QTranslate

# QTranslate **The translation tool that Questsoft abandoned. Rebuilt from scratch. Built to last.** [](https://github.com/ahatem/QTranslate/releases/latest) [](LICENSE) [](https://github.com/ahatem/QTranslate/actions) [](CONTRIBUTING.md) [](https://kotlinlang.org) [**Download**](#installation) · [**Plugin Guide**](wiki/Creating-a-Plugin.md) · [**Build from source**](wiki/Building-from-Source.md) · [**Contributing**](CONTRIBUTING.md) · [**Wiki**](wiki/Home.md)

The original QTranslate by Questsoft was the best desktop translation tool on Windows — until development stopped, APIs broke, and users were left with a dead app.

This is a full rewrite in Kotlin with one core design change: everything is a plugin. Translation engines, OCR, TTS, spell checkers, dictionaries — all separate JARs you install at runtime. When a service changes its API or shuts down, you swap the plugin. The app keeps running.

What it does

Select text anywhere → press Ctrl+Q → translation appears instantly. That's the core of it.

_{Quick Translate — select text in any app, press Ctrl+Q}

For longer work: open the main window, type or paste, translate. Switch engines in one click. Translate a document while preserving its structure. Run OCR on a screenshot. Listen to pronunciation. Check spelling. Browse history. All from the keyboard, all without opening a browser.

Main window — translate, summarize, rewrite, spell check, browse history	RTL support — full layout mirroring for Arabic, Hebrew, Farsi, and more
Compact layout, light theme — tabbed view, fits any workflow	Settings — Services & Presets — configure engines, presets, and API keys
Side-by-side layout — source and translation in parallel columns	Document translation — DOCX, PDF, TXT, SRT and VTT, structure preserved

Features

Translation

Input

Services & plugins

Interface

Installation

All downloads live on the latest release page.

Every download already contains all bundled plugins, languages, and themes. Pick one — you do not need the others.

Windows

1. Download QTranslate-<version>-windows-x64.zip
2. Extract to a writable folder
3. Run QTranslate.exe

No Java installation needed — the package ships its own trimmed runtime.

macOS and Linux

1. Install Java 11 or later (Temurin recommended)
2. Download and extract QTranslate-<version>.zip
3. Run QTranslate.jar, or java -jar QTranslate.jar from a terminal

QTranslate/
  ├── QTranslate.jar                  ← double-click, or: java -jar QTranslate.jar
  ├── plugins/
  │     ├── google-services-plugin.jar
  │     ├── bing-services-plugin.jar
  │     ├── mozhi-services-plugin.jar
  │     └── ...
  ├── themes/
  │     └── kokedera.theme.json       ← community theme included; drop more .theme.json files here
  └── languages/
        ├── ar-SA.toml
        ├── zh-CN.toml
        ├── de-DE.toml
        └── ...

Bundled plugins: Google, Bing, AI Services, DeepL, Mozhi, MyMemory, LibreTranslate Local, Reverso, Yandex Web, and Wikimedia Reference. Configure a service from the service selector or Settings → Plugins.

Individual plugin JARs are also attached to each release. They are only for adding or updating a single plugin in an existing install — you do not need them for a fresh setup.

Getting "This application requires a Java Runtime Environment"? Java isn't installed or JAVA_HOME isn't set — or use the Windows package, which needs neither. ▶ How to Install Java JDK and Set JAVA_HOME (first 7 minutes)

Build from source → Building from Source

Preparing a release → Release Guide

Quick start

1. Launch QTranslate.jar — it starts in the system tray
2. Select text anywhere on screen
3. Press Ctrl+Q — Quick Translate popup opens with the result ready
4. Press Ctrl+D — open the Dictionary for the selected word
5. Press Ctrl+Shift+Q — see pictures of the selected word
6. Press Ctrl+E — listen to the selected text
7. Press Ctrl+I — draw a screen region to OCR and translate

Open Settings (gear icon) to configure API keys, themes, hotkeys, and service presets.

Plugins

Installing a plugin: Settings → Plugins → Install Plugin, or drop a plugin JAR onto the plugin panel. Review its details, enable it, configure it, then assign its services under Services & Presets.

Full guide → Installing Plugins

Community plugins

The in-app catalog and independent plugin updater are planned but are not available yet. Until then, install only JARs from publishers you trust and verify any checksum they provide.

Built a plugin? Publish its source, release JAR, compatibility range, and checksum. See the plugin publishing guide.

Build a plugin

A minimal translator is ~50 lines of Kotlin. No framework, no registration — implement a few interfaces, build a fat JAR, install it through the UI.

class MyPlugin : Plugin<PluginSettings.None> {
    override val id      = "com.example.my-plugin"
    override val name    = "My Plugin"
    override val version = "1.0.0"

    override fun getSettings() = PluginSettings.None
    override fun getServices() = listOf(MyTranslatorService())
}

All bundled plugins are open source under plugins/. They provide real-world examples of authentication, no-key services, local endpoints, throttling, language mapping, batch translation, dictionaries, and structured errors.

Full guide → Creating a Plugin

Translate the interface

QTranslate ships with 13 languages built in:

Arabic · Bengali · Chinese · English · French · German · Hungarian · Italian · Japanese · Portuguese · Russian · Spanish · Turkish

Want another language? Copy languages/en.toml, rename it to your language code, translate the values. No code needed.

Guide → Adding a Language

Architecture

Clean Architecture + MVI. Nothing leaks between layers:

:api          ← plugin interfaces — plugins only depend on this
:core         ← business logic, use cases, MVI stores
:ui-swing     ← Swing UI, Renderable<State> components
:app          ← composition root
:plugins/*    ← independently packaged service implementations
:plugins/common ← shared HTTP client, JSON, language utilities

Guide → Architecture

Support

If QTranslate saves you from Alt-Tabbing to Google Translate a dozen times a day, a coffee is always appreciated!

Contributing

Bug fixes, features, translations, docs, and plugins all welcome. Look for good first issue for well-scoped starting points.

→ Contributing Guide

MIT License