I tried to translate a document, but it didn't work. What went wrong?
You may encounter several issues when translating your document:
- You can’t upload your file for translation.
- You could upload your file, but it can’t be translated.
- Your file is translated, but you can’t open the translation of your file.
- Your PDF file is translated, but the quality of the translation is unsatisfactory.
Below you will find more information about each case.
You can’t upload your file for translation.
There might be several reasons why you can’t upload your document for translation.
File format
Please make sure that the format of your document is supported: Free users of DeepL can translate .docx, .pptx, or .pdf files. DeepL Pro (Starter, Advanced, and Ultimate) and DeepL API (Free and Pro) subscribers can translate .docx, .pptx, .pdf, .txt, and .html files. Please find more details about the translation of PDF files here.
Other file formats, such as Excel, aren’t currently supported in any product or subscription plan offered by DeepL.
If you have a DeepL Pro (Starter, Advanced, or Ultimate) subscription, please make sure that you are logged in to your account to translate your document.
Translation of multiple documents
Only a single document can be translated in the web translator at a time. Please make sure that you select only a single file in the file upload dialog.
Multiple documents can only be translated with the DeepL for Windows and DeepL for Mac apps. The multiple documents translation function available in the apps allows you to translate files with different source languages, but the target language for all translations will be the same.
If you have a DeepL API (Free and Pro) subscription, please consider that different rules might apply to the document translation. For more information about the technical details and requirements, please consult the API documentation.
You could upload your file, but it can’t be translated.
There might be several reasons why we couldn’t process your file for further translation.
Password protection
Please make sure that your file isn’t password protected.
No editable text in your .docx and .pptx document
In .docx and .pptx files, text can’t be translated if it is only present in the document as an image and not as actual editable text. In this case, you can convert your file to PDF before uploading it for translation.
The source language is not supported
Please make sure that we support the source language of your document. You can find a list of supported source languages here.
Expired session
Please make sure that you are logged in to your account and check the status of your subscription in your DeepL Pro account. Try translating your file again.
File size
Your file size shouldn’t exceed the file size limits on DeepL Translator and DeepL Pro. Moreover, your file shouldn’t exceed the character limit on DeepL Translator and Deep Pro. Please see the file size limits and character limits in the table below.
| Free user | DeepL Pro Starter |
DeepL Pro Advanced/Ultimate | DeepL API Free |
DeepL API Pro | |
| Word (.docx) | 5 MB 100,000 characters |
10 MB 1 million characters |
20 MB 1 million characters |
10 MB 1 million characters |
20 MB 1 million characters |
| PowerPoint (.pptx) | 5 MB 100,000 characters |
10 MB 1 million characters |
20 MB 1 million characters |
10 MB 1 million characters |
20 MB 1 million characters |
| PDF (.pdf) | 5 MB 100,000 characters |
10 MB 1 million characters |
10 MB 1 million characters |
10 MB 1 million characters |
10 MB 1 million characters |
| Text (.txt) | not available | 1 MB 1 million characters |
1 MB 1 million characters |
1 MB 1 million characters |
1 MB 1 million characters |
| HTML (.html) | not available | 5 MB 1 million characters |
5 MB 1 million characters |
5 MB 1 million characters |
5 MB 1 million characters |
Your file is translated, but you can’t open the translation of your file.
This might happen if the content of your document isn’t fully compatible with the official specification of the supported file formats. This could, for example, happen if you convert a document from a non-supported format to one of the formats supported by DeepL.
If the translation of a .docx or .pptx file fails, you can try to convert the file to PDF before uploading it for translation.
If the translation of a PDF file fails, you can try to translate the source .docx or .pptx file if it is available.
Your PDF file is translated, but the quality of the translation is unsatisfactory.
Please note that since the PDF file conversion relies on optical character recognition, it may be subject to a higher error rate.
If you are unsatisfied with the PDF file translation and your PDF file was created from a .docx or .pptx document, you can try translating that source document instead.
Custom fonts and large image sizes might impact the quality of translation. If possible, use documents with fewer visual elements.
If you try to translate a scanned document, please note that the quality of the scan might impact the translation quality.
If you are still experiencing problems with document translations, please contact DeepL Support.