Write in your language. Translate to English where you type.

Translate your next message in place

Type /en, a space and your message in one go, then press Tab. A small /en · Tab to run label in the lower right of the screen confirms the command before you run it. SideNote Pro sends your message to your active AI provider, removes the command and your text, and types the English result where they were.

The result is ordinary text in the field. Read it, change a word if you want to, and send it yourself: SideNote Pro never sends a message for you. /en is one of the four built-in inline commands, so there is nothing to create: connect a provider and switch the feature on.

Inline translation is designed for short messages in supported text fields. Check the text and input limits before getting started.

Write emails and customer replies in your own language

Most messages you need in English are short, and you already know what you want to say. Say it precisely in your own language and let /en produce the English in the field you will send it from. You translate the text without copying and pasting it anywhere, and without opening a translation site. A sentence or a short paragraph is the size inline translation is built for, and a longer email works a paragraph at a time, each with its own /en.

Replying to a colleague

Answer an email thread in the language you think in, and send the reply in English.

Confirming a delivery

Give a customer the date and what happens next, written the way you would say it, and translated before you send it.

Answering a customer

Write the help desk reply in your own words, press Tab, and read the English once before it goes out.

Arranging a freelance handoff

Agree files, dates and next steps with an English-speaking client in the chat you already use.

Translate from different languages with the same /en command

/en names only the language you want. You do not tell SideNote Pro which language you wrote in: the model recognises it from the text, so the same command handles an Italian reply in the morning and a German one in the afternoon. Its instruction asks for natural, fluent English that preserves the meaning and tone of what you wrote.

A question stays a question. SideNote Pro tells the model to translate the text and never to answer it or carry out a request inside it, so the Spanish question below arrives as a question for the other person to answer. It also asks for the translation alone, without notes or quotation marks, because the reply is typed straight into your message.

Accented letters you type with your keyboard layout, including those made with dead keys or AltGr, are part of the message like any other character. The translation is only as good as the model you connect, so try it on a few of your own messages during the trial, and read each result before you send it.

Set up inline translation

The same steps switch on every inline command. How inline commands work follows the sequence in more detail, including what a Tab that completes no command does.

1. Install SideNote Pro and start the trialInstall it from Microsoft Store and confirm the 30-day trial on the first-use screen.
2. Connect your AI providerUse the quick setup for OpenAI, or add any provider in Settings › AI providers. Inline commands use whichever profile and model are active. Getting started walks through both routes.
3. Enable inline commandsSwitch on Enable inline commands under Settings › Inline commands and save. The switch is off on a new installation, and /en is already in the command list.
4. Type /en, a space and your messageClick into a text field in another application and type it in one sequence, with Backspace for corrections. The /en · Tab to run label shows the command was recognised. It shows the trigger, never your text.
5. Press TabSideNote Pro sends the message to your provider. Press Esc while you wait to cancel. When the complete answer arrives, it replaces the command and your text. If the request fails or the command is refused before replacement begins, your text stays unchanged. If SideNote Pro cannot confirm the replacement, it asks you to check the field.
6. Review the translation, then send it yourselfCheck names, numbers and dates, edit anything you want to change, and send the message as you normally would.

Translate into another language

/en is the only translation command SideNote Pro ships. For any other target language, add a command of your own: Add command under Settings › Inline commands asks for a trigger, a name and an instruction. The commands in the table below are ones you create, not defaults, and none of them exists until you add it.

Once you create /de, type it first, followed by a space and your message, then press Tab to translate into German. A command can also combine translation with tone, such as /en-formal with the instruction Translate the text into polite, professional English suitable for a client. A trigger has up to 20 letters, numbers, hyphens or underscores after the slash and must be unique, and you can keep up to 50 commands. Custom inline commands has the full rules.

Use writing context when you need it

Your writing context is optional, standing guidance that SideNote Pro sends with every inline command, /en included. Use it for preferences that apply whenever you write, such as Use British English, Keep product names unchanged, or I reply to customers of an online furniture shop, so keep the tone friendly and concise.

