Sonic Translate for Chrome

How do I install Sonic Translate in Chrome?

1. Open the Chrome Web Store listing — the button above takes you straight there.
2. Click Add to Chrome, then confirm with Add extension. That's the entire setup: no account, no sign-in, nothing to configure.
3. Select any text on a regular webpage and press Ctrl + E. The translation pops up next to your selection, with the source language detected automatically. (Chrome's internal pages block all extensions — see the notes below.)

Optionally, pin the icon: click the puzzle-piece icon to the right of Chrome's address bar and press the pin next to Sonic Translate. Pinning gives you one-click access to the toolbar popup and its settings, but it isn't required — the keyboard shortcut works either way.

What does it add that Chrome doesn't have?

Chrome's own translator is built around whole pages: right-click a page, choose Translate, or click the icon in the address bar, and the entire page switches language. A selection can be translated too — but only through the right-click menu. What Chrome has never shipped is a keyboard shortcut for translating a selection — highlight one sentence and there is simply no key to press. Users have been asking for one in Google's own support community.

Sonic Translate fills that gap, and adds the depth a one-line page translation never attempts:

• A real shortcut.Ctrl + E opens a quick popup next to your selection; Shift + E opens the full side panel. The same combos work on Windows, Mac, and Linux, and both are recordable in Options if you prefer different keys.
• A dictionary, not just a translation. Definitions grouped by part of speech, reverse translations, and clickable synonyms for single words and short phrases — when Google returns dictionary data.
• Text-to-speech with voice choice. Listen to the original or the translation using your browser's installed voices, and pick your preferred voice per language in Options.
• Local translation history. Your last 100 translations, stored on your device, with favorites that are never evicted — and one toggle to switch history off entirely.

Translations are powered by Google Translate and cover 109 languages plus automatic detection. No tracking by us: no analytics, no telemetry, no developer server. Selected text is sent only to Google Translate over HTTPS.

Sonic Translate vs Chrome's built-in translation

This isn't an either/or choice. Chrome's built-in translation and Sonic Translate do different jobs, and they coexist without conflict — most people end up using both.

The honest way to read that table: when you land on a page written entirely in another language, use Chrome's built-in page translation — that's what it's for, and Sonic Translate doesn't translate whole pages. When you're reading a page you mostly understand and hit one sentence, one comment, or one word you don't, that's Ctrl + E — no page reload, no losing the original text, and a dictionary underneath the answer.

Everything in the extension

The short version of what you get after Add to Chrome — each feature has its own page with the details:

• Translate selected text — the flagship: Ctrl + E quick popup, Shift + E full panel, draggable popup, Esc to close.
• Bilingual display — see the original and the translation together in the popup or panel, stacked, so you can compare phrasing while you read.
• Text-to-speech — hear the original or the translation with your browser's voices; coverage depends on the voices installed on your system.
• Dictionary & synonyms — definitions grouped by part of speech, reverse translations, and synonym chips you can click to re-translate.
• Translation history — your last 100 translations, stored locally, with favorites that survive clearing and a single toggle to turn history off.

Chrome-specific notes

Profiles. Chrome installs extensions per profile, so if you keep separate work and personal profiles, add Sonic Translate in each one you want it in. Within a profile, your settings follow you through Chrome's own sync.

Incognito. Like every Chrome extension, Sonic Translate is off in Incognito by default. To enable it, open chrome://extensions, click Details on Sonic Translate, and switch on Allow in Incognito.

Where it can't run. Chrome blocks all extensions on browser-internal pages — chrome:// settings pages, the Chrome Web Store, and the built-in PDF viewer — so the shortcut won't respond there. That's a Chrome rule, not a bug, and no extension can work around it.

Frequently asked questions