Have you ever experienced the following scenario?

  1. You are using MemoQ (or a client wants you to use MemoQ);
  2. Assuming you get an Excel file contains a lot of rows. There are 2 columns there: column A is for the source text and column B is for the target text. It can also contain more than 2 columns: column A is for the source text, column B is for the target text (Arabic), column C is for target text (Italian), column D is for target text (Indonesian), etc;
  3. You want to translate specific rows because the other rows are already translated, or because you add more texts that need to be translated. You don’t want to create another Excel file that contains the new text only to be imported to MemoQ—and later, the translation is imported/copied back to the original Excel file—so you need to use the original file and select only the rows you need;
  4. How do you select those specific rows from the original file so they—those specific rows only—can be displayed in MemoQ?

Here I show you how to select the specific rows so they can be displayed in MemoQ and the other rows are hidden:

1. First, we need to copy the source texts that need to be translated to the target column, because we don’t want the source texts to be replaced after the translation. We will select the source texts in the target column, not the source texts in their original column;

translating multiple languages

Pict1. Example of translating multiple languages in MemoQ.

2. In MemoQ, create a new project from Project – New Project – New Project menu;

3. Follow the dialog that appears: fill the project name, language pair, etc. as usual;

4. When the import window appears, choose the Import with option;

Import with option in memoQ

Pict2. Import the file using options.

5. When the import options window appears, choose Change filter & configuration;

Import option in MemoQ

Pict3. Changing filter & configuration.

6. When the import settings window appears, choose Select ranges in Excel;

Selecting ranges

Pict4. Selecting cell ranges in Excel.

7. Excel will be launched and the Mark selected ranges window will appear;

Marking selected ranges in Excel

Pict5. Marking selected ranges in Excel.

8. Click the starting cell (row), then click Add ranges, followed by selecting all cells you need to translate. You can add all the cells you need even if they are in random row numbers (e.g. rows 20-30, then rows 50-70, etc.);

9. Once you finish selecting the rows, click Finish;

10. Your import settings window will appear with the cell ranges you selected. Click OK;

Selected cell ranges

Pict6. Selected cell/row ranges.

11. Click OK again, and continue creating the project (adding TM and TB) until you need to click Finish;

Now, when you open the file, you will find only the rows selected that will appear. Translate them as usual, and once you finish the translation, export back the file to Excel. You will find the target column is now filled with the target text.

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