Learn how to translate foreign text in Instagram stories into one of the 90+ supported languages on your iPhone or Android phone.
Instagram has had a built-in translation feature for years now, which makes it a cinch to quickly translate text in posts, captions, profile bios, and even Instagram stories without going outside of the app.
So, instead of using a dedicated translation app, you can have Instagram translate the text of a story that’s in a foreign language into your native tongue with a simple tap.
How to translate foreign text in Instagram stories
Assuming your preferred language is available as a translation and there’s foreign text in a story, you should be able to see an option labeled “See translation” in the top-left corner.
- Open the Instagram app on your iPhone and open a story that includes a piece of text written in a foreign language.
- Tap See translation in the top-left corner of a story under the person’s username. Doing so will pull up a card showing the original text and a translation.
- Note that if the text is written in an unsupported language, you won’t get the See translation option.
What languages can Instagram translate?
Instagram can translate stories text into more than 90 different languages to make sharing international content easier, and that includes Arabic, Hindi, Japanese, Portuguese, and more. However, I could not find a full list of supported languages on Instagram’s website.
Note that translation availability is dependent on the language a piece of story text is written in, as well as your preferred language set in the Language section of Instagram’s settings.
Tip: If you don’t see the built-in translate option
Take a screenshot of the Instagram story and save it to the Photos app. Now, use Live Text to copy that foreign text and translate it.
Note that Apple Live Text only supports a handful of languages.
Does Instagram support audio translations?
Audio translation isn’t available at this time. That being said, Instagram in May 2021 added a useful new captions sticker that made it easy to automatically caption your stories. Specifically, this sticker automatically transcribes speech in videos with a range of different styles available. Currently, however, the captions sticker is limited to English and English-speaking countries.
And with a global audience, Instagram is certainly wise to continue investing in the development of features that make it easier for you to understand content in foreign languages whilst making the photo-sharing service as inclusive and accessible as possible.
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