Translate an Excel file online: what is translated and what stays untouched

Author: Yuri Vodostoy — Technical translator and founder of Insight Translation · Updated 2026-10-20

To translate an Excel file online, upload the .xlsx on hardtrans.pro, pick the languages and download the same workbook with its cell text translated. Formulas, numbers, dates, number formats, merged cells and column widths stay, though formulas that compare text can return different results. Sheet names, comments, chart labels and headers of formatted tables stay in the source language. $1.50 per page of 250 words; the first document up to 10 pages is free, with no signup.

What gets translated in an Excel file

Cell text, on every sheet of the workbook, except the headers of formatted tables created with Insert > Table. Hidden sheets are translated, counted in the volume, and stay hidden in the result.

Before translating, the system reads the whole workbook and uses the same translation for each term across all sheets. If you have your own term list, upload it as a glossary (XLSX, CSV, TSV or TXT) and it applies to the whole job.

What comes back unchanged

The workbook keeps its formulas and layout. In our control check the styles and chart matched the original byte for byte. A separate check in Excel 2013 confirmed that a formatted table and a workbook with text conditions in formulas opened without recovery prompts. Formula results and formatting rules that depend on text need checking after translation.

Column widths stay as they were. If the translation is longer than the original, you may need to widen the column in Excel after download.

Bold or italic formatting carries over to the matching words when the marked phrase can be found in the translated sentence. When it cannot, the whole cell takes the formatting of most of its text, so a bold word may turn plain. Look through such cells before the file goes out.

What is not translated

These stay in the source language:

• sheet names (the tabs)
• comments and notes on cells
• headers and footers
• chart titles and labels, text in shapes and text boxes
• a dropdown list typed directly into a data validation rule
• headers of formatted tables (Insert > Table)
• text typed in quotes inside a formula, including quoted labels it returns
• text conditions in conditional formatting rules

When a dropdown list points to a range of cells instead, its items are ordinary cells and are translated with the rest.

If you need one of these translated, write to [email protected] and tell us which.

For spreadsheets we accept .xlsx only. Save an .xls, .xlsm or .csv file as .xlsx in Excel first. An .xlsx file cannot store VBA macros, so a converted .xlsm loses them; keep the original. The size limit is 50 MB per file.

Formulas that contain text

Formulas come back unchanged, and so does any text typed inside them in quotes. If a formula returns a quoted label, that label stays in the source language even when the cells around it are translated.

A formula that compares cells with quoted text still looks for the original words, while the cells now hold the translation. It can return a different result or a lookup error. In our October 7, 2026 check, an IF switched from its affirmative answer to its negative answer, a COUNTIF fell from 3 to 0, and a VLOOKUP returned a not-found error (#N/A). The tested workbook recalculated on opening in Excel 2013 with automatic calculation enabled.

After download, find the formulas with quoted text and replace that text with the translation by hand. Recalculation does not resolve a mismatch between the original condition and translated data.

Text conditions in conditional formatting rules also stay in the source language. In the tested workbook, a rule that matched a status label no longer matched its translated cell. Edit such rules by hand if you need them to keep applying.

How to translate an Excel file, step by step

1. Save the workbook as .xlsx if it is in another format.
2. Upload it on the home page and choose the source and target language.
3. Add a glossary if you have one.
4. Check the estimate. You see the page count and price, including the repeat discount, before you pay.
5. Download the translated .xlsx and open it in Excel.

You can upload several workbooks as one job and keep terminology consistent across them. Repeats count between files as well as within each workbook.

Repeated cells and what it costs

$1.50 per page of 250 words. Only text counts: numbers, dates and formulas are not in the volume. Numbers stored as text are the exception. Each such value counts as a word, and part numbers and codes in exports are often stored that way. The first document up to 10 pages is free, with no signup and no card.

Spreadsheets repeat the same text many times, and that lowers the volume. A workbook saved in Excel stores each distinct text once, however many cells show it. In our control workbook one status label sat in 203 cells. It was counted once and translated once, and the translation appeared in all 203. The whole workbook came to 413 words, or 2 pages.

A workbook written by another program, such as a database export, can hold the text in every cell separately. Then identical cells are found as repeated segments and translated once, and a 75% discount applies to repeated segments. The same control workbook stored that way came to 817 words, 404 of them repeats, which made 514 billable words and 3 pages.

Frequently asked questions

Can I translate an Excel file to English, or from English?

Yes. You choose the source and the target language when you upload, and the direction does not change what happens to the file: text is translated, formulas and formatting stay.

Can I translate an entire Excel workbook at once?

Yes. All sheets are translated in one pass, hidden sheets included, and the system reads the whole workbook before it starts so that terms match between sheets.

Does translation change my Excel formulas?

No. Formulas come back character for character, including references to other sheets. Text in quotes inside a formula is not translated either, so a formula that compares cells with text can return a different result after translation. Replace that text by hand.

Is it free to translate an Excel file online?

The first document up to 10 pages is free, with no signup and no card. After that it is $1.50 per page of 250 words, and a 75% discount applies to repeated segments. You see the estimate before you pay.

Can I upload .xls, .xlsm or .csv?

Not directly. Save the file as .xlsx in Excel and upload that. An .xlsx file cannot store macros, so keep your original .xlsm.

Is the result a final translation?

It is a draft for editing, not a final translation. Before a price list or a bill of materials goes to a customer, have a person who knows the subject read it, starting with formulas and conditional formatting rules that compare text.

What happens to my file after translation?

Files are deleted from our servers automatically after 7 days. Your text is never used to train models — neither by us nor by Anthropic, the model provider. Anthropic retains API data for a limited period under its policy and does not train on it.

Other pages: side-by-side examples against Google Translate, translating XLIFF from a CAT tool, what makes an AI translator good for documents.

Method. On October 6, 2026, we checked a control workbook with three sheets, one hidden, formulas, a chart, a comment, a data validation list and one label repeated in 203 cells. We checked how the service handled the file using placeholder text. On October 7, 2026, we checked two workbooks saved from Excel: one with a formatted table, the other with text conditions in formulas. Both opened in Excel 2013 with automatic calculation enabled. Text was replaced using a dictionary, without a translation model. These checks cover file handling, not translation quality. The 203-cell result comes from the first workbook. Pictures, pivot tables, and sheet protection were not checked.