Short answer: yes — Microsoft Teams now translates in two ways. The Interpreter agent gives each participant translated voice, speech-to-speech, in ten languages, with 20 hours per person per month included in a Microsoft Copilot license. Live translated captions show translated text, for meetings where the organizer or the participant has Teams Premium or Microsoft Copilot. The limit most guides skip: guests and anonymous participants can’t use Interpreter, which is often exactly who you are talking to on a client call.
This guide was updated in September 2026. Every detail below comes from Microsoft Support: Interpreter in Teams meetings and calls and Use live captions in Teams meetings.
Teams translation options at a glance
| Interpreter agent | Live translated captions | Talkniva interpreter (beta) | |
|---|---|---|---|
| What people get | Translated voice over the original audio, in a simulated or automated voice | Translated text on screen | Translated voice, both ways |
| Languages | English, Spanish, Portuguese, Japanese, Simplified Chinese (Mandarin), Italian, German, French, Korean, Taiwanese | A long list of supported languages | 13 spoken languages |
| License | Microsoft Copilot (20 h/person/month included); organizer should have Copilot or Teams Premium | Teams Premium or Microsoft Copilot (organizer’s covers everyone; otherwise only licensed participants) | Talkniva guest-hours |
| Guests | Anonymous and guest participants can’t use it | Covered when the organizer is licensed | Stay in Teams, install nothing |
| Where | Meetings up to 1,000 participants; 1:1 Teams-to-Teams VoIP calls | Meetings and events | Any Teams meeting you can admit it to |
How to turn on Interpreter (translated voice)
- In the meeting controls, select More actions → Language and speech → Interpreter → Turn on for me.
- In Listen to meeting in, choose the language you want to hear.
- Use the Balance volume slider to mix original and interpreted audio.
- In Choose your voice when interpreted, pick Simulate my voice or an Automated voice, then select Turn on.
Turning on Interpreter also turns on multilingual speech recognition, so participants can set their spoken and translated languages. Your settings carry over to future meetings. In a 1:1 call, the path is More actions → Language and speech → Turn on Interpreter for me.
Interpreter’s limits, from Microsoft’s own page
- Guests are out. People from other organisations can use it only from verified Microsoft 365 accounts with a Copilot license; anonymous and guest participants can’t.
- Not every meeting type. Interpreter isn’t supported in ad-hoc meetings, Teams Rooms with personal devices, town halls, webinars or Teams Free meetings. Calls are limited to 1:1 Teams-to-Teams VoIP — not phone-network (PSTN) calls.
- Ten output languages. Other languages may be recognized, but the output is always one of the ten.
- Turn-taking. Microsoft says it isn’t optimized for rapid exchanges, interruptions or overlapping speech, and asks people to wait for others to finish hearing the interpretation.
- Nothing after the meeting. Recordings capture only the original audio; translated transcripts exist only live.
- Names and technical terms may be interpreted inaccurately.
- Usage cap: 20 hours per person per month are included; beyond that, access depends on available capacity.
How to turn on live translated captions (text)
- Turn on captions: More actions → Language and speech → Show live captions.
- To the right of the captions, select Caption settings → Language settings.
- Make sure the Meeting spoken language is correct.
- Turn on the Translate to toggle.
- Choose the language you want to read.
If the organizer has Teams Premium or Microsoft Copilot, every participant can use translated captions; otherwise, only participants with one of those licenses see Translate to. In town halls and live events, the organizer preselects the caption languages — six, or ten with Premium — from more than 50.
When Teams isn’t enough
Interpreter is the most complete native option of the three big platforms, but its license and identity rules exclude common business situations:
- Your client joins as a guest or from an organisation without Copilot.
- Your language is not among the ten — Russian, Hindi, Indonesian and Vietnamese, for example.
- The meeting is a town hall, webinar or ad-hoc call, or someone dials in by phone.
- Nobody on your side has a Copilot license for an occasional international call.
For those cases, Talkniva offers two options:
- The beta meeting interpreter. Paste the Teams link in Talkniva, choose the two languages, and a named Talkniva interpreter joins as a participant, carrying translated voice both ways. The host speaks and listens in the Talkniva browser tab; the other participants stay in Teams and install nothing from Talkniva. The organizer may need to admit it from the lobby. It is in beta, so test it before a critical call.
- A Talkniva room instead of Teams. Guests join by link in the browser, with no account and no download; each active guest gets translated voice, camera and live captions in 13 languages.
Talkniva does not record or store calls, audio, video or transcripts. If you bring the interpreter into someone else’s meeting, you must have permission and tell participants that it processes meeting audio.
What it costs
Interpreter comes with a Microsoft Copilot license (20 hours per person per month included), and translated captions with Teams Premium or Copilot. Talkniva is prepaid, with no subscription and no free plan: US$7.60 for 20 guest-minutes, US$19 for a guest-hour, down to US$13.30 per guest-hour on the 10-hour pack. See pricing.
Related guides
- The same guide for the other platforms: Google Meet real-time translation and Zoom real-time translation.
- All three compared: how to translate an online meeting in real time.
Need translated voice with a guest who can’t use Interpreter? Start now.
Frequently asked questions
Can Microsoft Teams translate voice in real time?
Yes. The Interpreter agent in Teams does real-time speech-to-speech interpretation, so each participant can speak and listen in their preferred language. It supports English, Spanish, Portuguese, Japanese, Simplified Chinese (Mandarin), Italian, German, French, Korean and Taiwanese, and includes 20 hours of interpretation per person per month with a Microsoft Copilot license.
How do I turn on Interpreter in a Teams meeting?
In the meeting controls, select More actions, then Language and speech, then Interpreter and Turn on for me. Choose the language to listen in, balance the original and interpreted volume, pick your interpreted voice, and select Turn on.
How do I turn on translated captions in Teams?
Turn on live captions from More actions, Language and speech, Show live captions. Then, to the right of the captions, select Caption settings, Language settings, check the Meeting spoken language, turn on the Translate to toggle and choose your language. It needs a Teams Premium or Microsoft Copilot license for the organizer or for you.
Can external guests use Teams Interpreter?
Only if they sign in with a verified Microsoft 365 account that has a valid Microsoft Copilot license. Microsoft says people joining anonymously or as guests can’t use Interpreter, because their identity and license status can’t be verified.
What can I use when a client can’t use Teams Interpreter?
If your client joins as a guest, your language is not among Interpreter’s ten, or nobody on the call has a Copilot license, you can bring Talkniva’s beta interpreter into the Teams meeting as a participant for two-way translated voice in 13 languages, or hold the call in a Talkniva browser room that guests join by link.