What is translationd on Mac?

Last updated: 2026-07-31

What it is

translationd is a translation background service built into macOS. It runs separately for each user and is started on demand by launchd, rather than being an application that you open yourself. Apple’s supplied manual page describes it narrowly as the daemon that enables translation features.

The verified executable is located at /System/Library/Frameworks/Translation.framework/translationd, and its Apple code-signing identifier is com.apple.translationd. System-wide translation of selected text, translation of text recognized in images, and applications built with Apple’s Translation framework may use the service. Apple has not published a complete client-to-process map, however, so seeing a translation feature on screen does not prove that every part of its work runs inside translationd.

Because it is launched when needed, the process may appear after you request a translation and may be absent or inactive at other times. Its on-demand design is also why repeatedly terminating it does not amount to a permanent configuration change: launchd can start it again when another translation request arrives.

Why it talks to the network

A translation request does not always stay entirely on the Mac. When server-side processing is used, content the user chose to translate may be sent to Apple’s translation service. That content can include selected text or text recognized from an image. Apple’s privacy information also refers to audio, text, or image-recognized text selected for translation; it does not say that everything typed or copied is collected.

Apple says these translation requests use randomly rotating identifiers rather than an Apple Account identifier. Its stated default policy may retain records of text input for two years. That describes the translation feature’s data flow as a whole. It does not establish that every related network connection is opened directly by translationd.

Downloading or updating languages for offline use can also cause macOS to connect to Apple’s resource-distribution services. Whether translationd itself establishes those download connections is unverified. Apple states that Safari and Siri translations are always processed online, but it has not disclosed whether all of their connections are attributed to translationd, Safari, Siri-related components, or some combination. A definitive list of hostnames and endpoints for this process is likewise unverified.

How much traffic is normal

Apple has not published a reliable process-level byte range for translationd, so there is no defensible “normal number” in megabytes. Supplying a fixed allowance would imply precision that the available evidence does not support.

The expected pattern is more useful than a made-up total. With no translation request in progress, translationd should not need continuous transfer. An active translation can produce a short request-and-response burst. Translating a small piece of text is closer to a single online query than to a sustained audio or video stream.

Larger bursts are possible around full-page webpage translation or language-resource downloads. Those bytes must not automatically be assigned to translationd: webpage work may be attributed to Safari, while resource delivery may involve mobileassetd or another component. The process responsible for a particular connection has not been fully documented by Apple. Compare activity with the action you actually performed instead of treating every nearby system download as translation traffic.

Can you turn it off

Apple does not provide a supported switch for turning off the translationd process or all of its network access. There is therefore no System Settings path that permanently disables this daemon. Force-quitting it is temporary because launchd can start it again when a client requests translation.

Stopping, removing, or blocking translationd may cause system-wide translation and translation inside applications using Apple’s Translation framework to fail or work with reduced capability. If you never use Apple’s translation features, treating the service as optional at the feature level is reasonable. That classification is not an Apple guarantee that process-level blocking or rate limiting is harmless.

There is an official setting for reducing the use of online processing by ordinary system translation: Apple menu > System Settings > General > Language & Region > Translation Languages > On-Device Mode. Both the source and destination languages must be downloaded and supported for on-device translation. Support can vary by language, region, and system release. This setting does not disable translationd, and it does not make Safari or Siri translation offline; Apple says those two features always use online processing.

What people get wrong

• “translationd continuously uploads everything I type or copy.” There is no evidence for that claim. Apple describes audio, text, or text recognized in an image that the user chooses to translate as content that may be sent for processing. That is materially different from monitoring all keyboard or clipboard content.

• “Once On-Device Mode is enabled, every translation on the Mac is completely offline.” That is incorrect. Apple explicitly says Safari and Siri translations remain online, regardless of the ordinary system translation setting.

• “Downloading a language pack guarantees that every language pair works offline.” It does not. Both the source language and the destination language must be downloaded, and the pair must be supported for on-device translation. Availability can differ by language, region, and system release.

• “translationd is malware or a third-party translation program.” The executable at the verified system framework path, carrying Apple’s com.apple.translationd signing identifier, is a macOS component. A file merely sharing the name but located elsewhere should not be assumed to be the same component; its path and signature need separate verification.

• “Deleting its launchd property list or repeatedly force-quitting it safely speeds up macOS.” Apple does not support this as an optimization method. The service already starts on demand, termination normally lasts only until it is requested again, and tampering can break translation features.

• “Blocking translationd prevents all Safari and Siri translation data from leaving the Mac.” That has not been verified. Apple confirms that Safari and Siri translation is handled online, but it does not publish the process attribution for every connection those features make.

Seeing what it actually used

To answer the question for your own Mac, reproduce one translation and compare translationd’s per-process upload and download activity before, during, and after the request in Bytetally. Check Safari and language-resource activity separately, because nearby traffic from Safari, mobileassetd, or another component should not be counted as translationd without process-level evidence.

Common questions