How to Enable or Disable Automatic Translations in Firefox
UPDATE: Mozilla Firefox 118.0 and later versions come with native or built-in translations feature enabled. The automatic translator feature was introduced in Firefox 114.0 version but Mozilla team kept the feature disabled by default in Firefox 114 – 117 versions. If you want to disable this new automatic and local translations feature in Firefox 118 or later versions, this article will help you. Similarly, if you want to enable translations feature in older versions of Firefox (114-11), this article will also help you.
Mozilla Firefox 114.0 and later versions come with a built-in or native translation feature which can translate other language webpages in English or other user selected language automatically. This article will help you in activating and enabling the new translator tool in Firefox web browser.
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How to Use New Translations Feature in Mozilla Firefox
Following screenshot shows the new built-in translation feature working in Firefox 114 version which was released today by Mozilla team:
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When the user opens a website which is using a different language other than the default language used by the browser in user’s device, a new translation icon or button is displayed in the address bar near the bookmark (star) icon. The user can click on the translation icon and select any desired language to translate the webpage.
If you remember, Mozilla was testing the native translation feature in Firefox last year and we posted an article about it at following link:
Mozilla is Working on a Built-in Translator in Firefox
Now the old method to enable the native translation feature no longer works in Firefox newer versions. It seems Mozilla has replaced the previous testing version of native translations with a new advanced version in Firefox 114 and later versions.
How to Enable Translations Feature in Mozilla Firefox
By default the translation feature is disabled in Firefox as the feature is under development and testing phase. Mozilla team has provided a hidden secret preference/flag to manually activate and enable the native translations feature in Firefox.
There is another secret preference/flag available to enable automatic translation feature in Firefox which can automatically translate any other language webpage in English or user’s default language.
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If you also want to enable and test new native translations feature in Firefox web browser, following steps will help you:
1. Open Firefox and type about:config in the addressbar and press Enter. It’ll show you a warning message, click on “Accept the Risk and Continue” button. It’ll open Firefox’s hidden secret advanced configuration page i.e. about:config page.
2. Now type translations in Search filter box and you’ll see following preferences in the window:
browser.translations.autoTranslate
browser.translations.enable
browser.translations.logLevel
browser.translations.simulateUnsupportedEngine
browser.translations.useHTML
browser.translations.enable is the main preference which is required to enable the new built-in or native translator feature in Firefox. By default, the preference is set to false, which means the built-in translation feature is deactivated and disabled.
3. To enable the new translation feature in Firefox, double-click on the browser.translations.enable preference and set its value to true. Alternatively, you can click on the Toggle icon given next to the preference name.
If you want to enable automatic translations feature as well, set the browser.translations.autoTranslate preference to True.
4. You’ll need to restart Firefox to apply the changes. If you have opened multiple tabs and you don’t want to lose them, you can restart Firefox without losing tabs using methods given in following tutorial:
[Tip] How to Restart Mozilla Firefox Without Losing Tabs
That’s it. Restart Firefox browser and the translation feature will be enabled in your web browser.
How to Download Offline Translations Packs in Mozilla Firefox
When you enable the translations feature in Firefox, it also adds a new section to Firefox Options window as shown in following screenshot:
To access above mentioned Translations settings page, open Firefox Settings (about:preferences), keep “General” section selected and in right-side pane, scroll down and you’ll see Translations section.
Here you can download desired language pack and you’ll be able to translate webpages into that language offline without Internet connection.
How to Disable Translations Feature in Mozilla Firefox
If you decide to disable or remove the new translations feature, simply set the above mentioned preferences/flags browser.translations.enable and browser.translations.autoTranslate to False and restart Firefox.
It’ll deactivate and disable the built-in translations feature in your web browser.
Also Check:
[Tip] Enable or Disable Windows Native Notifications in Firefox
[Tip] Enable Weather Information Display in Firefox Address bar Drop-Down Suggestions
[Tip] Enable or Disable Search Terms Display in Firefox Address bar
Thanks for the tip, I got rid of these nasty translation popups.
Thank you for pointing out a way to complete disable this “feature”. When I use a web browser, I use it to see what the web page tells me. Not some unwanted “translation” feature that I need to disable per page or per language (BTW, setting the language to “*” doesn’t work, I tried), or per web page.
If enabled at all, there should have been a trivial way to disable it completely and the question is whether that should have been the default.
I cannot believe that the Mozilla foundation allowed a feature that sits between my and my web page. What is next? Automatic “correction” of politically-incorrect websites?
Completely agree with Geert Jan & Paula
just type in search bar: about:config and paste browser.translations.enable and change it to false