Sunset Mesa Software
Translate selected text in any app
Rewire Text translates the text you select, in the app where you selected it. Press the hotkey, pick 'Translate to Spanish' (each language you add is its own one-click transform) or 'Translate to…' for anything ad hoc, and the translation streams into a preview before it replaces your selection. No browser tab, no translate site, no copying back and forth. It uses your own AI key, or a local model if you prefer.
Translation without the round trip
The old routine: copy the sentence, switch to a translate tab, paste, copy the result, switch back, paste it over the original, fix the formatting the round trip broke. For one sentence, six steps. Replying to a customer in their language means doing it twice.
With Rewire Text, translation is a transform like any other: select, press Cmd+Shift+, (macOS) or Ctrl+Shift+, (Windows), pick the language, Enter. The languages you use often sit in the palette as one-click transforms; anything else goes through "Translate to…", which accepts whatever you type.
Before
Thanks for the quick turnaround. The fix works on both machines, and we are good to ship on Friday.
After
Gracias por la rapidez. La corrección funciona en ambos equipos y estamos listos para lanzar el viernes.
Before
Vielen Dank für Ihre Nachricht. Die Rechnung ist letzte Woche verschickt worden und sollte in den nächsten Tagen bei Ihnen eintreffen.
After
Thank you for your message. The invoice was sent last week and should reach you in the next few days.
Where it earns its keep
- Replying to a customer email in their language, inside your mail client.
- Reading a foreign-language paragraph in a doc or ticket without leaving it.
- Localizing UI strings or release notes right in the file you are editing.
- Chat with international colleagues, translated in place in Slack or Discord.
Because translation runs on a modern language model (yours, via key or local runner), it handles idiom and register better than the classic phrase-by-phrase translators, and it keeps the original formatting. Meaning, tone, and register are preserved by design.
Transforms for this workflow
- Translate to (language)
- Translate to…
- Make Professional
- Summarize
Part of 50+ built-in transforms. See the full list
Questions
Which languages can it translate to?
Any language you add from a curated catalog of 29 (Spanish, French, German, Japanese, Chinese, Arabic, Hindi, and more) becomes its own one-click transform. The ad-hoc "Translate to…" transform accepts anything you type beyond that, and your first languages are seeded from your system language automatically.
Does it preserve tone and formatting?
Yes. Translation keeps the meaning, tone, register, and formatting of the original, so a casual message stays casual and a formal notice stays formal.
What happens with a language the model cannot handle?
Rewire Text surfaces a clear message instead of pasting garbage over your selection. With mainstream models this is rare for the curated languages.
Can translation run offline?
Yes, with a local model through Ollama, LM Studio, or llama.cpp. Local models translate the major European languages reasonably well; for the widest language coverage, a cloud model with your key is stronger.
What does it cost per translation?
Whatever your provider charges for the tokens, with no markup, which for a paragraph on a light model is a fraction of a cent. The app shows a running cost estimate in Settings.
Try it on your own text
Download Rewire Text and use everything free for 7 days. Buy it once for $29 and it runs on any two of your devices, macOS or Windows.