Immersive Translate Cheat Sheet
Last updated: April 2026
Quick Facts
Pricing
Freemium model. A robust free tier is available, with a Pro subscription unlocking unlimited premium translation engines and advanced features.
Free Plan
Yes. Includes side-by-side translation, basic translation engines (e.g., Google), PDF/EPUB support, and core customization. Limited queries for premium engines like DeepL.
Rating
4.7/5
Best For
Language learners, researchers, and serious international readers who need to comprehend, not just replace, foreign language text on the web.
Key Features
- ✓Side-by-Side Translation
Presents the original text and its translation in a clean, parallel-column view. This is the core feature that makes comprehension and learning possible.
- ✓Multi-Engine Support
Integrates over 10 services, including Google, DeepL, OpenAI, and more. I constantly switch between them for nuance, using DeepL for European languages.
- ✓PDF & EPUB Translation
Drag-and-drop translation of entire documents. I tested it on a Japanese light novel EPUB; it preserved formatting and created a bilingual file instantly.
- ✓Customizable Display Modes
Toggle between side-by-side, inline (hover), or only-translation views. I use side-by-side for learning and inline for quick news skimming.
- ✓Text-to-Speech (TTS)
Reads both the original and translated text aloud. The voice quality varies by engine, but it's invaluable for practicing listening comprehension.
- ✓Bilingual Subtitles
Translates subtitles on Netflix, YouTube, and other video platforms in real-time. This feature alone justified the extension for my foreign film marathons.
- ✓Mouse Hover Translation
Hover over any word or phrase to see a quick pop-up translation. It's my go-to for checking specific vocabulary without breaking flow.
- ✓Website Whitelist/Blacklist
Set rules for where the extension automatically activates. I have it off for Google Docs but always on for news sites.
- ✓Translation History
Logs all your translations. It's a fantastic, often overlooked tool for reviewing and creating personalized vocabulary lists from real content.
- ✓Custom CSS Styling
Advanced users can write CSS to perfectly match the translation panel to any website's theme. A godsend for design-conscious power users.
- ✓One-Click Copy Translation
Instantly copy just the translated text. I use this daily to share snippets with colleagues without sending them to the original page.
- ✓Automatic Page Detection
Smartly detects the page's primary language and offers to translate. It works flawlessly 95% of the time, which is impressive.
Tips & Tricks
For the cleanest experience, set the translation panel to appear only when you click the extension icon, not automatically on every page.
Use DeepL for European languages and OpenAI for more creative or nuanced Asian language translations. The difference is noticeable.
Enable 'Translation Cache' in settings to dramatically speed up translation on sites you revisit frequently, like news portals.
When translating PDFs, export the bilingual result as a new PDF. It's a perfect study document you can annotate later.
Pair the TTS function with the side-by-side view. Listen to the original audio while reading the translation to train your ear.
Common Commands
Alt+A (Windows) / Option+A (Mac)The default shortcut to trigger translation on the current page or selected text.
Alt+W (Windows) / Option+W (Mac)Quickly switches between the different translation display modes (e.g., side-by-side to inline).
Limitations
- -Complex web apps with dynamic content (e.g., web-based email clients) can break the translation parsing, requiring manual paragraph selection.
- -The free tier's quota for premium engines like DeepL is quite low; you'll hit it fast if you do serious reading.
- -While good, the text-to-speech for some languages sounds robotic compared to dedicated, high-end TTS services.
- -On extremely text-dense pages, the initial translation processing can cause a noticeable lag of a few seconds.