Google Translate for Chrome updated with ability to highlight and translate specific text

Google today updated its official Google Translate extension for Chrome, letting users translate any text they want on a webpage. You can download the new version now, directly from the Chrome Web Store.

If you’re a Chrome user, you might be wondering what exactly is new here. After all, Google Chrome already has Google Translate built in for translating whole webpages. You’re correct. This extension, however, goes a bit further with today’s release, letting you select the specific text that you want to convert:

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Just highlight the target text with your cursor and then click the Translate icon that appears. Alternatively, you can right-click and choose “Google Translate” from the drop-down menu:

There’s also a feature for hardcore linguists. In the extension’s options, you can choose to automatically show the translation every time you highlight text. This may get a little bit annoying, but if you’re constantly moving between multiple languages, it might be worth a shot.

Until now, the extension simply let you translate the entire webpage. While this feature is available in Chrome itself, some users prefer having an extension that can do the work even if the browser doesn’t detect a foreign language.

This functionality is still available in the extension. With no text selected, just click the icon in the upper right of your browser window and the whole page will be translated.

Google Translate already sees its users performing more than 1 billion translations every day. Today’s update will likely give that number a sizable boost.