Teams Live Translation: Turn On Translated Captions
Yes, Microsoft Teams can translate a meeting in real time, either as live translated captions on your screen or as spoken interpretation in your ear. Both are paid extras: translated captions need Teams Premium or Microsoft 365 Copilot, and when the meeting organizer holds either license, everyone in the meeting can switch them on without a license of their own.
The harder question is usually the next one: why isn't the Translate to toggle there? It's nearly always a license, an admin policy, the meeting type, the app you joined from, or the language, in that order. Steps below follow Microsoft's documentation as checked in October 2026; where a label might change, we describe the setting.
Comparing platforms? We've written the same guide for Zoom translated captions and Google Meet translated captions; this page goes deeper on Teams.
What Teams live translation actually includes
Three separate Teams features translate a conversation. They're licensed differently and behave differently, so it helps to know which one you're after.
| Feature | What attendees get | What it needs | Languages |
|---|---|---|---|
| Live translated captions | Subtitles in whichever language each person picks, over the original voice | Teams Premium or Microsoft 365 Copilot. If the organizer has it, it covers the whole meeting; if an attendee has it, only that attendee | 57 spoken-language variants for captions; 31 languages to translate into |
| Interpreter agent | AI speech-to-speech: you hear others in your language and they hear you in theirs, optionally in a simulation of your voice | Microsoft 365 Copilot, with 20 hours a month per person included | 10 in Microsoft's user guide, including English, Spanish, Portuguese, Japanese, Simplified Chinese (Mandarin), Italian, German, French and Korean |
| Language interpretation | Professional interpreters on separate audio channels that attendees choose between | Set up by the organizer in Meeting options before the meeting; you supply the interpreters | Whatever your interpreters cover |
There's also multilingual speech recognition, a Premium and Copilot option that lets each person declare the language they speak, so a meeting that drifts from Spanish to Japanese doesn't garble everyone's captions. The organizer turns it on per meeting.
Most people asking whether Teams can translate in real time want the first row. Interpreter is stricter: each listener needs their own Copilot license, and guests or anonymous joiners can't use it at all. When the stakes are legal, medical or contractual, book human interpreters.
How to turn on live translated captions in Teams
An admin acts once, the organizer before the meeting, each attendee during it. In a meeting that's already set up, attendees can skip to step 4.
- Admin: leave live captions available. In the Teams admin center, open the meeting policy that covers your users (Meetings, then Meeting policies) and check that Live captions isn't set to Off. The default still lets people switch captions on in the meeting; Off removes them, and translated captions go with them.
- License the organizer. Assign Teams Premium or Microsoft 365 Copilot to the person who schedules the meeting. Microsoft applies translated captions at the organizer level, so that one license covers everyone in the meetings they organize.
- Organizer: allow more than one spoken language. If people will speak different languages, open the meeting in your Teams calendar, choose View event (or Edit series), then Options. Under Recording and transcription, turn on Enable multilingual speech recognition and select Apply.
- Open live captions. In More actions, choose RTT, select Turn on, then enable Live Captions in the RTT pane. Older clients use Language and speech → Show live captions.
- Check the spoken language. Open Caption settings from the captions pane, or More options → Open caption settings in the RTT pane. Check Meeting spoken language, or your own spoken language in a multilingual meeting.
- Choose Translate to. In caption settings, choose your reading language under Translate to; enable its toggle first if your version shows one. Each attendee chooses independently.
- For a town hall, preselect languages. Open the event, go to Meeting options, then Engagement, then Translate attendee captions, and choose up to six languages (ten with Premium). Attendees can pick only from that list.
Try it before anyone buys it. Admins can add a zero-cost 30-day Teams Premium trial in the Microsoft 365 admin center, and users can get a 60-day self-service trial. Put the trial seat on whoever organizes your recurring cross-language meeting.
Translate to option missing in Teams? Check these five things in order
Microsoft's licensing rule settles most cases: an eligible organizer license gives everyone the toggle; otherwise only licensed attendees see it.
1. Nobody who matters holds the license
Check the organizer's license before your own. Teams Premium is an add-on on top of an ordinary Teams license, so a standard Microsoft 365 business seat doesn't include translated captions. Microsoft's help for Teams Free covers plain live captions only. In another company's meeting, their organizer's license counts; your side can only help if your own organization assigns you Premium or Copilot.
2. A meeting policy switched live captions off
Translated captions ride on live captions. If an admin set the Live captions policy to Off, the captions option disappears for everyone that policy covers, translation included. At a regulated company that may be deliberate, so ask before working around it.
3. The meeting type doesn't support it
Town hall attendees only get the languages the organizer preselected. Interpreter has the longest exclusion list: ad hoc meetings, Teams Rooms used with personal devices, town halls, webinars and Teams Free meetings. In calls, Microsoft's user guide limits it to one-to-one calls between Teams users over the internet, though its 2026 roadmap adds calls to phone numbers on Teams for Windows and Teams Phone devices, so check what your tenant shows.
4. The app you joined from
Microsoft's Teams Premium admin docs list live translated captions on Windows, Mac, mobile and web, but not on Teams Rooms devices. Its step-by-step Translate to instructions are written for the desktop app, though, so if your phone shows no translation option, rejoin from a computer with the app up to date.
5. The language, or the spoken-language setting
Microsoft's captions page lists 57 spoken-language variants and 31 languages you can translate into, including Arabic and both Chinese scripts. A language missing from either list won't work at any price. More often it's supported but set wrong: if the spoken language says English while people talk Portuguese, the translation starts from nonsense. Teams prompts the organizer, co-organizers or whoever started transcription to fix a mismatch; anyone else must stop transcription first.
