Translating PowerPoint presentation slides one-by-one, to your chagrin? As it turns out, the best way to translate entire PowerPoint presentations in 2024 isn’t with Microsoft Office’s built-in PowerPoint translation feature or free PowerPoint translator tools online.

Want to translate an entire PowerPoint ASAP? Check out the AI file translator Pairaphrase.

Here you will learn why you can’t translate whole PowerPoint presentations (all slides) efficiently with your current method. We also tell you how to translate a PowerPoint more efficiently with the best PowerPoint document translator online. As a result, you will translate entire PowerPoint decks faster, smarter and easier.

Translating Entire PowerPoints: Common Issues

1. Microsoft Office Can’t Translate Entire PowerPoint Files (All Slides at Once)

According to a thread on Microsoft Office’s help forum about how to translate entire PowerPoint (PPT) files, you can only translate one text box on a slide at a time when you use their translation feature. In other words, if you want to translate all PowerPoint slides at once, this method doesn’t work.

Can you imagine what this would look like for translating a 40-page slideshow? Forget about those slides that contain multiple text boxes. This would take hours of manual work.

2. Free PowerPoint Translator Tools Have Size Limitations

If you commonly translate PowerPoint files larger than 10MB, many free document translator tools won’t let you. For instance, Google Translate has a limit of 10MB, and it’s not the only tool that has restrictions on large PowerPoint translation. Therefore, if your company needs to translate large PowerPoint files, you need an alternative.

How Can I Translate an Entire PowerPoint Presentation?

To translate an entire PowerPoint, use professional translation software for PowerPoint files. Our recommended solution is Pairaphrase. It will allow you to translate whole PowerPoint files larger than 10MB, provides data security and allows you to edit/improve, save & reuse translations.

Why Pairaphrase

Pairaphrase is the best way to translate a PowerPoint presentation out of any other translation software on the market. 

It’s specially engineered to give you access to quick translations and cost-reducing features that improve your translation quality over time. This is all without requiring you to spend time learning the software.

The majority of Pairaphrase users require enterprise-level translations and need to translate large documents and files such as PowerPoint presentations.

Here are some specific features that make Pairaphrase the best way to translate a PowerPoint presentation:

1. Batch Translation (Top PPT Translation Method for Multiple Files)

Pairaphrase is the fastest way to translate a PowerPoint presentation. It allows you to upload a PowerPoint file and receive a first draft translation of it within seconds or a couple minutes.

Even text labels on charts and diagrams you create within PowerPoint will be translated for you. This applies to the presenter notes at the bottom, too. Not only are all the PowerPoint slides translated for you in one go, but you also have the ability to translate multiple files or documents at the same time in a single batch.

This is particularly useful for a group of files that are related to a single project (we’ll explain further in the Translation Memory section).

2. Translate an Entire PowerPoint & Keep Formatting

File formatting preservation is another feature that makes Pairaphrase the best way to translate a PowerPoint presentation.

When you run your whole PowerPoint file through PowerPoint translator tools online, many of them will lose all the formatting and layout of your slide deck. Pairaphrase will attempt to retain much of your image placement, line breaks, paragraph breaks, font properties, images and charts. This means that you save countless hours of work because you won’t need to reformat an entire PowerPoint presentation.

**Please note Pairaphrase automatic formatting isn’t perfect, but it will save you some time.**

3. Reuse Words & Phrases (Translation Memory)

One of the strongest arguments for Pairaphrase being the best way to translate a PowerPoint presentation is its use of Translation Memory technology.

After you receive that quick first draft translation of your PowerPoint file from Pairaphrase, you can edit the translation segments within the Translation Editor to improve the translation. As you edit the file and save your changes, your text is stored in a bilingual central repository for future use as translation memories.

How Translation Memory Helps with Translating PowerPoints

Translation memories are terms and phrases that were previously either machine-translated and human-edited or human-translated and saved within the system.

When you upload more documents for future translation work, the system separates your source text into segments and then searches for exact or fuzzy matches of those segments in your translation memories. The system will present the most closely-related phrase from your translation memories to be used as the translation. You can then accept or modify those “matches” to be used as the translation for a segment.

As you save translations in your translation memories, you get more matches and the system will continuously improve translation quality. This also significantly reduces your translation time and costs.

It’s important to keep in mind that in order to reap the benefits of a translation memory system, human editing of machine translation or human translation is required.

4. PowerPoint Translation Collaboration

You might find yourself in a situation where you need to work with a subject matter expert on a particular translation project. Whether this person is a colleague within your organization or an external business partner, collaboration functionality is a must.

Pairaphrase offers easy, real-time collaboration. You can quickly share translated files and invite colleagues into the platform to work on edits without needing to upgrade your plan. What’s more, you can even track user edit history by segment so there’s no second-guessing regarding whom changed what.

Superior translation collaboration is another reason why Pairaphrase is the best way to translate a PowerPoint presentation.

5. Data Security

Data breaches are increasing exponentially, which makes data security non-negotiable when you are translating business documents such as entire PowerPoint presentations.

Pairaphrase offers the highest standards in security when it comes to protecting your translation data. Here is how Pairaphrase protects your translation data so that your company’s information stays secure and confidential:

• SHA-2 and 4096-bit encryption
• 256-bit SSL certification
• Encrypted file storage in transit, in use and at rest via AWS
• “No Return” to machine translation providers
• PCI-compliant payment processing via Stripe
• HIPAA, SOC1 and ISO27001 compliant data centers
• Multi-Factor Authentication
• TLS 1.2 (Transport Layer Security)
• Last login date and time display in footer
• Automatic session logoff if idle
• Password expires after one year
• Auto-lock after failed password attempts
• Device Authentication
• Compliant with GDPR & HIPAA
• Single Sign-On
• Supports secure browsers; Chrome, Firefox, Edge & Safari
• Third-party security audit & assessment records

How to Translate a Whole PowerPoint Document, Step-by-Step:

1. Register at Pairaphrase.com
2. Log in to Pairaphrase
3. Select the source language
4. Select the target language
5. Choose your files
6. Click “Translate”
7. Click the file name
8. Make translation edits (optional)
9. Click “Download”
10. Select “Download Translation”

Get a comparison of the experience using Pairaphrase vs. PowerPoint for translation.

Ready to Get Started?

Pairaphrase allows you to translate an entire PowerPoint into English, Spanish, French, German, Italian, Portuguese, Arabic, Hindi, Swedish, Dutch, Korean, Japanese, Chinese and more (100+ languages, 10,000+ language pairs!). What’s more, it performs file translation for 21 additional file formats. 

Now that you know how to translate an entire PowerPoint file efficiently using Pairaphrase, experience it for yourself!

Schedule a demo or share this article with a colleague.

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Related article: How to Translate Google Slides