Translate Messages in Slack and Teams: Where the Option Lives
A teammate writes in another language and you need the gist now. Both apps can translate a message for you, but they set it up differently. Slack ties it to certain plans, and Teams has an auto-translate setting. Here is what each help page says.
Miles Crawford
The quick version
In Slack, set a translation language in Preferences, then hover a message, click the three dots and select Translate message. In Teams, select Translate above a message in another language, or open More options, then Translation, then Translate. In both apps, the translation is for you. Slack says other people always see the original message.
Slack: set a language, then translate
Slack calls this one of its AI features. On desktop, click your profile picture, select Preferences, select Language and region, and under Translation language pick the language you want messages translated into. Then, in any conversation, hover over a message, click the three dots icon in its top-right corner and select Translate message. Click See original below the translated message to switch back. On mobile, long press a message and tap Translate Message.
Slack: which plans include it
Slack's AI features guide lists Translations under Business+ and Enterprise+. It does not list the feature for Pro. Slack also says the AI features you can use depend on your plan, your role as member or guest, and whether your admins have restricted access. If you do not see Translate message, your plan or an admin setting is the first place to look.
Teams: translate one message
When you receive a message in another language, Teams can show a Translate suggestion above it. Select Translate to see it in your language, and a translated message gets an icon above it. If you do not see the suggestion, hover over the message, select More options, then Translation, then Translate. To stop the suggestions for a language, select Never translate (language) above the message.
Teams: auto-translate and settings
To turn on automatic translation, hover over a message that was in another language, select More options, then Translation, then Turn on auto-translation. For settings, go to Settings and more, then Settings, then General, then Translation. There you can choose the language messages are translated into, and pick how to handle other languages: Ask me before translating, Auto-translate all messages, or Never translate. You can also list languages that should never be translated. Microsoft says these features only apply to messages in Chat, and automatic translation is not supported for short messages.
Which one for what?
Our read: if you read foreign-language chat all day, Teams auto-translate saves clicks, as long as you are fine with it working on Chat only. In Slack you translate one message at a time, so it suits an occasional message from a partner or a global channel. Keep the original text in mind for anything important, such as dates, prices or names. See also how to search old messages if you need to find the original later.
What to be careful about
- Slack translation depends on your plan. Slack's guide lists it for Business+ and Enterprise+.
- Translations are private to you. Slack says everyone else still sees the original message.
- Teams translation covers Chat only. Microsoft says suggestions and automatic translation are only available for messages in Chat.
- Short messages are skipped by auto-translate in Teams. Microsoft says it is not supported for them.
- Your admin can turn it off in Teams. Microsoft says to contact your IT admin if you do not see the translate option.
- Machine translation can miss tone. This is our own tip, not from the help pages. Double-check anything where a wrong word would matter.
Sources
Checked October 21, 2026. Steps and limits follow each product's own help articles. The which-one-for-what advice is ours.