The DeepL workflow on Windows, fully offline.
Your text never leaves your PC: translations run on local models served by Ollama, with TranslateGemma 12B as the default.
DeepLocal 2.0.0 · Windows 10 and 11 (64-bit) · 48 MB installer · no .NET install needed · all releases
Note
The problem it solves. Online translators are fast and good, but every sentence you paste into
them is sent to someone else's servers, where it can be stored, logged or used under terms you do not
control. For a contract under negotiation, a patient's medical report, a confidential source or the
names of people at risk, that is not acceptable. DeepLocal gives you the same translate-as-you-type
workflow with the translation done entirely on your PC: the app talks only to Ollama on
127.0.0.1, keeps no history of what you translate, and once the model is downloaded it keeps working
with the network cable unplugged.
| Light theme | Dark theme |
|---|---|
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- Private by design. Nothing is sent to a server: the model runs on your machine through Ollama.
- Feels like DeepL. Two joined panes, language bar on top, swap in the middle, text that translates as you type.
- One key, from any app. Copy some text, press Alt+T and the translation is ready, even with the window hidden in the tray.
- Any model you like. TranslateGemma 12B by default, or any other model installed in Ollama, local or cloud.
DeepLocal is meant for anyone who has to translate text that must not leave the building:
- Companies. Contracts, offers, internal reports, HR files, unreleased product documents and correspondence with foreign partners, translated without uploading trade secrets to an external service and without asking IT for a new cloud provider to approve.
- Law firms and notaries. Deeds, court documents and client communications covered by professional secrecy, where sending text to a third party could itself be a breach.
- Hospitals, clinics and doctors. Medical records, discharge letters and test results of foreign patients, which are health data and among the most protected categories of personal data.
- Public administrations and institutions. Citizens' applications, case files, police and immigration paperwork, and documents from foreign authorities that are classified or restricted to internal networks, including PCs with no internet access at all.
- Journalists. Leaked documents, interviews and messages from sources, translated without leaving a copy on a server that could be subpoenaed, breached or monitored.
- Activists, human rights defenders and NGOs. Testimonies, reports from people at risk, and communications in countries where online services may be watched or blocked: DeepLocal works on a laptop with no connection, so there is nothing to intercept on the way.
- Researchers and translators. Unpublished papers, interview transcripts and manuscripts under NDA.
Important
All of this holds for local models, like the default TranslateGemma 12B. Models marked Cloud in the model menu run on Ollama's servers, so the text you translate with them leaves your PC: do not use them for sensitive material. DeepLocal keeps your text off the network, but it does not protect a computer that is already compromised: for high-risk work, use it on a device you trust, with disk encryption.
- Translates as you type, with the text streaming in while the model writes it (can be turned off in Settings)
- 36 languages, including Portuguese, Polish, Dutch, Ukrainian, Arabic, Korean and Turkish; right-to-left layout for Arabic, Hebrew and Persian
- "Detect language" stays on and shows what it found, for example Italian (detected)
- If the text is already in the target language, the target switches by itself (Italian text with target Italian translates into English)
- The swap button swaps languages and texts, so the translation becomes the new source
- Clean output: quotes, code fences, "Translation:" labels and reasoning blocks some models add are removed
- TranslateGemma 12B is the default, prompted with its official translation format
- The model menu lists every model installed in Ollama, read live: local models first, cloud models marked Cloud, embedding models hidden
- Missing TranslateGemma? The menu shows a Download button with progress in MB and percent; downloads can be cancelled and resumed
- Models that "think" (deepseek-r1, qwen3, gpt-oss) run with thinking off or at minimum, so translations are faster
- Light and dark theme that follows Windows and switches live; on Windows 11 the title bar matches the navy header
- Interface in English or Italian, switchable in Settings without restarting
- Clear errors with a button that fixes them (Start Ollama, Retry, Open model menu) instead of HTTP codes
- Ollama status always visible next to the model name, character counter, "Copied" feedback
- Lives in the tray and comes back with Alt+T or a click on the tray icon
- Optional Start with Windows, hidden in the tray and ready for Alt+T
- Opening DeepLocal a second time brings the running window to the front
- Settings (model, languages, options) saved in
%APPDATA%\DeepLocal\settings.json
What's new in 2.0, and bugs fixed since 1.0
- New DeepL-style layout: language bar above two joined panes, swap button in the middle, large readable text.
- Light and dark theme, interface in English or Italian, vector icons instead of emoji, thin scrollbars, keyboard focus rings.
- TranslateGemma 12B as default model, with in-app download and live list of every Ollama model.
- Translate as you type with streaming, Stop button and Esc, Ctrl+Enter to translate immediately.
- 36 languages (was 9), right-to-left support.
- Choosing the same language on both sides swaps them, like DeepL.
- The chosen model is remembered; if it is uninstalled, DeepLocal falls back to TranslateGemma or the first available model and says so.
- Start with Windows option, single instance, warning at startup if Alt+T is already taken by another app.
