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

Translate as you type on Windows

Click into the email, chat or help desk reply you want to send. Type /en, a space and your message in one go, then press Tab. As soon as you type /en and the space, a small /en · Tab to run label in the lower right of the screen shows the command is ready.

When you press Tab, SideNote Pro sends your message to your AI provider. When the English arrives, it replaces /en and your text in the same field.

The English is ordinary text in the field. Change a word if you want to, then 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. Set up inline translation once, and /en works in most standard Windows text fields.

Write emails and customer replies in your own language

Write the reply the way you would say it, in the language you think in, with the names, dates and numbers it needs. Start it with /en and press Tab at the end. The English appears in the email, chat or help desk reply you are about to send, with nothing to copy into a translation site and nothing to paste back.

/en takes a sentence or a short paragraph at a time. For a longer email, start each paragraph with its own /en and press Tab at the end of it, before you press Enter for the next one. Where translation works lists what else ends or refuses a command.

Use the same /en for every language you write in

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

A question stays a question. SideNote Pro tells the model to translate your text, never to answer it or carry out a request in it, so the Spanish question below becomes an English question for the other person to answer. The model is also told to return the translation alone, without notes or quotation marks, because the reply is typed straight into your message.

Accented letters you type with dead keys or AltGr are part of your message like any other character.

How well /en translates depends on the model you connect. We recommend trying it on a few of your own messages during the trial, and reading every result before you send it.

Set up inline translation

You need SideNote Pro, an AI provider and inline commands switched on. How inline commands work covers the same steps 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 Quick Setup for OpenRouter or OpenAI, or add any provider in Settings › AI providers. Getting started walks through both. Inline commands use the profile and model selected in the composer's profile picker, the same as your next chat message.
3. Switch on inline commandsTurn 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 in one go, using Backspace for corrections. The /en · Tab to run label shows the trigger, never your text.
5. Press TabSideNote Pro sends your message to your provider. Press Esc while you wait to cancel. When the complete answer arrives, it replaces /en 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. Read the English, then send it yourselfCheck names, numbers and dates, change anything you want, and send the message as usual.

Translate into another language

SideNote Pro ships one translation command, /en. For any other language, add your own: under Settings › Inline commands, select Add command and give it a trigger, a name and an instruction. None of the commands in the table below exist until you add them.

Once you have added /de, type /de, a space and your message, then press Tab to get German. You 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.

Add standing preferences with writing context

Writing context is optional guidance that SideNote Pro sends with every inline command, /en included. Use it for preferences that apply to everything you write: 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 it as guidance, 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 cannot guarantee it, so check names before you send.

For a preference that only matters when you translate, put it in /en itself: edit the command and add Use British English to its instruction. Writing context covers where it is stored and how long it can be.

Where translation works, and its limits

/en 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 must fit on one line of no more than 2,000 characters, or it is refused and your text stays unchanged.

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.

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

Text typed through an input method editor (IME), as Chinese, Japanese and Korean usually are, ends the command, so /en does not run on it.

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 cost

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 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. How SideNote Pro handles your data covers the rest of the application.

What a translation costs

Your translation cost depends on the model you select and how much text it processes. For fast, very low-cost everyday translation, we recommend OpenAI's gpt-6-luna, a capable model for short emails and messages. Set up GPT-6 Luna.

If you run a model locally with Ollama or LM Studio, there are no AI provider charges.

/en uses the profile and model selected in the composer's profile picker, so choose your Luna profile there before you translate. Each translation is counted under Usage & cost. If you set the optional daily estimate limit, it applies to /en too, and it needs your model's prices recorded in Settings before a command can run.

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 your message at your own pace.

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

No. /en names only the language you want. 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?

It depends on the model you select and how much text it translates. We recommend gpt-6-luna for fast, very low-cost everyday translation. With a local model in Ollama or LM Studio, there are no AI provider charges. Usage & cost records the tokens your translations use.

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.