> ## Documentation Index
> Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://help.slashy.com/llms.txt
> Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further.

# How do I translate an email?

> Read an email in another language without leaving Slashy, then switch back to the original in one click.

Slashy translates an email in place, right in the reader. The original stays untouched, so you can flip back to it at any time, and replies and forwards still quote the original text. Translation works in Slashy on the web and in the desktop app.

## Translate the open email

**1. Open the email**

Open the thread you want to read.

**2. Translate**

Press `Cmd+K` and choose **Translate email**. The row shows the language it will translate into.

**3. Read**

The translation replaces the text on screen. A spinner sits in the email's actions while it loads.

When an email looks like it is in a language you don't read, Slashy offers the translation for you: a translate icon appears in the email's actions (hover it to see **Translate to** and your language), and **Translate email** is the first row when you open `Cmd+K`. Click the icon to translate in one step. Slashy only makes this offer for mail someone else wrote, and only when there is enough text to tell the language. Nothing is sent for translation until you ask.

## Pick a language

Type "translate to" in `Cmd+K`, or just a language name such as "translate to french", and choose a **Translate to** row. Slashy translates into that language and remembers it as your language for next time, across your devices.

By default Slashy translates into your system language, the one your browser or computer is set to. To go back to that default, choose **Translate to: System language**. A check mark shows which choice is saved.

Slashy translates into 30 languages, including English, Spanish, French, German, Portuguese, Italian, Dutch, Polish, Russian, Ukrainian, Arabic, Hebrew, Hindi, Chinese (Simplified and Traditional), Japanese, Korean, Vietnamese, and Thai.

Once a thread is translated, hover the translate icon to see which language it was translated from. Click it to open `Cmd+K` with "translate to" already typed, so you can pick another language.

## Back to the original

Click **Show original** in the email's actions, or press `Cmd+K` and choose **Translate: Show original**. The original text comes back right away.

## Whole threads

Slashy remembers the language per thread. Open another message in a translated thread and it is translated too, so you can read a whole back-and-forth in one language.

> [accordion] Does translating change the email?
>
> No. The translation is only shown on your screen. The stored email, and anything you reply to or forward, stays in the original language.

> [accordion] Can I translate a draft I'm writing?
>
> Translation is for emails you received or sent. To translate your own draft, use an AI edit with an instruction like "translate to Spanish". See [AI email editing](https://help.slashy.com/features/ai-drafts/editing.md).

> [accordion] What if an email can't be translated?
>
> Slashy tells you with a short message and leaves the email as it was: when the email is already in the language you picked, has no text (for example, only images or attachments), or is too large to translate. If a translation doesn't go through, the message offers a retry.

> [card] [The command palette](https://help.slashy.com/how-to-guides/command-palette.md)
>
> Everything you can run from `Cmd+K`.

> [card] [Replying and forwarding](https://help.slashy.com/features/email/replying.md)
>
> Answer the thread once you've read it.

> [card] [AI email editing](https://help.slashy.com/features/ai-drafts/editing.md)
>
> Rewrite or translate your own draft.

> [card] [Keyboard shortcuts](https://help.slashy.com/how-to-guides/keyboard-shortcuts.md)
>
> The full shortcut map.


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