Unable to read and understand a comment on an Instagram post? Most probably, you’re not familiar with the language.
Does Instagram translate comments and captions? Yes, of course.
No need to worry. There are plenty of ways in which you could easily translate Instagram comments written in foreign languages.
So, how to translate Instagram comments into your language?
The simple answer to this question may be using the inbuilt translation feature given in the Instagram translation settings.
Hereunder is a step-by-step guide on how to translate comments on Instagram. Read every step and each word carefully till the end.
How to Translate Instagram Comments into Your Language?
The Instagram translator translates profile bio, image captions, and comments written in foreign languages to your preferred language in which you use the app.
Suppose English is your default language while using the app, then Instagram will translate the comments and captions in another language to English only.
Thus, if you need the translation in Spanish, you need to set your app’s default language to Spanish. Do similar for other languages.
How to Change the Language on Instagram?
Complete the following steps to change the language on Instagram, set your preferred language to use the app, and translate Instagram comments, captions, and bio on the profile page:
- Launch the Instagram app and sign in to your account.
- Tap on your profile picture, which you can find in the bottom right corner.
- You navigate to your profile page. Tap on the three horizontal lines (hamburger menu) in the top right corner.
- Tap the “Settings” option on the popped-up context menu.
- Next, tap “Account” and then “Language.”
- An iPhone shows you “How to set your Instagram app language,” tap the “Continue” button to change the language on Instagram.
- Instead, Android phones take you to Instagram language settings. There you can select your preferred language.
- Select your preferred language. It enables automatically, and you are all set to translate Instagram comments.
You are all set to use the Instagram translation feature after changing the app’s default language. Just follow the abovementioned steps. You don’t have to do much. You’ve enabled the built-in Instagram translation feature, so there is no need to use third-party translation services anymore.
How to Translate Comments on Instagram?
After changing Instagram language settings, it’s time to translate Instagram comments and captions written in foreign languages.
- Open up the Instagram post whose comment or caption you want to translate.
- See the Instagram post’s timestamp in the lower-left corner of the post or comment.
- Next to the timestamp, the option “See translation” may be available.
- Tap the “See translation” to read the comment or caption in your language.
- After the translation completes, the “See translation” option changes to “See original. You can tap it to see the original text.
What are the Instagram Translation Limitations?
There’s this slight problem regarding Instagram translation.
- The Instagram translation is available in prevalent languages.
- You can only translate the post’s caption and comments into a supported language.
- The “see translation” option does not appear for comments written in unsupported languages.
- Instagram does not translate all the comments in one go.
- You need to translate each comment individually.
- Users have to wait for future updates to see all the comments in their native languages.
Keep tracking the latest news about new features and updates. Also, don’t forget regularly update your Instagram app to the current version.
How to Translate an Instagram Comment if “See translation” is Unavailable?
We have already told you no option is available to translate all comments under an Instagram post. So, in that case, you can translate foreign text using third-party translator apps or websites such as Google Translate, Bing Translator, Babelfish.com, Translate.com, etc.
Third-party apps
Are you an iPhone or iPad user? You can copy the text from the images. Just take a screenshot to copy the text. The feature may be helpful while translating Instagram comments, captions, or profiles.
Steps to translate an Instagram comment or caption by taking a screenshot –
- Open the Instagram app.
- Navigate to an Instagram post containing a foreign language text.
- Take a screenshot, and save it into the phone’s gallery.
- Open the screenshot and copy the text.
- Paste the copied text into any translation app.
- Select a language in which you want to translate this text.
- Confirm the action, and your translation is ready.
Third-party websites
Steps to translate an Instagram comment or caption using third-party translation services –
- Sign in to your Instagram account on your desktop or laptop computer because the Instagram app does not allow copying anything.
- Open a post caption or comment in a foreign language.
- Copy a post caption or comment.
- Open the Google Translation or Bing translator website.
- Paste the copied text into the translation box.
- Select from and to languages to get the translation.
- Finally, you get the translation of the post caption or comment.
Google Translate app (iPhone/Android)
You may convert text from the screenshot on your phone with the Google Translate app. You can also translate several languages by placing your phone camera in front of printed or written text.
- Install and open the Google Translate app on your phone.
- Tap the “Camera” icon given below the text box.
- You may translate text from a screenshot or text in front of your camera.
- Tap the import icon in the bottom left corner of your phone screen to translate text from a taken screenshot.
- Alternatively, you can use the same app to read the translated text through your phone camera if you have text on a different device.
- You can select the translate “from” and “to” languages from the given drop-down menu. The app also has the detect language option. You can use it.
- Tap the Shutter Button to share the translated text.
Note: The app does not accurately translate small, dimly lit, or styled writing.
FAQs—About Instagram Translation
How to translate on Instagram?
The Instagram translation is automatically available for more than 90 languages other than your app’s default language. So, when the See translation option appears on your screen, tap it to read the foreign language content in your language.
Unfortunately, for some languages, the Instagram translate feature does not work. In this case, you have to use third-party apps or websites to read the foreign text in your language.
Does Instagram translate automatically?
In June 2016, Instagram announced the See translation button would appear for the post captions, comments, and profile bios on your feed.
Similarly, since July 2021, translations have been available for Instagram stories and their captions.
The Instagram translation algorithm detects foreign languages for you. All languages except your app’s default language are foreign languages.
Once a foreign language content appears on your feed, it also has the See translation option underneath.
Just tap the “See translation” option to translate the text into the language you use on your Instagram app.
Why is Instagram not translating comments, captions, and profile bios?
Official Instagram FAQs state mainly three reasons for Instagram translation not working –
- Instagram is unable to detect the language.
- Instagram doesn’t support translations in a particular language.
- Instagram does not show translations for older posts.
How to translate Instagram stories?
Translating the captions written for Instagram stories is possible. The steps are almost the same as translating Instagram captions, comments, and profile bios. If an IG story contains a caption in a language different from your app’s preferred language, the See translation option appears underneath the username. Tap the See translation option to read the available.
Steps to translate Instagram stories –
- Launch the Instagram app.
- Open an Instagram story whose caption is not in your app’s default language.
- You notice the See translation option under the profile picture and username.
- Tap the See translation text, and the translation becomes available to you.
It’s how do you get translation on your Instagram stories?
Note: Instagram does not translate audio added to the stories.
How to remove the see translation on the Instagram bio?
Instagram automatically translates the profile bios, captions, and comments. Unfortunately, you don’t get an option to remove the See translation text.
Does Instagram Translate use Google Translate API?
One of the most extensively used internet translation tools is Google Translate. In 2016, Meta announced users could use the Instagram translation to read and understand the captions, comments, & bios written in different languages. So now you can tap the see translation option to convert the captions and comments in their app’s default language.
Recently, Meta rolled out this helpful feature for Instagram stories so that people can translate and understand stories’ captions without hassle.
The research paper by Anisa Larassati, Nina Setyaningsih, and others confirms that Instagram does not use the Google Translate API because Instagram translation has more grammatical and structural errors.
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