The translation popup doesn't appear on a web page

If you select text and nothing happens, or the page translation bar is missing, work through this list.

1. Reload the page

Mate injects its script when a page loads. Pages that were open before you installed or updated Mate don't have it yet. Reload them.

2. Check that the feature is on

Click the Mate icon, open Settings, and go to the On-page tab:

• Select to translate controls the floating button.
• On-page shortcut controls Shift+T.
• Full-page translation controls the bar in the top-right corner.
• Context menu controls the right-click item.

3. You're on a page extensions can't touch

Browsers don't run extensions on their own pages: the new tab page, settings, the Chrome Web Store, the Firefox Add-ons site, and file:// pages unless you allow it. PDFs are also special: see Translate text in PDF files with Mate's Chrome extension.

4. The page translation bar is intentionally hidden

Mate doesn't show the bar on sites that break when their text is replaced, including Google, YouTube, Facebook, X, Notion, Figma, GitHub, Outlook and Teams. You can still translate selected text there. If you ticked Never translate this site in the bar earlier, the bar stays hidden on that site.

5. The text isn't real text

Text in images, canvases and some PDF viewers can't be selected, so Mate can't see it. Use the camera in Mate for iPhone.

6. Another extension is interfering

Ad blockers and privacy extensions sometimes strip injected scripts. Try disabling them for one page to check.

7. Private windows

Extensions are off in private or incognito windows unless you allow them: in Chrome, chrome://extensions › Mate › Allow in Incognito. In Firefox, the same option is in the add-on's settings. Note that Firefox's private windows disable the browser storage Mate uses for History and Phrasebook.

Still stuck?

Email us at [email protected] with the browser and its version, the page URL, and what you selected. A screenshot helps.