRT, and VTT files with progress and cancellation; DOCX structure and subtitle timing are preserved, PDF layout is reconstructed on a best-effort basis |
| Parallel comparison | Configure a primary translator and one or more secondaries as a set, and see every result side by side in the Comparison layout |
| Screen OCR | Draw a rectangle anywhere on screen — translate, copy text, copy image, or save; re-crop without closing |
| Spell checking | Live underlines as you type, click a suggestion to apply |
| Remove line breaks | Strips newlines from pasted text so PDF content translates as sentences |
| Language filter | Pin 3–4 target languages so the picker isn't overwhelming |
| Cycle languages | Ctrl+L steps through pinned languages without touching the mouse |
| Plugin system | Install .jar plugins at runtime — no restart, no reinstall |
| Plugin manager | Search and filter installed plugins, inspect metadata and errors, configure or toggle services inline, and install by file or drag-and-drop |
| Service presets | Save different engine combinations for different contexts |
| Google Services | Translator, TTS, OCR, Spell Checker, Dictionary — included |
| Bing Services | Translator, TTS, Spell Checker — included |
| System Services | Offline OCR, text-to-speech, and spell checking using each platform's own engines — no account or API key. Self-contained on Windows and macOS; on Linux it uses whatever OCR/TTS/spell-check tools you have installed |
| AI Services | Translator, Summarizer, Rewriter, Spell Checker, Dictionary, Vision OCR — via OpenRouter or another OpenAI-compatible endpoint. Setup guide |
| Free translation choices | Mozhi, MyMemory, DeepL web fallback, Reverso, and Yandex Web work without an API key; unofficial endpoints may change or be rate-limited |
| Local and self-hosted options | Point AI Services at a local Ollama or LM Studio server, or use a self-hosted LibreTranslate instance. Local endpoints need no account or API key. Setup guide |
| Reference services | Wikipedia and Wiktionary lookups, and Wikimedia Commons image search, through official MediaWiki APIs |
| CSV dictionary | Point it at your own CSV — a glossary, an abbreviation list, a table of error codes, a set of study notes — and look terms up in it. Which columns hold the term and its meaning is configurable, and nothing leaves your machine |
| Three layouts | Classic (stacked), Side-by-side (stacks when the window is narrow), Comparison (every result from your translator set, side by side) |
| Global hotkeys | Every action is bindable, configurable as global or app-local. Switch the whole scheme with a Legacy QTranslate or Modern preset, or customize freely |
| RTL support | Full layout mirroring for Arabic, Hebrew, Farsi, and more |
| QTranslate Light & Dark | Purpose-built defaults with OS light/dark synchronization, plus 30+ FlatLaf themes and custom IntelliJ .theme.json support |
| Portable | Runs from any folder, all data lives next to the JAR |
All downloads live on the latest release page.
| Your platform | Download | Java required |
|---|---|---|
| Windows | QTranslate-<version>-windows-x64.zip |
No — Java is included |
| macOS / Linux | QTranslate-<version>.zip |
Java 17+ |
| Any (app only, no plugins) | QTranslate-App-<version>.jar |
Java 17+ |
The Windows and portable ZIP packages contain all bundled plugins, languages, themes, and icon sets. The app-only JAR contains no plugins and is intended for an existing or manually assembled setup.
- Download
QTranslate-<version>-windows-x64.zip - Extract to a writable folder
- Run
QTranslate.exe
No Java installation needed — the package ships its own trimmed runtime.
- Install Java 17 or later (Temurin recommended)
- Download and extract
QTranslate-<version>.zip - Run
QTranslate.jar, orjava -jar QTranslate.jarfrom a terminal
QTranslate/
├── QTranslate.jar ← double-click, or: java -jar QTranslate.jar
├── plugins/
│ ├── google-services-plugin.jar
│ ├── bing-services-plugin.jar
│ ├── mozhi-services-plugin.jar
│ └── ...
├── themes/
│ ├── Salmon.theme.json
│ ├── clean_sheet.theme.json
│ └── kokedera.theme.json ← release themes; drop more .theme.json files here
├── languages/
│ ├── ar-SA.toml
│ ├── zh-CN.toml
│ ├── de-DE.toml
│ └── ...
├── icons/
│ ├── material-symbols/
│ ├── tabler/
│ ├── phosphor/
│ └── heroicons/ ← extra icon sets; drop a set's folder in to add it
├── LICENSE ← Mozilla Public License 2.0
├── NOTICE.md ← licensing scope and earlier-release notice
├── LICENSES/
│ └── QTranslate-MIT.txt ← license used for earlier revisions
└── THIRD_PARTY_LICENSES/
├── Lucide-ISC.txt
├── MaterialSymbols-Apache-2.0.txt
└── ... ← notices for bundled third-party material
Bundled plugins: Google, Bing, System Services, AI Services, DeepL, Mozhi, MyMemory, LibreTranslate Local, Reverso, Yandex Web, Wikimedia Reference, and CSV Dictionary. Configure a service from the service selector or Settings → Plugins.
