Translate Slides

Created: 2026-05-26 10:00 · Updated: 2026-05-26 10:00

The Translate panel lets you translate individual or multiple slides directly within the PPPTools Task Pane — from German to English or vice versa — without opening a separate window for each slide. Translation is powered by the DeepL API and preserves font size, bold, italic, and text colour.

Opening the Panel

PPPTools Task Pane → ≡ (Hamburger Menu) → 🌐 Übersetzen

Setting Up Your DeepL API Key

The translation feature requires a personal DeepL API key. The Developer Plan is free of charge and includes a one-time credit of 1 million characters.

Step 1 — Register with DeepL

1. Open in your browser: deepl.com/pro#developer
2. Scroll to "DeepL API Free" and click "Sign up for free"
3. Enter your email address and password, then confirm your account
4. Add a credit card — required for registration, but not charged under free usage

Step 2 — Copy Your API Key

1. Log in at deepl.com/your-account/summary
2. Scroll to the very bottom, to "Authentication Key for DeepL API"
3. Copy the key — it looks like this:

xxxxxxxx-xxxx-xxxx-xxxx-xxxxxxxxxxxx:fx

Step 3 — Enter the Key in PPPTools

1. Open PPPTools Task Pane → ≡ → 🌐 Übersetzen
2. At the bottom, in the "DeepL API-Key" section: paste the key into the text field
3. Click "Check"
4. Wait for the confirmation — it appears in green and shows your remaining characters:

✓ Key gültig  ·  998k / 1.000k Zeichen verfügbar

1. Click "Einstellungen speichern" (Save Settings) — the key is stored permanently

Translating Slides

1. Choose Translation Direction

2. Choose Scope

When "Aktuelle Auswahl" is selected, the number of currently selected slides is shown directly below the option (e.g. "3 Slides markiert"). You can select multiple slides in the Slide Panel using Ctrl+Click or Shift+Click.

3. Set Options

When "Kopie erstellen" is active, each original slide is kept and a translated copy is inserted immediately after it. The originals remain unchanged.

4. Translate

Click "Übersetzen" (Translate). A progress bar runs during translation. Once complete, a green confirmation message appears:

✓ 2 Slide(s) · 14 Textfelder übersetzt.

Language Flags

When "Sprachflagge einfügen" is active, a small label is inserted in the top-right corner of each translated slide:

Remove All Flags

The "Flaggen" (Flags) section contains the "Alle Flaggen entfernen" (Remove All Flags) button. After a confirmation prompt, it removes all language flags from the entire active presentation.

Saving Settings

After changing the direction, options, or API key, click "Einstellungen speichern" (Save Settings). Settings are stored in your user profile and are available the next time PowerPoint starts.

Tips

• Multiple slides at once: Select slides in the left Slide Panel using Ctrl+Click, then click "Translate" once — all selected slides are sent to DeepL in a single API call
• Check character usage: Click "Check" at any time to see your remaining credit
• Formatting: Font size, bold, italic, and text colour are saved per paragraph and restored after translation
• Quality review: With "Create Copy" enabled, you always keep the original — the translated version can simply be deleted if needed

Error Messages