Google is testing improvements to the Reading Mode on Chrome. On a Canary build of the browser, an option to translate websites/PDFs was spotted recently.

This new “Translate” option (in the Reading Mode settings menu) was spotted by @Leopeva64 on X, and the post linked below also includes a video demo of the feature in action.

Basically, in the dropdown menu that appears when you click on the settings button of the Reading Mode, you should also see a “Translate” option. Once the feature is ready, it should translate the page or PDF to the desired language. However, it’s completely non-functional right now, and Google seems to have added the button alone.

I’ve checked for this feature myself on the latest version of Chrome Canary. At the time of writing, version 152.0.7973.0 is the latest one available.

Latest Canary.

However, in Reading Mode, I was unable to find the “Translate” button. It gives me the usual options for theme, font, images, links, etc, but the translate button hasn’t been added yet, even on Canary.

Reader Mode Chrome.

Reader Mode options.

This suggests that the original source has a different version (on Windows, since I’m on macOS), or that Google is rolling out this button in batches, so not all testing versions will get it simultaneously. Since the button doesn’t even work at the moment, it’ll probably take a while before it makes it to the stable version. For now, you can just use the Google Translate extension, which offers the same functionality of translating websites.

While I was unable to find the Translate option, I’ve noticed that the “Read aloud” feature does actually work now even on Chrome stable.

Read aloud.

In other Chrome news, you can now directly report unsafe websites from the browser’s Help menu. We covered that here.

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Sudhanshu K
171 Posts

I have been a consumer technology enthusiast for over 5 years. Thanks to my experience in software beta testing and product reviews, I've understood and learnt a lot about what bugs and issues bother people, and I spend time trying to simplify their solutions. I cover smartphones, software, social media, apps, AI, and most consumer tech gadgets. Actively pursuing a Computer Science bachelor’s degree. I'm mostly active on Twitter/X (@TechWhirlUlt), drop a DM or tag me if you want to share info or connect!