How to Translate Your Intercom Help Center Articles

Intercom doesn't automatically translate your help center articles. That's the first thing to know if you're trying to support customers in multiple languages.

This guide covers your options for translating Intercom articles, from manual copy-paste workflows to tools built specifically for this problem.

Why Intercom doesn't auto-translate

Intercom's help center supports multiple languages, but the translation part is on you. Here's how it works:

1. You create an article in your default language
2. Intercom lets you add translated versions manually
3. Each language version is a separate article you maintain

Intercom's own documentation confirms this: articles are not automatically translated.

This makes sense from Intercom's perspective. They're a customer messaging platform, not a translation tool. But it creates a gap for support teams with international customers.

Option 1: Manual translation

The straightforward approach:

1. Copy your article text
2. Paste into Google Translate, DeepL, or your translation service
3. Copy the result back into Intercom's translation field
4. Review and publish

Pros: No additional tools needed, full control over output.

Cons: Time-consuming for large help centers. You'll spend hours on copy-paste if you have 50+ articles. And keeping translations in sync when you update originals becomes a maintenance nightmare.

For a few articles, manual works. For a real multilingual help center, you need a better workflow.

Option 2: Use a translation integration

Several tools integrate with Intercom to handle translations:

TranslateDesk

Built specifically for Intercom help centers. Connect your Intercom account, select articles, choose languages, and translate with one click. Uses DeepL's neural translation engine.

Key features:

• Direct Intercom integration (no export/import)
• Batch translation for entire help centers
• Translation status tracking
• Preserves formatting, images, and links

Learn more about TranslateDesk for Intercom.

Lokalise

A full localization platform with Intercom integration. Better suited if you're translating your entire product (app strings, website, docs) and want everything in one system.

More complex setup and higher price point, but powerful for large-scale localization projects.

Lingpad

Another TMS (Translation Management System) with Intercom support. Similar to Lokalise in scope. Good if you already use Lingpad for other translation work.

Which option to choose?

It depends on your situation:

Manual translation if you have fewer than 10 articles and rarely update them.

TranslateDesk if you're focused on Intercom and want the simplest path to a translated help center. It's purpose-built for this workflow.

Lokalise or Lingpad if you're managing translations across multiple platforms (not just Intercom) and need enterprise-grade translation management.

Step-by-step: translating your Intercom help center

Here's a practical workflow using TranslateDesk:

1. Audit your current content

Before translating, know what you're working with:

• How many articles do you have?
• Which articles get the most traffic?
• What languages do your customers speak?

The translation audit tool can scan your Intercom help center and show you exactly what needs translation.

2. Set up language versions in Intercom

In your Intercom settings:

1. Go to Help Center settings
2. Add your target languages
3. This creates the structure for translated articles

You're not translating yet, just telling Intercom which languages you'll support.

3. Connect TranslateDesk to Intercom

1. Install TranslateDesk from the Intercom App Store
2. Authorize access to your help center
3. TranslateDesk syncs your article inventory

4. Run your first translation batch

1. Select the articles you want to translate
2. Choose target languages
3. Click translate

TranslateDesk sends content to DeepL, gets the translations, and pushes them back to Intercom. The whole process takes minutes, not hours.

5. Review and publish

Translations appear as drafts in Intercom. Review them, make any adjustments, then publish.

For high-traffic articles, you might want a native speaker to review. For most support content, DeepL's quality is good enough to publish directly.

Keeping translations in sync

The real challenge isn't the initial translation. It's keeping everything updated when your original articles change.

Common problems:

• You update an English article, forget to update the French version
• You add a new article, translations lag behind
• Someone edits a translated article directly, now it's out of sync with the original

TranslateDesk tracks translation status so you can see which articles need attention. When you update an original, the translation status changes to show it needs re-translation.

FAQ

Does Intercom support multilingual help centers?

Yes, Intercom supports multiple languages in your help center. You can add language versions and let visitors switch between them. But the translation itself isn't automatic. You need to provide or generate the translated content.

Can I use Google Translate with Intercom?

You can copy text to Google Translate manually. There's no direct integration. For occasional translations, this works fine. For ongoing multilingual support, you'll want a more integrated workflow.

How much does it cost to translate an Intercom help center?

Depends on your approach:

• Manual (Google Translate): Free, but costs your time
• TranslateDesk: Pay per translation, starting at a few cents per article
• Enterprise TMS platforms: Monthly subscriptions, typically $200+/month

How long does it take to translate a help center?

With TranslateDesk, you can translate a 50-article help center into 5 languages in under an hour. Most of that time is review. The actual translation takes minutes.

Manual translation? Budget several hours per language.

Get started

Ready to translate your Intercom help center?

1. Run a free audit to see your current translation coverage
2. See how TranslateDesk works
3. Install TranslateDesk from the Intercom App Store

→ Complete guide: Intercom Translation

Questions? Reach out at support@translatedesk.io.