Grab Microsoft's Translator app for Windows 10 before it goes away forever

By Sean Endicott
last updated

You'll have to use Microsoft's mobile Translator apps or built-in Translator features going forward.

Microsoft Translator
Microsoft Translator (Image credit: Microsoft)

What you need to know

  • Microsoft's Translator app for Windows 10 won't be available after today.
  • You can download it now, and it will continue to work, though it won't receive any updates.
  • Microsoft still provides and maintains Translator apps on Android, iOS, and the web.

Today is the last day that you can download Microsoft's Translator app for Windows 10. After today, the app will continue to work, but it won't receive any more updates or technical support going forward. Translator is free through the Microsoft Store, but you need to download it before the end of the day.

While the Windows 10 app is going away, Microsoft still has Translator apps on iOS, Android, and the web. Translator is also built into several Microsoft apps and services, such as Office and Microsoft Edge.

The end date of the Translator app has been known for some time. A Microsoft Translator blog post outlines the cutoff:

The Microsoft Translator app for Windows desktop will no longer be available for download, beginning April 8, 2021. If you have already downloaded the desktop app, it will continue to work however technical support and updates to the service will no longer be provided. This does not affect any other translation features in Microsoft products that use the Microsoft Translator service.

Though the Windows 10 version of Translator is going away, it shouldn't be hard to find even if you miss the chance to pick it up. Microsoft's Translator apps on mobile devices are free, and the translator is built into quite a few services.
Microsoft Translator


This app allows you to translate text and audio in real-time. You can even download languages for offline support. The Windows 10 version won't be available after today, so make sure to grab it now.

Sean Endicott
Sean Endicott
News Writer and apps editor

Sean Endicott brings nearly a decade of experience covering Microsoft and Windows news to Windows Central. He joined our team in 2017 as an app reviewer and now heads up our day-to-day news coverage. If you have a news tip or an app to review, hit him up at sean.endicott@futurenet.com (opens in new tab).

10 Comments
  • Anybody knows how to preserve offline language packs? App already downloaded...
  • I wonder how Microsoft wants us to translate on desktop. Open Edge, Google translate?
  • Open Edge, go to https://www.bing.com/translator/. You're using Google translate on the browser anyway, Bing is no different.
  • Also Office and Edge have the service baked in already. No need for UWP apps
  • I get it that mobile would be a more likely use case, but if Microsoft is making a big deal about making apps work in multiple environments and the Windows Store: if maintaining the code for a translator app and making it be useful in both mobile and Windows Store is too much trouble for Microsoft, who can be expected to write for multiple environments? Feels like an admission of weakness to me. How hard/expensive can it be to have a translator app that can work on both mobile and have a Windows Store version? Surely the vast majority of the intelligence of the app is on servers in their data centers and what you need to maintain is fundamentally an interface to ask questions and display answers.
  • It seems like they weren't serious about a standalone translation service anyway, which sucks. As it is, you can't even sync your settings or history across devices, which cripples the service. For me, it's OK to have things run through a webpage, but surely they could at least have that basic history/favorites syncing and make it easy to turn that webpage into an app.
  • I used it for OCR. Now it's pretty much gone without alternative. Good job Microsoft! 👍
  • The Microsoft Translator service as a whole is just extremely basic. While Google Translate allows syncing your history and favorites and, on supported devices, pen input, MS Translator is stuck in 2008. Almost useless. It was a pretty app though.
  • Since Windows 10X is coming, it would be great for students for easy access since it offers offline translation, ink, camera translation and, Conversation. I'm a user of this app, and It's sad to see a great tool going away.
  • I love how all the headlines for this are negative: "Microsoft kills Translator app" when it seems that they're making it more accessible to anyone with a web browser. How about you review the new web experience? It's at https://translator.microsoft.com/