Built in email translation for Proton Mail
Hello Proton Team,
I would like to propose a built-in translation feature directly inside Proton Mail. This would significantly improve usability, especially for international users.
Current problem:
Reading emails in foreign languages requires copying content into external services like DeepL or Google Translate. This interrupts workflow, increases friction, and creates unnecessary dependency on third-party tools.
Real-world use cases:
International communication: Users receiving emails in English, Finnish, German, etc. need fast translation to understand content instantly
Newsletters & services: Many newsletters and automated emails are not localized
Business & work: Professionals communicating across countries need quick, reliable translations
Privacy-conscious users: Copying sensitive emails into external tools contradicts Proton’s privacy-first philosophy
Proposed solution:
Add a “Translate” button directly inside the email view
Enable full email translation with one click
Allow target language selection (e.g. English → Finnish)
Optional automatic translation for selected languages
Prioritize DeepL integration for higher quality (Google Translate as fallback)
Privacy considerations (critical for Proton):
Clearly inform users when external APIs are used
Offer opt-in functionality (disabled by default if needed)
Long-term: explore privacy-preserving or local translation options
Why this feature should be prioritized:
Major quality-of-life improvement for daily email usage
Strong alignment with Proton’s international user base
Reduces reliance on external services (better user retention)
Brings Proton Mail closer to feature parity with mainstream providers
High perceived value with relatively clear implementation scope
This is a practical, high-impact feature that would immediately improve the experience for a large portion of Proton users.
Thank you for your consideration.
Matias
shared this idea
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Tom Bourgeois commented
Hello Proton Team,
I would like to suggest an important feature for Proton Mail: built-in email translation directly inside Proton Mail.
I regularly receive emails in Polish, while I mainly work in English, Dutch and French. At the moment, there is no convenient way to translate an entire received email directly inside Proton Mail.
For example, in Gmail and some other email services, when an email is detected in another language, the user can simply click “Translate to English” and read the translated version directly inside the email.
I believe Proton Mail should offer a similar feature.
Ideally, Proton Mail could automatically detect the language of an incoming email and display an option such as:
Polish detected → Translate to English
The user could then switch between:
Original | English translation
It would also be useful to allow users to select their preferred translation language in the Proton Mail settings.
I have already tried using Chrome's built-in translation function, but it does not properly translate the content of emails displayed inside Proton Mail. Selecting individual pieces of text and translating them manually works, but this is inconvenient when dealing with multiple business emails every day.
Third-party translation extensions are also not an ideal solution. Many require subscriptions, and more importantly, Proton customers often choose Proton specifically because of privacy and security. Giving an unknown browser extension permission to read email content defeats part of that purpose.
For that reason, I think a privacy-focused translation function developed or integrated directly by Proton would be a valuable addition to Proton Mail.
I am a paying Proton subscriber and use Proton's services specifically because I value the privacy ecosystem. Having secure, built-in email translation would make Proton Mail considerably more practical for international business communication.
I hope you will consider adding this functionality to Proton Mail.
Kind regards,
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Harry Boltt
commented
I fully support this change. Having recently migrated from Gmail, I thought I'd made a good move but now really miss the built-in translation feature in Gmail.
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Heikki Maukonen
commented
I agree with Matias. Matias's proposal would be an excellent feature.
Additionally, I would also hope for broader Finnish language support. I would be satisfied if Proton supported the Finnish language in the application user interfaces.
Heikki Maukonen - Jyväskylä, Finland
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Jeff Pray
commented
I highly support this change. Having moved to a new country and needing to translating emails is a necessity. I use the translation feature quite often with my "other" email service and not having that ability with my Proton email makes things difficult.