Troubleshooting · Word / Office / WPS

What to do when Word translation is not working

Review → Translate displaysCannot access the service、No service available, or Word 2016 / Office 2016 translation has stopped working: match the symptom first, then follow the version-specific fix. For a real-world long-document case, see 129-page thesis troubleshooting log。

Switch to the Word translation add-in Find the fix for your error

Jump to the message you see

The same issue may be searched as “why can't Word translate” or “Office translation cannot access the service.” These are the main categories. For Excel functions and the translation pane, see Excel translation not working; for “this page cannot be translated” in a browser, see Edge Translation failed。

Cannot access the service

Office translation cannot access the service; translation failed, please try again

No service available

Word 2016 Review translation shows no service; Microsoft Translator reports no instance of the related service

Long-document failure

Full-document translation spins indefinitely and the file must be split

Word / Office 2016

Office 2016 translation has stopped working

Cannot access the service / Translation failed, please try again

The full message is usually “Cannot access the service. Check your connection and try again.” When Office translation cannot access the service or says translation failed, most people blame the network first. Check these in order:

Open any external web page in a browser to confirm the whole computer is not offline.
Turn off the system proxy or the “global proxy” setting in some VPNs, then try Word again.
Create a blank document, type two or three sentences in English, then run Review → Translate → Translate Selection.

Ifa short document translates but a long document fails immediately, go to Long documents instead of repeatedly toggling proxies.

Typical red error when translating a long document: cannot access the service

No service available / No instance of the related service

Word 2016 translation showing no service, Word 2016 Review translation with no service, and the dialog “Microsoft Translator: Translation failed: no instance of the related service” are different from “cannot connect to the internet.” The online translation instance used by the 2016 channel is unavailable in many regions, and repairing Office will not restore it.

First try: Programs and Features → Microsoft Office → Change → Quick Repair.
On a company computer, ask IT whether Smart Services / Online Services are disabled. If they are, Review translation will remain blank.
If “No service available” still appears, switch to the standalone add-in instead of using the Microsoft Translator pane.

Full-document translation fails on long documents

The built-in “Translate Document” feature is sensitive to page count and field codes. In our test, a 129-page thesis failed even though the browser had internet access and VPN on/off made no difference. Selection translation worked only after splitting the file into one- or two-page documents. The steps, screenshots, and comparison table are in “What to do when Word translation is not working”。

If you need the entire document Word translation that preserves formatting, and do not want to split and merge it, use Word translation add-in full-document translation in the sidebar to write translations back paragraph by paragraph.

On the same machine, selection translation often still works in a short document, which shows the problem is not a complete network outage.

Word 2016 / Office 2016

Many people search for “Office 2016 translation stopped working.” Retail, volume-license images, and education editions of Office 2016 can all suddenly lose translation. The online service used by built-in Review translation is no longer reliable for 2016, and repairing Office often does not help.

If you continue using Word 2016, install TopCopilot. It supports Windows 10/11 and Word 2016 or later. Installation steps: Installation and update guide。

Frequently asked questions

Word translation is unavailable or says it cannot access the service. What should I do?

First confirm the browser can access the internet, disable any system proxy, then try Review → Translate again. If a new one- or two-page document translates but a long document fails, the built-in translation size limit is the likely cause, not a network outage. To translate the entire Word document while preserving formatting, use full-document translation in the TopCopilot sidebar instead of splitting the file.

Word 2016 Review → Translate says no service is available, and Office 2016 translation no longer works?

Word 2016 / Office 2016 rely on a discontinued Microsoft online translation service instance, so many machines show “No service available” or “No instance of the related service” indefinitely. You can try repairing Office first, but if the service has been retired, a local repair will not help. As an alternative, install the standalone Word translation add-in to translate in the sidebar and write the result back in place.

What does “Microsoft Translator: Translation failed: no instance of the related service” mean?

It means the current Office version cannot connect to a Microsoft Translator service instance that has been retired or is not deployed. This is common with Office 2016 and some enterprise images. Repairing Office often does not help; switching to a third-party add-in bypasses this error.

Why can't Word translate, and why is the Translate button grayed out?

Common causes include no selected text, Protected View or read-only mode, not being signed in to a Microsoft account, and COM add-in conflicts. Try a new blank document. If it still fails, go to Options → Add-ins, temporarily disable third-party add-ins, and restart Word.

Is there a Word add-in that can translate offline?

TopCopilot uses cloud models, so it requires an internet connection and sign-in and cannot produce translations offline. Glossaries and prompts sync with your account and remain available on another computer. For fully offline work, use a local dictionary tool. Long-document translation with formatting preservation currently requires an internet connection.

When built-in translation cannot be fixed

The same installer covers Word, Excel, and WPS. Sidebar full-document translation writes back paragraph by paragraph and preserves headings, lists, and tables wherever possible.

Free download (Windows)