How do I translate an article?

Step-by-step guide to translating your Intercom articles into multiple languages using Translate Desk.

This guide walks you through translating an article from your Intercom Help Center into one or more target languages.

Before You Start

Make sure you have:

Selecting an Article

Navigate to the Articles page from your dashboard. You'll see a list of all articles imported from your Intercom Help Center.

To translate a single article:

  1. Click on the article you want to translate
  2. The article details panel opens, showing the source content and any existing translations
  3. Click the Translate button

To translate multiple articles at once, see How do I translate multiple articles at once?.

Choosing Target Languages

When you click Translate, a dialog opens where you can select the languages you want to translate into.

  1. Use the search box to quickly find languages, or scroll through the list
  2. Click on each language you want to add
  3. Selected languages appear as badges at the top
  4. You can remove a language by clicking the X on its badge

You can select multiple languages at once. Each language will create a separate translation of the article.

Translation Options

Before starting the translation, you can configure these options:

Formality Level

Choose how formal or casual you want the translation to be:

  • Default: Natural tone appropriate for most help center content
  • More formal: Professional, business-appropriate tone
  • More casual: Friendly, conversational tone

Not all languages support formality settings. When a language doesn't support formality, the default option is used. Learn more in What translation options are available?.

Glossary Selection

If you have glossaries set up for the language pair, you can select one to use during translation. Glossaries ensure consistent translation of specific terms, brand names, or technical jargon.

Glossaries can only be used when translating to a single language. If you select multiple languages, the glossary option won't be available. Learn more in How do I create and use glossaries?.

Starting the Translation

Once you've selected languages and configured options:

  1. Click "Start translation"
  2. The translation job is queued and processed in the background
  3. You'll see a confirmation message

The translation process typically takes a few seconds to a minute, depending on the article length and number of languages selected.

Credit Usage

Credits are consumed when the translation completes successfully. The calculation is:

  • 1 credit = 1 article translation to 1 language

For example:

  • Translating 1 article into 3 languages uses 3 credits
  • Translating 5 articles into 2 languages uses 10 credits

If you don't have enough credits, you'll see a message before the translation starts. You can purchase more credits at any time. See How much does Translate Desk cost? for details.

Viewing Translation Results

After the translation completes, you can view the results:

  1. Navigate back to the Articles page
  2. Click on the article you translated
  3. The article details panel shows all available translations
  4. Use the language dropdown to switch between the source article and translated versions

Each translation shows:

  • The translated title
  • The translated description
  • The translated body content with all formatting preserved

Translation Status

After translation, each language version has a status that indicates what action is needed:

  • Ready to Push: The translation is complete and ready to be published to Intercom
  • Needs Translation: The article hasn't been translated yet, or the source was updated and needs re-translation

Learn more about all status types in What do the translation statuses mean?.

Next Steps

After translating an article:

  1. Review the translation quality. See How do I review translations? for tips.
  2. Push the translation to Intercom when you're ready. Learn how in How do I push translations to Intercom?.
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