Do you need a translation tool if you already have Microsoft Copilot?

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The short answer: if you need one Word document or one presentation in one other language, Microsoft Copilot will probably do the job. Your company already pays for Microsoft 365, and the translated copy keeps most of the formatting.

The answer changes when the same documents go into several languages and come back for updates every few months. Across Redokun's customer accounts, teams translate into 8 or more target languages on average. At that scale, translating the text is the easy part. The hard part is keeping 8 versions correct, consistent, and up to date.

That second job is what a translation tool is for. This article shows where the line sits, so you can decide for your own documents.

What Copilot does well

Microsoft 365 gives you three ways to translate a file. People often call all of them "Copilot", but they work differently.

Word's Translator. In Word, select Review, Translate, Translate Document. Word creates a translated copy and leaves your original file unchanged. This feature does not need a Copilot licence. (Microsoft)
Copilot in PowerPoint. With a Microsoft 365 Copilot licence, you ask Copilot to translate the presentation. It creates a new copy and translates the text in text boxes, shapes, SmartArt, tables, and speaker notes. (Microsoft)
Copilot Chat. You attach a file and ask for a translation. You get text back in the chat, not a formatted file. This is useful to understand a document a distributor sent you, less useful to send one out. (Eyal Marcus)

For a one-off job, this is a good result. There is no new software, no new supplier, and no budget request. If you translate a short Word document into one language twice a year, you probably do not need anything else.

Where Copilot stops being enough

Take a typical case. You have a 40-page product catalogue in English. It goes to Germany, France, Italy, Spain, the Netherlands, Poland, Portugal, and Sweden. You update it twice a year. Here is what happens with Copilot alone.

You translate one language at a time. Each run gives you one target language and one new file. For 8 markets, that is 8 runs, 8 files to check, name, store, and send.

Your InDesign files stay outside. Copilot and Word's Translator work inside Microsoft 365 apps. Most catalogues and datasheets are built in Adobe InDesign. Copilot cannot open an InDesign file and give it back translated, so the text goes into Word and back into InDesign by copy and paste.

Nothing remembers your corrections. Your German distributor fixes 30 technical terms in the German copy. Next spring you translate the updated English version again, and Copilot produces a new machine translation. Those 30 fixes are not reused unless someone applies them again by hand.

Terminology depends on the prompt. You can tell Copilot to keep product names unchanged. That instruction lives in one prompt, for one document. A colleague who translates the datasheet next month starts from zero. Even guides to Copilot translation advise you to check product names and terms after translating. (Eyal Marcus)

An update means a full retranslation. If 3 pages of 40 change, you still translate all 40 pages again in all 8 languages. Then your reviewers check everything again, because nobody can easily see which sentences are new.

Review happens by email. Freelance translators and distributors need the files sent to them. Their edits come back as comments or tracked changes, in 8 separate files, and you merge them.

None of this is a flaw in Copilot. It is a general assistant, built to help one person with one file. Running the same documents across 8 languages, year after year, is a different job.

The spring update: 3 of 40 pages changed, 8 languages

Translation runs: Copilot alone needs 8, one per language. A translation tool needs 1 project with 8 target languages.
What gets translated: Copilot alone translates all 40 pages, in every language. A translation tool translates only the new or changed sentences.
Last year's corrections: with Copilot alone, they are lost unless re-applied by hand. A translation tool reuses them from Translation Memory.
Product names and terms: with Copilot alone, they depend on each prompt. A translation tool applies the same approved Glossary for every translator.
Reviewers: with Copilot alone, they receive files by email. With a translation tool, they work in one shared editor.
InDesign catalogue: with Copilot alone, text is copied and pasted in and out. With a translation tool, the file comes back in the same format.

Two questions decide it

Ask how many target languages the document needs, and how often it changes. The more languages and the more updates, the more time a translation tool saves on every update.

