Live translated captions for webinars, lectures, and online courses running in desktop apps or the browser.
A university professor delivers a microbiology lecture in Portuguese through Zoom's desktop client. A vendor runs a product webinar in GoToWebinar where most slides are technical diagrams and the presenter speaks Mandarin. Your company hosts compliance training in Microsoft Teams with guest speakers from three countries. Desktop webinar applications and learning management systems don't offer live translation, and the auto-captions they do provide stop at English or miss half the technical vocabulary. Translext listens to any webinar or online class on your computer and displays translated captions in a floating window.
For webinars that run in a Chrome tab—live events on Zoom's web client, YouTube premieres, browser-based conference platforms—you can use tab audio mode, which also offers spoken translation with the original presenter's voice lowered underneath. For desktop applications like the Zoom app, Microsoft Teams, WebEx, or recorded courses in standalone video players, you share your computer's system audio. Chrome captures the sound without Translext needing access to the meeting itself. No bots join your session, no recordings are stored, and the translated captions appear in a small window that floats above the webinar interface.
Open Translext and select Computer audio as the source. Chrome will prompt you to choose what to share. Click the option labeled Entire screen—this is required even though Translext only wants the sound, because Chrome bundles system audio with screen sharing. Make sure the toggle for Share system audio is switched on before you click Share. Translext immediately turns off the screen feed and listens only to the audio stream. A caption window appears on your desktop, floating above the webinar app. You can drag it to an empty corner of your screen, resize it, or park it on a second monitor. The captions update as the presenter speaks, and the window stays on top even when you switch to other applications or take notes in a separate document.
If your webinar runs in a Chrome tab—Hopin, Airmeet, Zoom's web interface, or a university portal that streams lectures through the browser—choose tab audio instead of Computer audio. Tab audio gives you the option to hear the translation spoken aloud in a natural voice while the original presenter's audio is turned down underneath, as far as you choose. The captions appear in a bar that floats over the webpage. This mode works well for live conference sessions where you want to listen rather than read, or when the presenter shares dense slides that you need to watch while hearing the translation. Desktop apps like the Zoom client or Teams require Computer audio, which shows translated captions and can also speak the translation aloud.
Webinars and lectures move quickly. A presenter might skip past a slide while you're still writing down the previous point, or a Q&A session might introduce five new concepts in two minutes. Translext saves the translated captions as session history that you can open later from the extension. You can copy sentences into your notes, review a term you missed, or check what the speaker said during a section where the captions lagged. The history is saved to your Translext account; you can delete any session, or switch saving off in Settings → History. Live translation makes mistakes with technical jargon, names of chemicals or software libraries, and heavily accented speech. If the presenter says a critical term you don't recognize, flag it during the session and verify the spelling afterward from course materials or slides.
Yes. The caption window floats above fullscreen applications, including Zoom, Teams, and WebEx when expanded to cover your entire display. You can reposition the window before going fullscreen so it sits in a corner that doesn't block the presenter's video or shared slides. If you need to move it during the webinar, exit fullscreen briefly, drag the caption window, then return to fullscreen. The window remains visible and continues updating as long as Computer audio is active.
Live translation processes speech in short chunks, and webinar Q&A sessions often involve crosstalk, multiple unmuted participants, or audience members speaking from poor-quality microphones. If two people talk simultaneously, Translext may capture only the louder voice. Background noise, low audio from a participant's laptop mic, or rapid back-and-forth exchanges can cause the system to miss phrases. The translation also needs a moment to detect the language, so very short questions—one or two words—sometimes don't generate captions before the next speaker starts.
Yes, if the course plays in a desktop video player or an LMS that runs as a standalone application. Share your system audio through Computer audio mode and Translext will caption the recorded lecture. For courses that stream in a browser tab—Coursera, Udemy, Canvas, Blackboard's web interface—use tab audio instead, which also lets you enable spoken translation. Recorded courses are often clearer than live webinars because there's no audience noise, but translation accuracy still depends on the instructor's accent, speaking speed, and use of technical vocabulary that may not translate cleanly.
No. Computer audio captures all sound playing on your system as a single mixed stream. If you run a webinar and a second application that's also producing audio—a language dictionary app with pronunciation examples, a music player, notification sounds—Translext will attempt to translate everything it hears as though it were one continuous conversation. This creates nonsense captions. Close or mute other audio sources before sharing system audio. If you need to reference a separate language tool during a lecture, use it silently or pause Translext temporarily.
Translext continues translating whatever audio plays through your computer, including videos embedded in the webinar. If the recording has clear speech, the captions will update normally. If the recording has music, sound effects, or multiple overlapping voices—common in promotional videos or montage segments—the translation may produce fragmented captions or skip sections entirely. Some presenters play videos with their own narration on top; Translext will attempt to translate both layers, which usually results in jumbled output. The captions resume normal accuracy once the presenter returns to live speaking.
Translated captions and optional audio translation for online meetings, video calls and videos — in Chrome or any app on your computer. No bots to invite, nothing to upload.