How to translate Windows Live Captions without a Copilot+ PC
Short answer
On a regular PC, Windows Live Captions can’t translate. You can add translation with a free tool built on Live Captions, use Chrome’s Live Translate for audio in Chrome, turn on translated captions in Teams, or use an app that translates live across your whole PC, like Hearica.
What Windows offers
Live Captions translates only on Copilot+ PCs running Windows 11 24H2 or later: from over 40 languages into English, or from 27 into Simplified Chinese. Copilot+ PCs are Windows 11 devices that meet Microsoft’s AI hardware requirements, including a 40+ TOPS neural processing unit (NPU). On other PCs, Live Captions captions speech in the language being spoken without translating it.
Your options
| Option | Translates audio from | Into | Needs |
|---|---|---|---|
| LiveCaptions-Translator | Anything Live Captions hears (system-wide) | Many, through Google Translate or another service | Windows 11; free |
| Chrome Live Translate | Audio playing in Chrome | 100+ languages | Chrome; captions are sent to Google |
| Teams translated captions | Teams meetings | Many languages | Teams Premium or Microsoft 365 Copilot |
| Hearica | Everything your PC plays (system-wide) | 60 languages | Windows 10 or 11, internet |
LiveCaptions-Translator (free, Windows 11)
LiveCaptions-Translator is a popular free, open-source app that takes Live Captions’ text and runs it through a translation service: Google Translate works out of the box, or you can connect DeepL or an AI model. Because it builds on Live Captions, it works across your whole PC. Set Live Captions’ language to the language being spoken, or the translation won’t work.
It can only translate what Live Captions recognizes, and it’s an independent project, not from Microsoft.
Chrome Live Translate
Good for YouTube and other videos in the browser. Chrome recognizes 19 spoken languages and can translate them into over 100. In Chrome → Settings → Accessibility → Live Caption, add the language being spoken, then turn on Live Translate and pick the language you want to read.
Translated captions in Teams
In a Teams meeting, each person can pick the language their captions appear in, if the organizer has Teams Premium or a Microsoft 365 Copilot licence. It works only in Teams meetings.
Live translation across your whole PC with Hearica
Hearica captions whatever your PC is playing, in 60 languages, and translates it accurately and live into the language you choose:
- Original and translation together. Show the original words alongside the translation, which helps when you’re learning a language or checking a term.
- Two-way mode for conversations between two languages, such as a meeting where half the room speaks Spanish.
- Your own terms. Add names, jargon and preferred translations to a context profile (paid plans).
- A transcript of both. Sessions are saved, so you can review or export what was said and how it was translated.
It works on Windows 10 and 11 with an internet connection, and the free plan includes 60 minutes a month.
To set it up:
- In Hearica, switch from Caption to Translate.
- Next to Mode, choose From → To to translate one language into another, or Between for a conversation in two languages.
- Set From to the language being spoken, or Auto-detect, and To to the language you want to read.
- To see the original words too, turn on Show original language in translation mode in Settings.
- Start captioning. The translation appears in the floating caption window, over whatever app you’re using.
