How to translate a Google Form

If you regularly deal with global customers, international events, or multilingual students and parents, having the ability to communicate in other languages is crucial. No doubt Google Forms users would benefit from this capability, but is it even possible to create a multilingual experience on this platform?

The answer? Not really. Google Forms doesn’t have a native translation feature, though it does have a few workarounds you can use to translate form and response content. However, be aware that these workarounds will create more work for you (the form builder) and, more importantly, they’ll insert more obstacles into the form-filling experience for respondents — and that’s never a good thing. 

In this article, we’ll show you how to translate a Google Form in two different ways. And if you’d prefer a smooth, native solution for translating forms into multiple languages, we’ll introduce you to Jotform — a leading form builder that can make your forms multilingual in just a few clicks.

What Google Forms translation can and can’t do

If you want to build multilingual Google Forms, you have to get creative. Google Forms supports basic viewing translation only, which means the viewer can see the form content in a different language. However, Google Forms does not create a fully multilingual form experience on its own.

Sound confusing? Here’s a short breakdown of what you can and can’t do when it comes to translating Google Forms.

What you can do with Google Forms

• Allow respondents to translate the form interface text: They can use browser-based tools to translate questions, descriptions, and on-screen labels. 
• Translate form responses using a formula: You can export the responses to Google Sheets and then use a manual formula to translate each answer into your preferred language.
• Translate form content manually: You can duplicate the form and manually translate the questions and descriptions into another language to suit your audience. 
• Collect responses in any language: You can allow form respondents to type answers in their preferred language, even if it’s not the same language as the form questions.

What you can’t do with Google Forms

• Create a true Google Forms multilingual form experience: While form respondents can use their browser to translate the form, they don’t automatically see the questions in their own native language. 
• Automatically add multiple languages in one form: You have to manually translate and add multiple languages yourself, which can make the form look confusing and cluttered.
• Get unified responses for forms in multiple languages: If you duplicate forms for each language, responses live in separate spreadsheets unless you manually merge them. 
• Translate add-ons or connected workflows: If you’re using any Google Workspace add-ons or connected tools, they’ll require separate multilingual handling.

Using Google Forms and its translation workarounds is fine for simple forms and minimal translation needs. But things start to become a little harder to manage when the same form has to serve multiple languages and multiple audiences. 

It’s not only harder for you — it’s also a hassle for your respondents. Creating a true multilingual form experience means offering your audience language-specific versions automatically, which is something that Google Forms cannot handle.

Workaround 1: How to translate a Google Form with your browser

There are no Google Forms language settings, but there is a browser workaround that can translate the form for the person currently viewing it. This method does not fundamentally alter the content of the form itself for every viewer; it only provides a translation for the person who takes this action. As a result, if you want to send a form to a multilingual audience, you’ll have to send along these instructions so that they can translate the form on their end.

Note that these instructions for how to translate Google Forms into multilingual forms apply to the Chrome browser only. Specific instructions for other browsers — like Edge, Safari, or Firefox — may differ slightly. 

1. Open the Google Form you want to translate. Right-click on a blank section of the form and click Translate to [x]. (x is the preferred language your browser is set to.) 

2. Scroll to Form Languages and click Edit.

3. Choose your preferred language from the dropdown. Click Translate.

Your browser will translate the Google Form. 

Workaround 2: How to translate Google Forms responses in Google Sheets

If your respondents submit Google Forms in multiple languages, you may need to translate the responses into your preferred language. One of the ways you can do this is by exporting all the Google Forms responses into Google Sheets, and then using a formula to do the manual translation. 

Here’s how to translate Google Forms responses to English, Spanish, or any other language:

1. Open the form for which you want to translate responses. Click Responses, then click View in Sheets. Select whether you want to send the responses to a new or existing Sheet.

2. In Google Sheets, right-click on the column you want to translate. Click + Insert 1 column left. Google Sheets will automatically add a new column.

3. In the new column, use the “=GOOGLETRANSLATE(text, source_language, target_language)” formula. To do so, you’ll need to look up the Google code for the language you want to translate the responses into. Fill out the formula as follows:
   • Text: Add the text you want to translate in quotation marks (“like this”) or add a cell reference (like H2). 
   • Source_language: In quotation marks, add the two-letter code for the text’s original language. You can also use “auto” instead so that Google can detect the language automatically. 
   • Target_language: In quotation marks, add the two-letter code for the language you want to translate the text into.

For example, if you want to translate the text in cell H2 into Spanish, the formula will be “=GOOGLETRANSLATE(H2,”auto”,”es”).” Remember to use straight quotation marks, not the curly ones. 

4. Repeat for all the responses you want to translate. 

Why you should use Jotform for true multilingual forms

You’ve seen how to translate Google Forms to English and other languages, and the workarounds aren’t ideal. They don’t offer a true multilingual form experience for respondents — and they create a lot more work for you.

Good thing Jotform is here to make things easier. Take a look at how Google Forms and Jotform compare when it comes to creating multilingual forms.

	Google Forms	Jotform
Best for	Quick one-off translation	Multilingual forms for customers, events, schools, and teams
Built-in multilingual form management
Language selector for respondents	No native option
Translate submitted responses	Via a manual Google Sheets formula	Inside the form builder

A leading form builder, Jotform is an ideal solution for teams that need a clean translation workflow when dealing with multiple languages in one form. This practical alternative to Google Forms has multiple language options for form owners and respondents, along with built-in advanced features like conditional logic, payment processor integrations, and data visualization tools.

Ready to move your forms to Jotform?

Migrate Forms to Jotform

Jotform’s form translation feature enables you to translate your form into more than 130 languages. You can select a default language for your form and translate it into as many languages as you like — it even translates the accompanying thank-you page and personalized auto-responder emails. 

Jotform also offers a Language Picker Widget. With it, you can let respondents select the language they want to use with your form with a simple dropdown. This widget is ideal for translation services and related businesses.

How to translate your form with Jotform

See how easy it is to reach a global audience with Jotform, which offers a true multilingual form experience. 

1. Open the Form Builder and the form you want to edit.

2. Go to Settings at the top and click Show More Options.

3. Scroll to Form Languages and click Edit.

4. Choose the primary language of your form.

5. Click Add language to add a different language.

6. Choose and add the language you want to translate the form to.

Jotform will automatically translate each field in the form to the language you’ve selected. It also gives you the option to enter your own translations so you can customize as needed. 

If for some reason your audience would like to view the form in another language, they can choose their preferred language through a dropdown menu located in the form. 

Choose Jotform for all your multilingual forms

Jotform supports multilingual forms, lets respondents switch languages with ease, and enables form owners to review and edit their translations. This is a true multilingual form experience — not one cobbled together with workarounds.

And if you’ve already created a form in Google Forms, you don’t have to build a new one in Jotform either. Simply migrate your Google Forms to Jotform with our easy-to-use migration tool. We’ll move your form questions and structure over to Jotform with just one click, and you can explore all of the multilingual features we have to offer. Give Jotform a try today.