- Self-contained installers in English and Italian: no .NET install needed, they upgrade 1.0 in place and warn if Ollama is missing.
- Alt+T after closing the window with X translated in the background but the window stayed minimized and invisible: it now always reappears in front.
- The tray menu kept "Open" disabled after the window was closed with X.
- After the first auto-detection the source switched from "Auto" to the detected language for good, so the next text in another language was labelled wrong.
- Japanese text starting with a kanji was detected as Chinese.
- A detected language returned with punctuation (e.g. "Italian.") was rejected as unsupported.
- Large models or slow first loads failed after 100 seconds (HTTP timeout).
- Errors showed only an HTTP code; Ollama's real message (e.g. "model not found") was lost.
- Pressing Alt+T during a translation started a second one in parallel and the results overwrote each other.
- The 1200x720 window with 480 px minimum columns did not fit laptops with 150% scaling.
- The README promised Portuguese and "Enter to translate", which the code did not do.
- Build output (
bin/,obj/) was not ignored by git.
- Install Ollama for Windows and leave it running (it listens on
http://127.0.0.1:11434). - Download the installer with one of the buttons above: English or Italiano.
- Run it. It adds Start menu shortcuts, an optional desktop icon and the optional Start with Windows option, and upgrades an existing 1.0 installation in place.
- Open DeepLocal: if TranslateGemma 12B is missing, click Download in the model menu (top right).
Requirements: Windows 10 (1809) or Windows 11, 64-bit, and about 8 GB of disk for TranslateGemma 12B.
Note
SmartScreen may warn about an unsigned app: click More info, then Run anyway. To check the downloads, compare them with SHA256SUMS.txt.
Previous version: DeepLocal 1.0.0
DeepLocal selects translategemma:12b. You can download it from the model menu or from a terminal:
ollama pull translategemma:12bAny other model installed in Ollama appears in the same menu (gemma3, aya-expanse, mistral, qwen3, gpt-oss...). Cloud models (*-cloud) work too, after ollama signin, and are marked Cloud.
| Action | Keys |
|---|---|
| Translate the clipboard, from any app | Alt+T |
| Translate now | Ctrl+Enter |
| Stop the translation | Esc |
| Show the window | Click on the tray icon |
| Open, translate clipboard, hide, exit | Right click on the tray icon |
Closing or minimizing the window keeps DeepLocal in the tray, ready for Alt+T.
| Problem | What to do |
|---|---|
| "Ollama is not responding" | Start Ollama (the error panel has a button for it), then click Retry. |
| Model not found | Download it from the model menu, or run ollama pull <model>. |
| Alt+T does nothing | Another app uses the same shortcut; the status bar says so at startup. Use the Translate clipboard button. |
| Window not visible | Click the tray icon. |
Requires the .NET 8 SDK.
git clone https://github.com/ShinRalexis/DeepLocal.git
cd DeepLocal
dotnet runTo build both installers you also need Inno Setup 6:
powershell -ExecutionPolicy Bypass -File installer\build.ps1| Path | What it contains |
|---|---|
App.xaml(.cs) |
Tray, single instance, startup |
MainWindow.xaml(.cs) |
The translator window |
Services/ |
Ollama client, prompts and language detection, settings, UI strings (IT/EN), theme |
Themes/ |
Light.xaml, Dark.xaml (colours), Controls.xaml (styles) |
installer/ |
Inno Setup script and build script |
docs/ |
PRODUCT.md, DESIGN.md, screenshots |
Fork the repo, create a feat/feature-name branch, keep the XAML style consistent (colours in Themes/, texts in Services/Loc.cs) and open a PR with a description and screenshots.
For bugs or ideas, open an Issue with the app version, Windows version, steps and screenshots.
DeepLocal is free and open source. If it helps you, even $1 is a "hey friend, thanks!" ❤️
Bitcoin address: 1NjV2CfyLw42Ej9UmZEcroyqnmmKMJNCUx
Made by @MetaDarko.
Code: MIT. Copyright © 2025-2026 MetaDarko. Permission is hereby granted, free of charge, to any person obtaining a copy of this software and associated documentation files (the "Software"), to deal in the Software without restriction, including without limitation the rights to use, copy, modify, merge, publish, distribute, sublicense, and/or sell copies of the Software, and to permit persons to whom the Software is furnished to do so, subject to the following conditions: the above copyright notice and this permission notice shall be included in all copies or substantial portions of the Software. THE SOFTWARE IS PROVIDED "AS IS", WITHOUT WARRANTY OF ANY KIND, EXPRESS OR IMPLIED.
Images and assets: CC BY 4.0. The screenshots and graphics in /docs and the other graphic assets are © 2025-2026 MetaDarko, distributed under Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International: you may use them freely, including commercially, provided that you credit "MetaDarko DeepLocal" and indicate any changes.
TranslateGemma is a Google model distributed under the Gemma Terms of Use. DeepLocal is an independent project and is not affiliated with DeepL SE.