
Excel is a very popular tool for translation management, especially in smaller projects. It can be used to maintain an overview of translation keys, translators, languages, and deliverables at the same time.

The benefits of Excel are that it is flexible, collaborative, scalable, and easy to use. It can meet the needs of small-scale translation projects as well as projects with many active translators and large scale translations. 


## How to use Excel as a translation management tool

Excel is a great tool to start translation management in a new project. With a simple Excel file, you can check current translation version, progress of translating new keys or languages, and share the file easily with your team members.

### How to create a spreadsheet for project translations

**How to get started?** Simply create a new file in Excel or Google Sheets and start by naming your columns. The best way is to extract or copy translation keys from your project, and put them in the first column. 

Next, add language columns and their translations in corresponding cells. Have a look at the sample translation for our PlaceFlare app. Quite easy, right?

![sample excel translation file](/blog/excel-google-sheets-translation-file.png)
This is a basic and simple translation template which will work perfectly for your project. 

Here are some useful tips for translating in Excel: 
- **Freeze key column** to easily scroll between languages if there are many. 
- Add an extra column where you put a **screenshot or image of the translated area** — sometimes you may not remember where the key came from. With the screenshot, you can easily associate the key and its location. 
- Use international codes for naming language columns (e.g., en, es) together with its [locale](https://simplelocalize.io/blog/posts/language-vs-locale/) like en-GB, es-ES, es-CL. It will be easier to start with **internationalization** sooner than deal with it later.
- Make one language your main one and fully translate it first. It will be a base for translating other languages. 

### How to work with Excel translation files?

An Excel file is a great tool for translations, but it still needs to be uploaded to your app or website. The file allows you to control easily updated texts, add languages and modify translations, but it doesn't connect directly with the source code. 

![sample excel translation file](/blog/excel-to-json-and-json-to-excel-conversion.jpg)

Usually you need to **convert the Excel file to JSON**. Remember that when translation changes, there is a new feature or update, you need to edit the file and give the updated version to your dev team to replace the existing translations in the code.

## Auto-translation in Excel

Today, we can use a variety of online resources to automatically translate texts with a very high level of precision. The most popular tools online are **DeepL** and **Google Translate**. You can use them as a great help with translating texts, or use built-in translation features or plugins. Here are some examples of auto-translation option for Excel files:

**Google Sheets translation formula**

You can easily translate text in Google Sheets with integrated formula from Google Translate. Just type in a selected cell this formula: **=GOOGLETRANSLATE(cell to translate, “source language”, “target language”)**, for example:

![Google Sheets google translate](/blog/google-sheets-translate.png)

Then spread the formula for the entire column and work the same way for other languages.

**Microsoft Excel Translate**

Microsoft Excel has a special function for automatic translations, called **Translate**. You will find it under Review tab. Check how to use this option in the official [Excel translation guide](https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/translator/business/excel/).


## Auto-translation with DeepL or Google Translate with SimpleLocalize

Instead of the manual work with Excel options, you can use a translation management tool which has dedicated options for seamless automatic translations. 

![Auto translation with SimpleLocalize](/blog/auto-translate.jpg)

**How it works?**
Login to SimpleLocalize with **free Community plan** and create your project. Then, with one click, **upload your existing Excel file** and hit **Start auto translation** button.

SimpleLocalize will **auto translate with Google Translate or DeepL** for selected languages. In a few seconds, you can have your project fully translated and ready to go!

![Auto translation with SimpleLocalize](/blog/auto-translation-job.png)

When your translations are ready, you can export them to many supported formats, also Excel, or [upload translations automatically with CLI](https://simplelocalize.io/docs/cli/upload-translations/).

## Pros and Cons of using spreadsheets for translation Management

Using spreadsheets as translation management tool is a popular choice for many projects, but it has its pros and cons, especially compared with a dedicated translation app:  

### Pros:
- simple to import and export data
- helps to track changes in translation file
- easy to use and well known for everyone
- allows sharing files with the team
- no or very low cost

### Cons:
- a lot of manual work with copy-pasting texts and formulas
- not so user-friendly and simple enough for translations (not designed to be a translation management tool)
- requires frequent file changes and manual uploads of new translations
- difficult to keep track on new translations and removing not used translation keys as its very time-consuming task

![SimpleLocalize translation editor](/blog/translation-editor-interface.png)

## Easy Excel file translation with SimpleLocalize

SimpleLocalize is a simple, intuitive way to manage internationalization in Excel. It's data-driven, easy to use, and saves time on tedious processes that are otherwise difficult to automate. 

