Translatelock

TranslateLock: Translate Once. Auto-Translate Forever.

Tired of manually translating the same website every single time you visit it? TranslateLock solves that permanently. Translate any page on a site once, and TranslateLock remembers your preference. Every future visit to that domain is automatically translated to your chosen language — no clicks, no banners, no repetition.

HOW IT WORKS

The first time you translate a page on any website (using Google Translate or your browser's built-in translation), TranslateLock detects it and locks that preference to the domain. From that moment on, every page you open on that domain — today, tomorrow, next month — will automatically load in your language. You never have to think about it again.

KEY FEATURES

🔒 Auto-Translate on Every Visit
Once a domain is saved, TranslateLock silently triggers Google Translate on every page load. No user action required. It just works in the background.

🌐 Supports Multiple Languages
Choose your target language from a built-in selector. Supported languages include English, Swedish, Finnish, German, French, Spanish, Estonian, Russian, Chinese, Japanese, Arabic, Portuguese, and more.

🔁 Per-Domain Control
Every domain is managed individually. Enable or disable auto-translation for any specific site without affecting others. You stay in full control.

⚡ One-Click Toggle from the Popup
Click the TranslateLock icon in your Chrome toolbar to instantly see whether auto-translate is ON or OFF for your current site. Toggle it with one click. Change the target language anytime.

📋 Saved Sites Dashboard
The popup shows a full list of every domain you have saved, along with the language each one translates to. Remove individual sites with the × button, or wipe everything with Clear All.

🔔 Smart Toast Notification
The first time a domain is saved, a small non-intrusive notification slides in from the bottom right of the screen. It confirms the site has been locked for auto-translation and gives you an immediate Undo button in case you change your mind. It disappears on its own after 3 seconds.

🌙 Dark Mode Ready
The popup interface automatically adapts to your system's dark or light mode preference, so it always looks native and comfortable.

🔒 100% Local Storage
Your translation preferences are stored locally on your device using chrome.storage.local. Nothing is sent to any server. No accounts, no sign-ups, no tracking.

PERFECT FOR

→ Immigrants and expats browsing government, healthcare, or utility websites in a foreign language every day
→ Students and researchers accessing academic content in another language regularly
→ Professionals working with international suppliers, clients, or news sources
→ Anyone who visits non-English websites frequently and wants a seamless, automatic experience
→ Language learners who want to read content in a target language without manual setup

HOW TRANSLATION IS DETECTED

TranslateLock uses three simultaneous detection methods to ensure it never misses a translation event, regardless of how you triggered it:

MutationObserver — watches for the translated-ltr and translated-rtl CSS classes that Google Translate applies to the page when translation is active.

Cookie Polling — monitors document.cookie every 500ms for the googtrans cookie that Google Translate sets when a language is selected.

Programmatic Injection — when a saved domain loads, TranslateLock injects the Google Translate widget silently and programmatically selects your saved language. The entire process is invisible — no banners, no toolbars, no popups from Google.

CLEAN AND INVISIBLE

Unlike other translation tools, TranslateLock works silently. The Google Translate banner bar, gadget icon, tooltip highlights, and floating widgets are all hidden automatically. You get the translated content without any of the visual clutter.

GETTING STARTED

Install TranslateLock from the Chrome Web Store
Visit any website that is in a language you want to translate
Translate the page using Google Translate or Chrome's built-in translate feature
A small notification confirms: "Auto-Translate On" — the domain is now saved
Visit any other page on that same domain — it translates automatically
Use the toolbar icon to manage your saved sites anytime
That is all it takes. One translation. Locked forever.

MANAGING YOUR SAVED SITES

Open the TranslateLock popup by clicking the toolbar icon. You will see:

• The domain of your current tab and its auto-translate status
• A toggle to turn auto-translate ON or OFF for that site
• A language dropdown to change or set the target language
• A scrollable list of all saved domains with their target languages
• A remove button (×) next to each domain for individual deletion
• A Clear All button to reset everything at once

PRIVACY

TranslateLock does not collect, transmit, or store any personal data. All preferences are saved locally to your browser using the standard chrome.storage.local API. The extension does not communicate with any external servers of its own. The only external resource it interacts with is Google Translate's official widget script (translate.google.com), which is the same service your browser uses when you translate a page manually.

PERMISSIONS EXPLAINED

• storage — to save your domain preferences locally on your device
• scripting — to inject the Google Translate widget on pages you have locked
• tabs — to read the current tab's URL and detect when a page finishes loading
• activeTab — to interact with the page you are currently viewing
• host permissions (all URLs) — required to run the content script and inject translation on any domain you visit

KNOWN LIMITATIONS

• Requires an internet connection to access translate.google.com
• Sites with strict Content Security Policies may block the translation script injection
• Single-page applications (SPAs) that navigate without a full page reload may require a manual trigger on the first visit after navigation
• The Google Translate widget may take 1–3 seconds to initialize on some pages

OPEN SOURCE

TranslateLock is built with plain JavaScript and Chrome Extension Manifest V3. No frameworks, no dependencies, no bloat. Just a clean, focused tool that does exactly what it promises.

Translate once. Never again manually. That is TranslateLock.