Translating Excel files with high-quality results requires professional translation software. This is the best way to translate Excel spreadsheets (XLXS), specifically if you need to translate entire Excel files in large quantities on behalf of an organization. Multiple cells will be translated in just a few steps.

In contrast, free online Excel file translator tools will most often present you with multiple limitations that ultimately decrease productivity. So will the native translator in Excel 365 itself.

Want to translate a full Excel sheet ASAP? Check out the AI file translator Pairaphrase.

According to a Microsoft Office help forum discussion on how to translate an Excel document, you can only translate one cell at a time in a sheet when you use their built-in Excel translator tool.

Can you imagine what this would look like for translating large Excel files with hundreds or thousands of rows? Forget about it. This would take countless hours of manual work and frustration.

The Case for Enterprise-Level Software

This is why you need to consider Excel translation software that specifically caters to enterprise needs and offers the best method for translating entire Excel sheets.

You don’t have time to put aside your normal daily tasks to translate a spreadsheet manually. This is laborious work that your company likely has no idea will require late nights at the office all week. And unfortunately, it’s probably not the last time you will need to produce a translated file.

Recommended Excel File Translator

You need an Excel file translator tool that saves time, and in effect saves money for your organization. Below we discuss Pairaphrase,  the AI-powered translation management system for teams. Pairaphrase is the best way to translate an Excel spreadsheet, and you’re about to learn why. 

Why Pairaphrase is the Best Way to Translate an Excel File

Pairaphrase is an online translation platform made specifically with users like you in mind. 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 the need to dedicate extra time to learn the program.

The majority of Pairaphrase users are teams that need to translate bulky files such as Excel spreadsheets.

Here are some specific features that make Pairaphrase the best way to translate Excel files:

1. Batch Excel File Translator (Best Way to Translate Entire Excel Files Simultaneously)

Pairaphrase is the best way to translate a whole Excel file into another language. It allows you to upload a whole Excel file and receive an entire first draft translation of the complete file (including all cells in all worksheets) within seconds or a couple of minutes.

Even text within the tables and charts you create within Excel spreadsheet are translated for you. Not only are all the Excel worksheets translated for you entirely at once, but you also have the ability to translate a group of files together along with your spreadsheet.

This is particularly useful for a group of files that are related to a single project (explained in more detail in the Dynamic Machine Learning section). You can choose from any of 24 different file types to upload along with your Excel document.

2. Translate Excel Files, Keep the Formatting

File layout and format preservation is another feature that makes Pairaphrase the best Excel spreadsheet translator.

When you upload your Excel spreadsheet file through many other online translation tools, you will likely encounter total format loss and layout displacement. When you use Pairaphrase, much of your image placement, line breaks, paragraph breaks, charts, graphs and font properties (size, font type, style, etc.) are mostly retained.

This means that you save hours of work because you won’t need to reformat an entire Excel spreadsheet or workbook.

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

3. Dynamic Machine Learning

Its use of artificial intelligence (AI) is one of the top reasons Pairaphrase is the best method to translate a Excel spreadsheet.

After you receive that first draft Excel file translation from machine translation in 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 Translate Excel Documents

Translation Memory works in conjunction with machine learning. It stores the phrases that were previously either machine-translated and human-edited or human-translated, which are stored in 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 as the translation. You can then accept or modify those “matches” as the chosen translation for a segment. As you save translations in your Translation Memories, you get more matches and the system continuously improves 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 is required.

Learn more about Translation Memory in this 2-minute video:

4. Excel Document Translation Collaboration

When you’re translating an Excel spreadsheet (or any other file for that matter), you could find yourself in need of a bilingual subject matter expert if the content requires it.

Whether this person is a colleague within your organization or a freelance translator, collaboration functionality is a must in your choice of translation software. Conveniently, Pairaphrase offers easy, real-time collaboration.

You can quickly share translated files right from the online interface. What’s more, you can invite colleagues into the platform to work on edits without a requirement to upgrade your plan with more seats.

You can even track user edit history by segment. So that you can avoid confusion over whom changed what and when. Superior translation collaboration is another reason why Pairaphrase is the best way to translate an Excel spreadsheet.

5. Data Security

Data breaches are a serious issue in all industries, and online translation services are not exempt. This makes data security non-negotiable when you translate business documents such as Excel spreadsheets. Pairaphrase offers the highest standards in security when it comes to translation data protection.

Here is how Pairaphrase protects your translation data so that your company’s information doesn’t become compromised:

• 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 processor
• HIPAA, SOC1 and ISO27001 compliant datacenters
• 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 an Entire Excel File, Step-by-Step:

1. Register at Pairaphrase.com
2. Log in to Pairaphrase
3. Select the source language
4. Select the target language(s)
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. Excel for translation.

Ready to Get Started?

Now that you know that Pairaphrase is the best way to translate an entire Excel document, why not give it a try?

Pairaphrase supports 140+ languages, 20,000+ language pairs and performs file translation for 24 file formats. Translate an Excel file into Spanish, English, French, Hindi, German, Italian, Portuguese, Swedish, Dutch, Korean, Japanese, Polish, Chinese, Arabic and more.

Schedule a demo or share this article with a colleague.

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Related article: How to Translate Google Sheets