No Safari Translate feature in Big Sur

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Level 1

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No Safari Translate feature in Big Sur

I can successfully access the new Translate feature in Safari after I upgraded my 2020 MacBook Air (Intel) to Big Sur. However, on my Late-2015 iMac I have no such feature. It doesn't appear whatsoever.

For example, when I visit lemonde.fr on my MacBook Air, I see the translation icon in the address bar and the translation itself is very good.

When I visit the same website on my iMac, no translation icon appears. I struggle to see what the difference is on the two devices that would lead to different behaviours across my Macs.

I even use the same ad-blocker and other plugins on both devices.

Any ideas why one would support translate and the other cannot? Does it need enabling?

iMac Line (2012 and Later)

Posted on Nov 19, 2020 6:56 AM

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Answer 1

Top-ranking reply

VikingOSX

Community+ 2024

Level 10

116,777 points

Nov 19, 2020 7:24 AM in response to AshJX

On the Mac that is not offering translation in Safari 14.0.1, do you have Français entered into your Language & Region : Preferred languages panel? Safari checks those settings to determine if it provides a translation indicator in the browser.

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Answer 2

AshJX Author

Level 1

9 points

Nov 19, 2020 7:31 AM in response to VikingOSX

Thank you, Viking! That resolved things!

I added French and German as additional languages in the Language & Region section of System Preferences, restarted Safari, and when I visited lemonde.fr the Translation permission dialogue box popped up for the first time.

I now have options for translating German and French websites into English.

Does this mean that I have to add additional languages to Language & Region preferences if I want to translate to and from those languages?

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Answer 3

AshJX Author

Level 1

9 points

Nov 19, 2020 7:36 AM in response to VikingOSX

Thank you so much. I couldn't find an answer, so I really appreciate your help.

The only other mystery is that I don't remember ever adding additional languages to my MacBook Air (I've previously had no reason to) and yet it immediately prompted me to activate Translation when I used Safari to visit lemonde.fr after I upgraded to Big Sur, successfully translating the page.

Oh well, at least it works now. Take care and many, many thanks.

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