Language Interpretation in Microsoft Teams Meetings

Language interpretation in Microsoft Teams allows assigned interpreters to translate spoken content into another language in real-time without interrupting the speaker's flow. Meeting organizers and co-organizers can add interpreters before a meeting or assign them during a meeting.

Note: If you invite external or guest interpreters, they must be assigned during the meeting. See the During a Meeting section below for details.

Before a Meeting

Language interpretation can be enabled for any scheduled Teams meeting. The steps differ depending on whether the meeting is created in the Teams app or Outlook.

Using Microsoft Teams

Open the Teams app.
Go to the Calendar and select New Meeting.
Enter meeting details: title, date, time, and description.
Add your interpreter in the Add required attendees field.
Note: Interpreters must be invited as attendees to be added before the meeting.
Ensure the Online meeting option is enabled.
Select More options to open additional settings.
Enable Language interpretation.
Add your interpreter's email address in the interpreters field.
Select the Source and Target languages.
Optionally, add more interpreters and languages.
Click Save to apply interpretation settings.

Using Outlook

Open the Outlook app.
Create a new calendar event.
Enter meeting details: title, date, time, and description.
Add your interpreter in the Add required attendees field.
Note: Interpreters must be invited as attendees to be added before the meeting.
Ensure the Teams meeting option is enabled.
Send the invite.
Open the meeting from your calendar and select Meeting options.
Enable Language interpretation.
Enter your interpreter's email in the interpreters field.
Select the Source and Target languages.
Optionally, add more interpreters and languages.
Click Save to apply interpretation settings.

During a Meeting

Assigning an Interpreter

If language interpretation was enabled beforehand, you can assign interpreters manually during the meeting:

Click People in the meeting window to open the participants list.
Hover over the participant you want to assign and select More options.
Select Make an interpreter.

Note: Language interpretation must be enabled when the meeting was scheduled, and at least one person must have been invited.

Choosing a Language Channel

When language interpretation is enabled, participants will be prompted to choose their preferred language upon joining. If this dialog is missed, they can:

Select More in the meeting window.
Navigate to Language and speech.
Choose Language interpretation.

They can then select their preferred language from the Listen to drop-down menu. Original audio reflects the speaker’s language. All other options are spoken by interpreters.

Teams Language Interpretation FAQ

Can interpreters switch audio channels?

No. Once they join, interpreters are locked into their language and are not able to leave their assigned audio channel unless a meeting organizer or co-organizer removes them as an interpreter by changing their role to an attendee.

Can interpreters be heard by participants in other language channels?

No. Interpreters can only be heard by the participants in their audio channel.

Can Interpreters join on the web or mobile?

Yes. Interpreters can join live interpretations meetings on the web and do not need the MS Teams desktop app. I

Will meeting recordings have both original and translated audio?

Meeting recordings for meetings with language interpretation only capture the audio of the main channel, or original speaker. The interpreter's audio will not be present on the recording.

Can I turn on captions for a meeting with interpretation?

Captions in a meeting with language interpretation will only caption the main speaker, not the interpreter. If the main speaker's language changes, the meeting organizer or co-organizer will need to adjust the live captions' language setting to the correct language for captioning to work.