The model treats the writing context as guidance on how to apply the command, and the command's instruction wins where the two disagree. Keep product names unchanged asks the model to leave a name such as DeskFlow as written. It does not guarantee it, so check names in the result before you send it.

The writing context applies to every command. A preference that only matters for translation belongs in the command itself: /en can be edited like a command you wrote, so you can add Use British English to its instruction instead. Writing context covers where it is stored and how long it can be.

Where translation works, and its limits

Inline translation works in most standard Windows text fields: email replies, chat boxes, web forms, help desk replies and documents. When SideNote Pro cannot safely determine what to replace, it refuses the command before replacing anything, and your text stays unchanged.

Short messages

SideNote Pro follows up to 500 characters, counting /en and the space. The English has to fit on one line of no more than 2,000 characters, or it is refused and your text stays as it was.

One typing sequence

Type the command, a space and your message in one go, with Backspace for corrections. Pasting, moving the caret, or pressing Enter or an arrow key before Tab ends the command, and Tab then does what it normally does.

Longer emails

Start each paragraph with its own /en and press Tab at the end of it, before you press Enter for the next one.

Right-to-left scripts

A message in Arabic, Hebrew or another right-to-left script is refused before anything is sent, because the caret cannot move through it reliably enough to replace it safely.

Input method editors

Languages typed through an input method editor (IME), as Chinese, Japanese and Korean usually are, end the command, so /en does not run on that text.

Protected fields

Password fields are ignored. A command may also be refused in an application running as administrator, where an application autocorrects or replaces text as you type, or where SideNote Pro cannot reliably identify the field.

Privacy and provider costs

Nothing is sent until you press Tab

Typing /en and your message sends nothing.

Your message goes to your provider

SideNote Pro sends the text after /en, with the command's instruction and your writing context if you set one, to the AI provider you configured. BediniLabs does not receive it.

Hosted and local providers differ

With a hosted provider, your message leaves your PC when you press Tab and is handled under that provider's terms. With a local provider such as Ollama, the request goes to a model on your own machine, and inference can stay there, depending on your setup.

Typing is observed only while inline commands are on

To recognise /en, SideNote Pro watches what you type while the feature is switched on, and keeps nothing until it sees a slash followed by one of your triggers. Switched off, or paused from the tray, it does not listen.

Your message is not kept

It is held in memory only while the command runs. It is never logged, never becomes a conversation, and never passes through the clipboard.

What a translation costs

The SideNote Pro licence does not include AI usage, and SideNote Pro has no AI service of its own. A hosted provider may charge for each translation under its own pricing, separately from the licence, and a short message makes a small request. A model you run locally in Ollama or LM Studio has no hosted API charge. Token use appears under Usage & cost, and the optional daily cost limit applies to inline commands too.

Bring your own key explains who bills what, and supported AI providers lists the hosted and local options. How SideNote Pro handles your data covers the rest of the application.

Inline translation: common questions

Does SideNote Pro translate while I am still typing?

No. It translates when you press Tab. Until then nothing is translated and nothing is sent, so you can write and correct the message at your own pace.

Do I need to say which language I am writing in?

No. /en names only the target language. The model recognises the language you wrote in, and how well it translates depends on the model you connect.

Can I translate into a language other than English?

Yes, with a command you create, such as /de with the instruction Translate the text into natural, fluent German. SideNote Pro ships only /en.

Can I translate an email I have already written or received?

Not in place. /en works only on text you type after it. Select the text and use the Translate selected-text action instead, and the translation appears in the assistant.

What does inline translation cost?

Inline commands are part of the 30-day trial, and the licence covers the application after it, not AI usage. A hosted provider may charge for each translation under its own pricing, separately from the licence, and a ChatGPT subscription does not pay for API requests. A model you run locally in Ollama or LM Studio has no hosted API charge.

Does inline translation work offline?

With a local model in Ollama or LM Studio, the request goes to your own machine and needs no internet connection once the model is set up. With a hosted provider, you need a connection when you press Tab.