Synchronous document translation

Reference
Feature: Azure AI Translator → Document translation
API Version: 2024-05-01
HTTP method: POST

  • Use the translate document method to synchronously translate a single document.
  • The method doesn't require an Azure Blob storage account.
  • The final response contains the translated document and is returned directly to the calling client.

Important

All API requests to the Document translation feature require a custom domain endpoint that is located on your resource overview page in the Azure portal.

Request URL

https://{your-document-translation-endpoint}/translator/document:translate?api-version=2024-05-01&sourceLanguage=en&targetLanguage=fr

Request headers

To call the synchronous translation feature via the REST API, include the following headers with each request.

Header Value Condition
Ocp-Apim-Subscription-Key Your Translator service key from the Azure portal. • Required

Request parameters

Query string parameters:

Required parameters

Query parameter Description
api-version Required parameter.
Version of the API requested by the client. Current value is 2024-05-01.
targetLanguage Required parameter.
Specifies the language of the output document. The target language must be one of the supported languages included in the translation scope.

Optional parameters

Query parameter Description
sourceLanguage Specifies the language of the input document. If the sourceLanguage parameter isn't specified, automatic language detection is applied to determine the source language.
allowFallback • A boolean specifying that the service is allowed to fall back to a generalnn system when a custom system doesn't exist. Accepted values are: true (default) or false.
• allowFallback=false specifies that the translation should only use systems trained for the category specified by the request.
• If no system is found with the specific category, the request returns a 400 status code.
• allowFallback=true specifies that the service is allowed to fall back to a generalnn system when a custom system doesn't exist.

Note

While sourceLanguage is optional, we strongly recommend specifying it explicitly. Providing the source language produces better quality translations than relying on automatic detection.

Request Body

Name Description Content Type Condition
document Source document to be translated. Any one of the supported document formats. Required
glossary Document containing a list of terms with definitions to use during the translation process. Any one of the supported glossary formats. Optional

Response Status Codes

Status Code Description
200 The request was successful, and the translated document is returned.
400 Invalid or missing request parameters.
401 Authentication failed. Check subscription key or token.
429 Rate limits exceeded. Retry after a short delay.
500 Unexpected service error. Retry or contact support with request details.
503 Service temporarily unavailable. Retry later.

Note

Errors return a JSON response including an error object.

Example JSON Error Response

{
  "error": {
    "code": "InvalidRequest",
    "message": "The 'targetLanguage' parameter is required.",
    "innerError": {
      "requestId": "d3e4f6a9-0000-4a9b-8ad3-bdcd1323aa00",
      "date": "2025-10-15T10:05:23Z"
    }
  }
}

Examples

Translate a Word document

curl --request POST \
  --url 'https://{your-document-translation-endpoint}/translator/document:translate?api-version=2024-05-01&sourceLanguage=en&targetLanguage=fr' \
  --header 'Ocp-Apim-Subscription-Key: <your-subscription-key>'
  --form 'document=@<path-to-your-document>/your-document-file.docx' \
  --output translated-document-fr.docx

Parameters

Parameter Description
{your-document-translation-endpoint} Your Document Translation endpoint. Example: https://your-resource-name.cognitiveservices.azure.cn
<your-subscription-key> Your Translator subscription key.
sourceLanguage (Optional) The source language code. Example: en. Auto-detected if not specified.
targetLanguage (Required) The target language code to translate into. Example: fr.
document The path to the file to translate.

See Supported Document Formats for more details.

Translate a Word document with a Glossary

curl --request POST \
  --url 'https://{your-document-translation-endpoint}/translator/document:translate?api-version=2024-05-01&sourceLanguage=en&targetLanguage=fr' \
  --header 'Ocp-Apim-Subscription-Key: <your-subscription-key>' \
  --form 'document=@<path-to-your-document>/your-document-file.docx' \
  --form 'glossary=@<path-to-your-document>/glossary.tsv' \
  --output translated-document-fr.docx

Parameters

Parameter Description
{your-document-translation-endpoint} Your Document Translation endpoint. Example: https://your-resource-name.cognitiveservices.azure.cn
<your-subscription-key> Your Translator subscription key.
sourceLanguage (Optional) The source language code. Example: en. Auto-detected if not specified.
targetLanguage (Required) The target language code to translate into. Example: fr.
document Path to the file for translation.
glossary Path to the glossary file.

See Use glossaries with Document Translation for more details.

Next steps

Try the document translation quickstart

  • Last updated on