As a browser, Safari has come a long way. Whether it’s offering enhanced privacy for personal information, full-on customization, or seamless syncing across iDevices, Apple’s browser has ticked off all the boxes. However, it can’t claim to be immune to issues. Recently, a handful of users have taken to various forums to complain that Safari translation is not working on their iPhone or iPad. If you also find the browser unable to translate web pages, now is the right time to fix it.
Fix Safari Translation Not Working in iOS 18/17/16/15/14 on iPhone and iPad
Talking about the roadblocks that could be coming in the way of Safari translation, you need to keep in mind several things like language compatibility, content blockers, and random software glitches. Besides, there are many other culprits that you need to be mindful of.
1. What are the Requirements for Using Safari Translation?
Bear in mind that Safari translation requires iOS 14, iPadOS 14, macOS 11 Big Sur, and later.
2. Safari Translation Supported Languages
- Dutch
- English (US)
- English (UK)
- French
- German
- Indonesian
- Italian
- Japanese
- Korean
- Thai
- Turkish
- Vietnamese
- Polish
- Portuguese (Brazil)
- Russian
- Spanish (Spain)
- Arabic
- Chinese (Simplified, Mandarin)
- Chinese (Mandarin, Traditional)
- Ukrainian
3. Right Way to Enable and Use Safari Translation
- To get started, launch Safari and navigate to a website you wish to translate.
- Tap on the AA icon in the address bar and choose “Translate to English” or your preferred language.
- Note that the first time you activate Safari translation, the browser may ask for your permission to process your request.
- Make sure to tap on Enable Translation in the popup to confirm.
4. Relaunch Safari
At times, just relaunching Safari can let you fix the ill-functioning translation. So, we should give this nifty Safari trick a chance.
- On iPhone/iPad with the Home Button: Double-press the Home button -> Find Safari in the app switcher and swipe it up.
- On iPhone/iPad without the Home Button: Swipe up from the home bar to access the App Switcher -> swipe left/right to find Safari and swipe it up.
- Now, launch Safari -> head over to a specific web page -> tap on the menu AA icon in the address bar -> Translate to “your language”.
5. Check Language Settings
Take a look at the language settings and ensure that the languages you want to use are selected.
- To do so, launch the Settings app -> Scroll down and choose Translate.
- Now, select Downloaded Languages.
- Ensure that your preferred languages have been downloaded.
- Besides, make sure to allow Translate to use your cellular data for translation.
6. Disable/Enable Translation
If you still can’t translate in Safari, try turning it off and on.
- Open Safari, tap the “AA” icon in the address bar, and deselect “Translate to [your language]”.
- Now, force quit Safari (swipe up from the Home Bar to bring up the App Switcher -> swipe up Safari).
- Next, launch Safari -> head over to the web page you want to translate -> tap on the AA icon, and select “Translate to [your language]”.
7. Check Website Compatibility
Do note that not all websites support Safari’s translation feature. If you don’t see the “Translate” feature in Safari’s menu, that means a particular website is yet to be compatible with it.
8. Check Restrictions
While customizing Screen Time, you might have accidentally restricted web content in Safari.
- To get rid of the restriction, head into Settings -> Screen Time -> Content & Privacy Restrictions -> Content Restrictions -> Web Content.
- Ensure that the “Unrestricted” option is not selected.
9. Disable All Extensions
If you recently installed some extensions like content blockers, they might be preventing Safari’s translation from functioning properly.
- Go to the Settings app on your iPhone/iPad -> Scroll down and choose Safari -> Extensions -> Select a specific extension and turn it off.
10. Disable VPN
While it might sound too harsh, VPN, at times, tends to slow down browsing and even block certain features.
- On your iPhone, navigate to Settings app -> VPN and turn it off.
11. Clear All Website Data
Should Safari translation continue to misbehave, wipe out the pileup of entire website data.
- Navigate to the Settings on your iPhone -> Safari -> Advanced -> Website Data -> Remove All Website Data and confirm.
12. Clear Safari Website Data
On many occasions, I have managed to fix issues related to Safari by clearing the entire history and website data.
- On your iOS device, launch Settings -> Safari -> Clear History and Website Data.
- Choose the desired timeframe -> select a Safari profile and hit Clear History.
13. Restart Your Device
A simple restart can work wonders in fixing miscellaneous problems. So, it would be wise to give soft reset a chance to show its magic as well.
14. Update Software
If your iPhone is still stuck with outdated software, I suspect it could be at the heart of the problem.
- To update the software, go to Settings -> General -> Software Update -> check for and install the available software update.
15. Factory Reset Your Device
No luck as yet? For a good number of iPhone users, factory reset has brought Safari translation back on track. Therefore, we will go for this solution as well.
Before taking on this effective troubleshooter, you should know that it will remove all the custom settings such as network settings and home screen layout.
- Dive into the Settings app -> General -> Transfer or Reset iPhone/iPad -> Reset -> Reset All Settings.
There you go! I hope Safari translation has started to work as usual. Do not forget to let us know about the tips that have helped you fix the translation issue. And yes, if you know any other secret ways of resolving it, make sure to tip me about that as well.
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