A guest with no Translate to option? The Laxis desktop app shows you a live translation of the call on your own screen, whoever's license the meeting runs on, and the 14-day Premium trial includes it.
What attendees see, and what's left after the meeting
Translated captions appear under the video, labeled with the speaker's name unless they chose to hide it. Your reading language is yours alone: a colleague can follow in Portuguese while you read English from the same speech.
Interpreter plays the translated voice over the original, with a balance slider, and marks the speaker's video while they're being translated. When others are still listening, Teams shows a cue to wait before you speak.
Then most of it goes. Microsoft says Teams doesn't save captions. Translated transcripts show only live; afterwards the transcript is in the original spoken language, and recordings keep the original audio, not the interpretation. Two things can survive:
- A recap in your language. If multilingual speech recognition or Interpreter was on, Microsoft says your intelligent recap may appear in the language you chose under Translate to.
- A translated transcript made afterwards, through Clipchamp, or through Microsoft 365's pay-as-you-go transcript translation for videos if an admin has set it up. That option covers more than 100 languages and is billed through an Azure subscription.
For the transcript itself, see our guide to downloading Teams recordings and transcripts.
When Teams translation isn't yours to switch on
If your company already pays for Teams Premium or Copilot and your cross-language calls are meetings your own people organize, use what you have: it's native, and one license covers the room.
It stops helping in predictable places. You've joined a client's meeting as a guest and their organizer isn't licensed. Your company never bought the add-on. The next call is on Zoom or Google Meet. Your language isn't on Microsoft's translation list (Laxis has its own list, so check yours during the trial). Or you'd like the conversation kept somewhere once the captions are gone.
That's where Laxis, the AI meeting assistant, comes in. Its Mac and Windows desktop app records your microphone and computer audio, so it runs beside Teams with no bot in the meeting and no dependence on the organizer's license. You set the spoken language (auto-detect, or one of 60) and, on Premium, an available translation language; each line of the live transcript then shows the original with the translation underneath. Premium's floating captions stay on top of any window, a full-screen meeting included, showing the original, the translation or both. Afterwards the transcript, your notes, an AI report and the action items stay in your account, whatever the platform, and the mobile app covers in-person conversations.
Language availability: Laxis supports 60+ translation languages overall, but the desktop meeting menu in version 1.0.33 lists 33 targets. Check that your language is available in your app during the trial.
The limits, plainly. Live translation is Premium, not part of the free Basic plan, and every new account starts on a 14-day Premium trial without a credit card. It draws on the same monthly pool as recording and dictation (2,000 minutes on Premium), and one recording runs up to two hours. Audio is processed in Laxis's cloud, and Laxis isn't HIPAA compliant. The translation appears only on your screen; it doesn't give other attendees captions. Machine translation still stumbles on slang, jargon and crosstalk, so confirm figures in writing. The Laxis Chrome extension reads Teams' captions and doesn't translate, so use the desktop app. And if IT disabled captions on purpose, ask first, and tell the room you're recording.
Our guide to running a meeting across languages covers pacing and turn-taking. And if you hoped your AirPods could do the translating, here's why AirPods Live Translation doesn't reach Teams calls yet.
Read any Teams call in your language, even when it isn't your meeting. See each line in the original and in your language, beside Teams, Zoom or Google Meet. 14-day Premium trial, no credit card. Download Laxis
Frequently asked questions
Can Microsoft Teams translate in real time?
Yes, Microsoft Teams translates meetings in real time with live translated captions, which need Teams Premium or Microsoft 365 Copilot. If the organizer holds either license, every participant can turn on Translate to in the caption language settings. For spoken translation, Teams offers the Interpreter agent, which needs a Microsoft 365 Copilot license.
Do I need Teams Premium for live translation in Teams?
It takes Teams Premium or a Microsoft 365 Copilot license, though not necessarily on your own account. If the meeting organizer has one, all participants can use translated captions without a license. If only some attendees are licensed, only those attendees get the toggle. Standard Microsoft 365 seats and Teams Free don't include it.
Can Teams translate voice in real time?
Yes, Teams turns speech into translated speech through the Interpreter agent, which needs a Microsoft 365 Copilot license and includes 20 hours a month per person. Microsoft's user guide lists ten languages, including English, Spanish, French, German, Japanese, Korean and Mandarin. Guests and anonymous joiners can't use it, and it doesn't run in town halls, webinars or ad hoc meetings.
Why don't I see Translate to in Teams live captions?
Translate to usually disappears because neither the organizer nor you holds Teams Premium or Microsoft 365 Copilot. Other causes include a meeting policy that turns live captions off, a town hall where the organizer preselected languages, a Teams Rooms device, or a language Microsoft doesn't translate. Check the organizer's license first, then the admin policy.
Does Teams save translated captions or transcripts?
No, Microsoft says Teams doesn't save captions, and translated transcripts are visible only during the meeting. Afterwards the transcript shows the original spoken language. Your recap may appear in your chosen language if multilingual speech recognition was on, and admins can enable paid transcript translation for meeting recordings.
What languages does Teams live translation support?
Teams live captions recognize 57 spoken-language variants, and Microsoft's support page lists 31 languages you can translate captions into, including Spanish, French, German, Arabic, Japanese, Korean and both Chinese scripts. Microsoft's user guide lists ten Interpreter languages. Town hall organizers can offer six caption translation languages, or ten with Teams Premium.
