Microsoft to let users translate PDF on Edge natively in a brand-new sidepane

For weeks, Microsoft has been closely working to bring this exciting feature to Microsoft Edge. Basically, you’ll soon be able to translate PDF on Edge. Natively!

In case you missed it, we’ve previously reported that Redmond officials have added an option called “Translate selection” when a user selects a part of the PDF they want to translate & right-click on it. 

Although it was not clear at the time how the translation feature would work, we are now getting a better idea of what it could be. Insider @Leopeva64, who first reported on this, recently discovered that clicking this option opens a new pane called “Translate”.

It seems the translated text (in PDFs) will appear in a new "Translate" pane and not in the PDF itself:https://t.co/OTWGaFpyLB
.https://t.co/2KLLdvrUhv pic.twitter.com/IYh86WmC5U

— Leopeva64 (@Leopeva64) September 6, 2023

That means the translation will be done in a separate pane, so it will not overlay the PDF. This is good news because it will prevent the text from becoming cluttered and it will give you a dedicated space to work with the translation.

It is not yet clear whether the new translation feature in Edge will use Bing AI Chat or Bing Translator. Bing AI Chat is a chatbot that can be used to control Edge’s settings through the pane, but it is also capable of translating text. Bing Translator is a dedicated translation service that is also owned by Microsoft. Who knows? But until then, we’ll keep you updated.