Translate PDF Files to Any Language

Do you have a PDF that’s not in your native language?

It’s now easier than ever to read in the language you need. In this article, we’ll show you two ways to do it—both options translate PDFs for free, with no signup required.

The first method uses Google Translate in a way you’ve probably never realized was possible. It’s great for full document translations, with just a few small limitations.

The second method you’ve probably never heard of because it’s brand new. It gives you a translated summary of a PDF in seconds, so you get the quick gist in your preferred language.

Both methods can translate a PDF to English, Spanish, French, German, Chinese, and hundreds of other languages. You don’t even have to know the language of the original PDF.

Let’s find the PDF translator that works best for you.

Google Translate PDF Documents for Free

You’re probably aware of Google Translate, but did you know it can translate entire PDF files, too? Just follow the steps below.

How to Google Translate PDF files for free:

1. Access the Google Translate Document tool.
2. Choose the languages to translate from and to.
3. Set the input language to ‘Detect language’ if you’re unsure.
4. Drag & drop your PDF or click ‘Browse your files’ then the ‘Translate’ button.
5. Let Google work its magic.
6. Click to download your translation or open it in another tab.

The Google translate feature works well for full document translation, but it does have a 10MB limit. So if you’re working with larger PDF files, this option won’t work for you without first compressing your PDF.

It also doesn’t work consistently with scanned PDFs with unreadable text. For these documents, you’ll need to first run it through a PDF OCR tool to recognize and convert text into a readable format.

There’s another, perhaps counterintuitive, limitation: it translates the entire document, so after translation you still have to read the whole thing! Of course that’s not a true limitation, but if you’re just looking for the gist or a quick summary of what’s in the PDF, you’ll still have work to do.

If you’re working with larger files, or you just want a translated summary of what’s in the PDF, you’ll want to check out this next option.

Get a Translated Summary of a PDF in Your Preferred Language

Another option is the Smallpdf PDF translation tool. We’re excited about this one not just because we love PDFs, but also because of its unique ability to instantly provide a translated summary of a PDF document for free.

To translate a PDF online into a summarized document:

1. Go to the Smallpdf online PDF Translate tool.
2. Drag and drop your PDF into the box.
3. Select the original document language (it auto-detects for you if you’re unsure).
4. Select the language to translate to (it’s set to your website language by default).
5. Click ‘Translate’ and wait just a second.
6. Download your translated PDF summary.

If you’re looking for a full translation of your original document, you’re better off with the Google Translate PDF feature above. But if you want to save time and get straight to the point, you’ll want to test out the Smallpdf PDF Translator.

When you’re done, you’ll have lots of options for what you can do next.

What Else Can I Do With This PDF?

Once you translate your PDF into the language you need, Smallpdf has over 20 other useful tools for converting, organizing, and editing PDFs—all for free. Here’s a few favorites:

eSign - Electronically sign your (translated) PDF contracts. Merge - Combine multiple PDF files into one. Split - Extract translated PDF pages or separate them into different files. Convert - Transform your translated PDFs into other formats like Word or Excel. Protect - Encrypt your PDFs with a password. Edit - Annotate or add images, shapes, and drawings onto the translated file. Delete Pages - Remove unwanted pages from PDFs. AI PDF Summarizer - Summarize and query PDFs for additional insights.

And that’s a partial list. Did we mention you don’t need to sign up or provide an email address to do all those things?

It’s truly remarkable how small the world has become. Despite the shrinking digital distance, different languages remain. And that’s amazing! In Switzerland, where Smallpdf was born, there are four national languages, and there are hundreds of other written languages across the world.

With the help of AI and PDF translate tools from Google and Smallpdf, working and learning across languages has never been easier. You can translate a PDF from German to English, or English to Spanish in seconds—along with French, Chinese, Russian, or whatever other language you need.

Now, don’t let this prevent you from actually learning another language—it’s absolutely worth the years of effort. But when you just need to translate a PDF, it only takes seconds.