How to Translate Help Scout Docs: The 2026 Multilingual Guide

Help Scout is one of the cleanest platforms for managing customer support, but when it comes to going global, its multilingual features are often misunderstood.

Unlike Intercom (which has built-in multi-language toggles), Help Scout handles multiple languages by using separate "Docs sites."

In this guide, we’ll break down exactly how to translate your Help Scout articles using four different methods, ranging from manual work to full automation.

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Method 1: The Native "Multiple Docs" Setup

Help Scout’s official recommendation for multilingual support is to create a separate Docs site for each language.

How it works:

1. Navigate to Manage > Docs.
2. Click New Site.
3. Set the sub-directory or custom domain for that language (e.g., docs.es.yourcompany.com).
4. Select the default language for that site in the settings.
5. Manually copy-paste or rewrite your articles into the new site.

Pros: Complete control over language-specific content; SEO-friendly sub-folders. Cons: High maintenance; no "link" between the original and translated article.

Method 2: Help Scout AI Assist

If you have AI features enabled in Help Scout, you can use the AI Assist tool to translate content within the editor.

How it works:

1. Open an article in your secondary language Docs site.
2. Paste the English content.
3. Highlight the text and use the AI Assist button to translate it.

Pros: Fast; built into the workflow. Cons: Still requires manual copy-pasting between sites; limited bulk editing.

Method 3: Translation Proxies (Weglot / Localize)

Services like Weglot or Localizejs work by "layering" over your Help Scout Docs. They detect the content on the page and swap it out with a translation.

How it works:

1. You add a snippet of JavaScript to your Help Scout Docs custom code section.
2. The proxy service translates the content on the fly.

Pros: No need for multiple Docs sites; easy to install. Cons: Can be expensive ($$$); SEO can be tricky if not configured correctly; you don't "own" the content files in Help Scout.

Method 4: Bulk Translation via API (The TranslateDesk Approach)

For teams that want to keep their content natively inside Help Scout but want to avoid the copy-paste nightmare, using a tool that syncs via API is the most efficient.

How it works:

1. Connect your Help Scout account to a translation connector.
2. Select the articles you want to translate.
3. Push them to a translation engine (like DeepL or OpenAI).
4. Automatically sync the results back to your secondary Docs site.

Pros: Bulk actions; native content storage; cost-effective. Cons: Requires initial API setup.

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Comparison Table: Which Method Should You Choose?

Method	Effort	Cost	SEO Quality	Best For
Native Manual	High	Low	High	Small teams with < 10 articles
AI Assist	Medium	Low	Medium	Teams doing occasional updates
Proxies	Low	High	Medium	Fast-growing startups
API/Sync	Low	Medium	High	Large Knowledge Bases (50+ articles)

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Final Recommendation

If you are just starting out, Method 1 with AI Assist is the way to go. It keeps your costs at zero and gives you total control.

However, if you find yourself spending more than 2 hours a week manually copying text between Help Scout sites, it's time to look at Method 4. Automating the sync between your primary and secondary Docs sites is the only way to scale without adding more support headcount.

Need help syncing your Help Scout Docs? Check out TranslateDesk for automated knowledge base translation.

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Related Reading

• Does Intercom Support Translation? Native Features vs. Best Tools — See how Intercom handles multilingual support compared to Help Scout.
• Freshdesk Multilingual Knowledge Base: 5 Methods Compared — Evaluating Freshdesk? Here's how its translation options compare.
• 5 Best Intercom Translation Apps for 2026 — The top tools for automating help center translation.
• Building a Multilingual Knowledge Base — Platform-agnostic best practices for going multilingual.