Translate an Excel file into English without breaking formulas

What English changes in a spreadsheet

English labels tend to be compact: from French they usually come out 10 to 15% shorter, and from German or Spanish they are rarely longer. So headers generally fit their columns. The real issues lie elsewhere.

• British or American. colour or color, organisation or organization, turnover (common in the UK) or revenue. Know which audience you are writing for and check consistency when you review.
• Dates. A real date cell keeps its format. If the source workbook forces day/month/year, a US reader will read 03/04/2025 as 4 March. For an American or mixed audience, a format with the month in letters (3 Apr 2025) removes the ambiguity.
• Decimal separator. English writes 1,250.50 where French, German or Spanish write 1.250,50 or 1 250,50. A genuine number displays according to the reader's Excel regional settings; an amount typed inside a text cell ("1.250,50 € netto") keeps its source punctuation.
• Abbreviations. French "HT/TTC" or German "netto/brutto" become excl. VAT and incl. VAT; "N°" or "Nr." becomes No.

English has only two plural forms (1 item, 2 items), so a header like "Anzahl Artikel" or "Nombre d'article(s)" reads best as Number of items.

Formulas and text: the quoted-string trap

Manuce does not touch formulas: a calculated cell keeps its formula and keeps calculating. That protects your totals, but it has one precise consequence when a formula contains text.

• A German workbook with =WENN(C2>0;"Bezahlt";"Offen") will still show "Bezahlt" or "Offen" in an otherwise English table: that text lives inside the formula, not in a cell.
• A Spanish =CONTAR.SI(D:D;"Sí") counts cells containing "Sí". Once column D is translated to Yes, the count drops to zero. A lookup on a text key carries the same risk.
• A concatenation such as ="Total: "&B5&" Bestellungen" keeps its source-language pieces.

Function names are not a problem: Excel shows them in the language of the reader's software, so WENN or SI will appear as IF in English Excel.

The safest fix is to keep labels in cells (a small "Status" list on a settings sheet) and reference them from formulas: those cells get translated like any other. Then check that the reference value and the compared column received exactly the same English word. Otherwise, list these formulas before uploading and correct their strings after delivery.

What Manuce returns, and what stays untranslated

Manuce translates the text cells on every sheet and returns the original .xlsx with text replaced in place: column widths, colours, borders, number formats, filters and merged cells are preserved. Numbers, dates and amounts are left as they are. You also get a Word version, a PDF and plain text, handy for having the English checked by someone who does not open Excel.

Not translated:

• sheet tab names ("Übersicht" or "Synthèse" stay as they are);
• cell comments and notes;
• charts: a title or axis label typed into the chart stays in the source language;
• shapes and text boxes placed on the sheet.

Renaming tabs to Summary or Raw data takes a minute, and Excel updates formula references within the workbook. Narrow columns are not widened: since English is usually shorter this rarely matters, but text that was already tight may still be cut off on screen, as in the original.

Manuce does not produce certified or sworn translations. If a foreign authority requires a certified translation of your accounts, you will need a sworn translator.

Preparing the workbook and checking the result

Before uploading:

• Remove scratch sheets: every sheet is translated and its words counted in the quote.
• Make sure amounts and dates are real numbers and real dates, not text; a "12.03.2025" typed as text will not be recognised as a date by Excel.
• List any formulas containing quoted text.
• Standardise terms in the source: if two labels mean the same thing, one source term gives you one English term.

After delivery:

1. Compare totals with the original, then check text-based counts and lookups.
2. Rename tabs and redo chart titles, comments and text boxes.
3. Settle header capitalisation, Unit price or Unit Price, and apply it across every sheet.

The free sample lets you judge the terminology on one paragraph before paying. Essential is enough to understand a workbook internally; Professional suits a file you will send to an English-speaking client or partner.

In practice

1. Prepare the workbook: remove unused sheets and note formulas containing text.
2. Upload the .xlsx: the quote appears straight away, based on the exact word count.
3. Choose a level and read the free sample before paying.
4. Download the translated .xlsx, plus Word, PDF and plain-text versions.
5. Rename tabs, redo charts and comments, and check the totals.