1 language, translated once: Copilot is enough. Use Word's Translator or Copilot.
1 language, changes often: Copilot can work, with care. Recheck terms and past corrections in every new version.
8 or more languages, translated once: Project Pass. One project, many markets, no subscription.
8 or more languages, changes often: Subscription. Translation Memory, Glossary, and Quick Revisions save work on every update.

One file in one language stays with Copilot. Many languages, once, is a single project. Many languages, updated every season, is where a permanent home for your translations pays back.

What a translation tool like Redokun adds

A translation tool does not replace Copilot. Keep Copilot for emails, summaries, and quick checks. A tool like Redokun takes over the part Copilot was not built for: the same documents, in many languages, again and again.

All languages in one project. One upload, 8 target languages, one place to follow progress for the project manager.
One shared web editor. Freelancers and distributors work in the browser, in the same place. No email threads, no merging 8 files.
Translation Memory. Every confirmed translation is saved. When the same sentence appears in the next catalogue or datasheet, it is filled in automatically, including your distributor's corrections.
Glossary. Every translator on every project sees the same approved terms, so a product name is written the same way in all 8 languages.
AI first draft. Redokun fills in segments from Translation Memory first, then uses DeepL, Google Translate, or ChatGPT for the rest. Your translators review instead of starting from a blank page.
Your file comes back in the same format. Upload InDesign (.idml), Word (.docx), PowerPoint (.pptx), or Excel (.xlsx) files, and download them translated, with the layout in place. No copy and paste into InDesign.
Quick Revisions. When the English source changes, your translators only handle what is new or changed, not the whole document.

Redokun does not replace your translators either. It gives them a better place to work, with AI doing the first draft and people confirming the result.

Which option fits your situation

You translate a few times a year. Redokun's Project Pass is made for this: one project, no subscription.
Translation is a regular part of your work. A subscription plan is built for teams that update documents often. Start with a 14-day free trial to test it on your own files.

Frequently asked questions

Can Microsoft Copilot translate a Word document?

Yes, with one detail. The formatted, translated copy of a Word file comes from Word's Translator (Review, Translate, Translate Document), which does not need a Copilot licence. Copilot itself can translate text you ask it about, or help adapt the wording after translation.

Can Copilot translate a document into several languages at once?

No. You choose one target language each time, and each run creates a separate file. For 8 languages, you run the translation 8 times.

Can Copilot translate InDesign files?

No. Copilot works inside Microsoft 365 apps such as Word, PowerPoint, and Excel. To translate an InDesign catalogue, you need a tool that accepts InDesign files (.idml) and returns them in the same format, such as Redokun.

Does Copilot remember previous translations?

No. Copilot has no Translation Memory or shared Glossary. Each translation starts fresh, so corrections from the last version are not reused automatically.

Is Copilot translation good enough for a product catalogue?

It is a good first draft. Machine translation quality varies by language, and customer-facing text should be checked by a native speaker. For a catalogue, the real question is how you manage that review across every language and every update.

Can I use Copilot and a translation tool together?

Yes, and most teams do. Copilot stays useful for emails, summaries, and quick one-off translations. The translation tool handles documents that go into many languages and change over time.

Count your languages and your updates

If you have one document and one target language, use Copilot. It is already on your computer, and it does that job well.

If your catalogue goes to Germany, France, Italy, and five more markets, and comes back for an update every spring, the cost is not the first translation. It is every update after it. That is where a translation tool pays for itself.

One project to deliver? Start your project with Project Pass, no subscription.

Translating regularly? Start a 14-day free trial of a subscription.

Sources

Microsoft facts checked on 16 October 2026.

Translate text into a different language, Microsoft Support
Translate your presentation with Copilot, Microsoft Support
Translate documents with Copilot: Word, PDF, PowerPoint and Teams, Eyal Marcus, updated September 2026

Article by

Stefano Bernardi

Stefano Bernardi is the Co-founder of Redokun. For the past 11 years, Stefano has been an active contributor to the InDesign community and the translation management industry.

His work focuses on assisting marketing managers in simplifying complex translation processes, enabling them to speed up the translation of marketing materials up to three times faster.