Individual plugin JARs are also attached to each release. They are only for adding or updating a single plugin in an existing install — you do not need them for a fresh setup.
Verifying a download — each release includes
SHA256SUMS.txt. Compare it against your downloaded file withsha256sum -c SHA256SUMS.txt(Linux/macOS) orGet-FileHash <file> -Algorithm SHA256(PowerShell) before running it.
Getting "This application requires a Java Runtime Environment"? Java isn't installed or
JAVA_HOMEisn't set — or use the Windows package, which needs neither. ▶ How to Install Java JDK and Set JAVA_HOME (first 7 minutes)
Build from source → Building from Source
Preparing a release → Release Guide
- Launch
QTranslate.exeon Windows, orQTranslate.jarfrom the portable package — it starts in the system tray - Select text anywhere on screen
- Press
Ctrl+Q— Quick Translate popup opens with the result ready - Press
Ctrl+D— open the Dictionary for the selected word - Press
Ctrl+Shift+Q— see pictures of the selected word - Press
Ctrl+E— listen to the selected text - Press
Ctrl+I— draw a screen region to OCR and translate
Open Settings (gear icon) to configure API keys, themes, hotkeys, and service presets.
Installing a plugin: Settings → Plugins → Install Plugin, or drop a plugin JAR onto the plugin panel. Review its details, enable it, configure it, then assign its services under Services & Presets.
Full guide → Installing Plugins
The in-app catalog and independent plugin updater are planned but are not available yet. Until then, install only JARs from publishers you trust and verify any checksum they provide.
Built a plugin? Publish its source, release JAR, compatibility range, and checksum. See the plugin publishing guide.
A minimal translator is ~50 lines of Kotlin. No framework, no registration — implement a few interfaces, build a fat JAR, install it through the UI.
class MyPlugin : Plugin<PluginSettings.None> {
override val id = "com.example.my-plugin"
override val name = "My Plugin"
override val version = "1.0.0"
override fun getSettings() = PluginSettings.None
override fun getServices() = listOf(MyTranslatorService())
}All bundled plugins are open source under plugins/. They provide real-world examples of authentication, no-key services, local endpoints, throttling, language mapping, batch translation, dictionaries, and structured errors.
Full guide → Creating a Plugin
QTranslate ships with 18 built-in locale files:
Arabic · Bengali · Chinese (Simplified and Traditional) · English · French · German · Hungarian · Indonesian · Italian · Japanese · Korean · Portuguese · Russian · Spanish · Turkish · Ukrainian · Vietnamese
Want another language? Copy languages/en-GB.toml, rename it to your language code, translate the values. No code needed.
Guide → Adding a Language
Clean Architecture + MVI. Nothing leaks between layers:
:api ← plugin interfaces — plugins only depend on this
:core ← business logic, use cases, MVI stores
:ui-swing ← Swing UI, Renderable<State> components
:app ← composition root
:plugins/* ← independently packaged service implementations
:plugins/common ← shared HTTP client, JSON, language utilities
Guide → Architecture
QTranslate is free and open source, and I want it to stay that way.
I am the primary developer behind the project. Maintenance means more than adding features: providers change APIs, operating systems change behaviour, plugins need updates, bugs need investigation, releases need testing, and users need support.
If QTranslate saves you time, helps you study, or becomes one of those utilities you use every day, consider supporting its development. Even a small recurring contribution makes it easier to work on QTranslate consistently.
GitHub Sponsors · Buy Me a Coffee · Supporters
Financial support is completely optional. You can also help by starring and sharing QTranslate, reporting reproducible bugs, translating the interface, improving documentation, building plugins, or contributing code.
— Ahmed
Using QTranslate in a team or organization and need something specific? I may be available for paid professional work around the project, including:
- custom QTranslate plugins;
- private translation-service or API/LLM integrations;
- terminology and dictionary integrations;
- deployment and organization-specific configuration;
- technical consulting and support.
This work supports development around the free, open-source application; it does not create a paid edition or give sponsors control over technical decisions. For professional inquiries, use the public contact details on my GitHub profile.
Bug fixes, features, translations, docs, and plugins all welcome. Look for good first issue for well-scoped starting points.
QTranslate was created by Ahmed Hatem and is maintained with contributions from the QTranslate community.
QTranslate source code is available under the Mozilla Public License 2.0. Earlier revisions remain available under the MIT License; see NOTICE.md for the transition and third-party notices.
Built with Kotlin · FlatLaf · Ktor · Coroutines
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