Import your current Excel files to SimpleLocalize and start translating your projects efficiently with auto translation features. [Start now with our free Community plan](https://simplelocalize.io/pricing/) and check how SimpleLocalize can help you in your work!


The complete guide to managing translation projects with Excel


## What is machine translation?

Machine translation (MT) or Automated translation (AT) is the process of automated translation provided by a translation service or software (eg. Google Translate or DeepL). MT is the process of translating text or speech from one language to another.
Automated translation is a relatively new development. It is aimed at making ubiquitous and useful information accessible to a global audience. 

Different languages have different words for the same things. For example, when you say "hello", people from different countries have different ways of responding.
Some languages make it easier for you to understand them by making the subject disappear after the verb, or making it personal: "Good morning". Other languages require more information to be understood, 
and force you to attach information to the end of the verb: "Be nice". Not all languages use "be nice" as a completely objective sentence, but most do.

## How does it work?

SimpleLocalize takes all available translations and tries to match the best translation source for given service (e.g. Google Translate and DeepL). Usually, English translations are taken as the best translation source.
If an English translation is not available for some reason, SimpleLocalize will try to use another language translation. English messages are considered as the best source, and they provide the best results due to fact there is no additional translation step, for example `Polish > English > German`. Not every language is translated directly from one to another. In many cases the step between is needed, which may result with inaccurate translations or even losing context.

## Using DeepL for automated translation

![text with source code translated in DeepL](/blog/app-auto-translation-deepl.png)

In DeepL, all code variables stay untouched during translation process. Here is the HTML example.

```html
<div class="text-bold button">My bold text</div>
```
Please notice that the `class` variable and value `text-bold button` are not translated. Great job DeepL!


## Using Google Translate for automated translation

![text with source code translated in Google Translate](/blog/app-auto-translation-google-translate-example.png)

Google Translate is much better in translating longer text with more sentences. However, it is not always able to translate text with application source code.
In the example above the source code has been translated as well together with texts. Now it becomes:

```html
<div klasa="tekst-pogrubiony przycisk">Mój pogrubiony tekst</div>
```

This may cause additional work for software teams, because every auto translated message must be adjusted by hand.
Often SimpleLocalize is able to extract text from a message to prevent such situations.

## DeepL vs Google Translate

**There is not much difference between those two services in general.** DeepL has advantage that they keep application source code context. In most cases DeepL
translation output is very accurate for short sentences. Google Translated is a much cheaper solution if you use it for large translation volumes.
Google Translate is better in translating longer texts with multiple sentences, while DeepL can have hiccups.

## How to start using machine translations in app?

**Upload your translations** to SimpleLocalize. You can do it on various ways:
- [API file import](/docs/api/import-translations/),
- [Add translations using API](/docs/api/add-translations/),
- [Upload translations with CLI](/docs/cli/upload-translations/),
- [import translation file manually](/docs/general/import/).

Learn more about [supported file formats](/docs/general/file-formats/).

![translation messages in translation management software](/blog/all-translation-keys-from-application.png)

Once you're done with the import step, you can start adding languages in the 'Languages' tabs.

## How to use auto-translation feature?

![how to use automated translations in SimpleLocalize](/blog/start-auto-translation.png)

**It's simple! Add a new language, click 'Start auto translation' button** next to the language which you want to translate and wait for the results. 
Usually, this process doesn't take more than 5 minutes for big projects with about 5000 translation keys. 

![example of auto translated texts in SimpleLocalize editor](/blog/auto-translated-texts.png)

Translation messages, which have been auto-translated, have a small provider logo next to input to indicate it has been translated 
automatically. This icon will disappear once you edit translation manually.

## How much does it cost?

**It's free, seriously!** You can translate your application for free with SimpleLocalize. [Our free plan](/pricing#free) allows you to keep 50 translation keys with 
**unlimited number of hosted words, unlimited languages and unlimited number of modifications**.
You are limited to 3 translation jobs per a month in the [SimpleLocalize Community Plan](/pricing#free) and 10 translation jobs in the [SimpleLocalize Developer Plan](/pricing).
The [Team and Business plans](/pricing) has unlimited access to the auto translation feature.

[Try it for Free](/register)


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The complete guide to managing translation projects with Excel

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