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How to Translate a Microsoft Teams Meeting with the Gaavala Chrome Extension
Gaavala is a Chrome extension for translated captions in 60 languages. Join Microsoft Teams in your desktop browser, choose the caption language in Gaavala and press Start. This guide covers the browser setup and platform-specific checks before a call.
What You Need
The requirements are deliberately minimal:
- A Chromium-based browser. Google Chrome is the primary target. Microsoft Edge, Brave, Arc, and Vivaldi all work because they share the same extension runtime.
- Access to Microsoft Teams in the browser — either the work/school client at
teams.microsoft.comor the personal client atteams.live.com. Both are supported. - A Gaavala account, which you create with your Google or Microsoft identity the first time you open the extension. There is no separate sign-up form on the website.
- Gaavala does not add a Teams bot or request Microsoft Graph permissions for meeting capture. Your organization may still restrict extensions, sign-in or external speech services, and its recording, confidentiality and retention rules still apply. Check those rules before using the extension in a work meeting.
Before choosing a plan, compare free trials and recurring free meeting-translation allowances against the length and platform of your actual calls.
Step 1 — Install Gaavala from the Chrome Web Store
Open the Chrome Web Store listing at chromewebstore.google.com/detail/lfpocpggolghmaijacokoelmjlhipbgd and click Add to Chrome. Chrome will show the standard permission prompt — the extension declares the permissions it needs (tab capture, side panel, storage, identity, and the host permissions for Teams, Soniox, and the Gaavala API) and nothing else. Confirm the install.
After installation, pin the Gaavala icon to your toolbar so you can reach it during a meeting without hunting through the puzzle-piece menu. Click the icon once and the extension will open its side panel. Sign in with Google or Microsoft. The extension uses Chrome's identity.launchWebAuthFlow to complete a standard OAuth Authorization Code exchange — your password never reaches Gaavala, and the resulting session lives in chrome.storage.local.
Every Gaavala account includes a one-time free trial — 5 minutes of transcription total, with no credit card required. It is a lifetime allowance, not a recurring quota, so once you use those 5 minutes the trial is exhausted. Pro is $19.99 per month and unlocks 120 minutes of transcription per day; Pro-only features such as Speak Mode are not included in the free trial.
Step 2 — Join Your Teams Meeting in the Browser
Open a Chrome tab and go to your meeting. Both Teams clients work:
teams.microsoft.com— the work and school client. Use this if your meeting was scheduled through Outlook, a Teams calendar, or a corporate invite. If Teams asks whether to open the desktop app, click Continue on this browser or Use the web app instead.teams.live.com— the consumer/personal client. Use this for meetings created from a personal Microsoft account or ateams.live.com/meet/...link. Gaavala's content script targets both hosts, so you do not have to think about which one you are on.
If a meeting link arrives in your inbox and clicking it tries to launch the desktop app, paste the link into the Chrome address bar instead. Sign in, grant Chrome microphone and camera access if it asks, and join the meeting normally. You should hear the other participants and see the standard Teams meeting UI.
Step 3 — Open the Side Panel, Choose a Language, Press Start
Open the meeting tab and Gaavala’s side panel. Select the caption target language, then press Start while the meeting is audible. Captions appear as Soniox processes the speech; timing varies with speech and connection conditions.
Choose the target language you want to read in the caption controls. The spoken source language is detected automatically; there is no source-language selector in this caption panel. Choose Original when you want transcription without translation. Gaavala supports 60 languages and labels speakers; check names and numbers against the original speech when they matter.
Gaavala sends the meeting audio directly from your browser to Soniox over an encrypted connection. Its backend handles sign-in, subscription and usage rather than proxying meeting audio. On-device summaries use the local transcript; exported files remain under your control.
Step 4 — Read the Captions (and Speak Mode for Pro)
The side panel shows scrolling captions with speaker labels. Soniox handles diarization, so when a different person starts talking the label changes, and the extension keeps a running speaker registry for the session. You can resize the side panel, jump back through the transcript, and export the result at the end as plain text or JSON.
Pro users ($19.99/month) also get Speak Mode, which is not available on the free tier. Speak Mode is what turns Gaavala from a one-way captioning tool into something closer to a two-way interpreter. Speak Mode takes text you type (or speak through Push-to-Talk) and renders it as voice into the meeting:
- 68 Soniox studio voices, the Pro default — multilingual presets that speak all 60 languages, using the same managed-key, browser-direct pattern as captions. Nothing to set up.
- Your own voice — read a two-minute script once and Gaavala creates a native clone (Soniox-powered) that speaks all 60 languages. Stored encrypted, deletable anytime.
Speak Mode is one button that reads the gesture instead of making you pick a mode first: hold it for a quick interjection and it stops the moment you let go, or tap it for a hands-free 60-second window with a ring counting down, so a longer prepared statement does not cost you your slot. Both are the same control, designed for the realistic flow of a multilingual meeting where you want to chime in without breaking the rhythm.
For spoken replies, the Speak Mode guide explains the difference between holding the button and opening a hands-free window.
For a recurring client call, your own voice clone can give Speak Mode a familiar voice; the recording and deletion steps are explained there.
A Note on the Teams Desktop App
Gaavala captures audio from the browser tab, not the separate Teams desktop app. Join with the Teams web client in a supported Chromium browser. Check that the meeting features your organization needs are available in that web client; this guide does not assume complete feature parity with the desktop app.
Choose between native translation and Gaavala
Teams offers translated captions with Teams Premium or Microsoft 365 Copilot. If the organizer has a qualifying license, all meeting participants can use them; an individually licensed participant can also use translation. Interpreter is a separate spoken-translation feature with Copilot eligibility and its own supported languages. Check Microsoft caption documentation and Microsoft Interpreter documentation before buying an extra license.
| Capability | Native feature | Gaavala |
|---|---|---|
| Translated captions | Depends on the plan, host and settings described above | One-time 5-minute trial; Pro 120 minutes/day |
| Language coverage | Check the provider’s current source/target lists | 60 languages |
| Spoken translation | Separate feature and eligibility; consult the linked sources | Speak Mode on Pro |
| Guest access | May be available through an eligible host | Use an accessible browser meeting; browser policies still apply |
| Cross-platform workflow | Microsoft Teams only | Teams, Zoom, Meet and Webex |
| Audio for Gaavala translation | Microsoft Teams | Direct from the browser to Soniox |
Compare the exact language pair, client and host entitlement before paying. Gaavala is useful when you want the same browser workflow across platforms; a native feature already enabled for your meeting may be sufficient.
Enterprise Review Before a Meeting
Security teams reflexively flag any new tool that touches meeting audio, and that reflex is correct. For meeting audio, Gaavala adds one party that receives it: Soniox, the speech engine. The architecture is deliberately boring:
- Meeting audio is captured by the extension on your machine.
- It streams over a TLS WebSocket directly from your browser to Soniox.
- No Gaavala server sits in the middle. Our backend handles auth, billing, and minting the short-lived Soniox key — never meeting audio.
- Your IT team can verify this with Chrome DevTools in about two minutes: open the extension's offscreen document, watch the Network tab, filter to WebSocket, and confirm there is exactly one connection, to a
soniox.comhost.
For organizations subject to GDPR, HIPAA, or SOC 2, the practical implication is that the Gaavala backend is not in the audio processing chain. Soniox is in that chain: it processes the meeting audio as the speech provider Gaavala contracts, so your vendor risk register lists it as Gaavala's sub-processor rather than as a vendor you contract with yourself. Gaavala's servers stay out of the chain for meeting content — AI summaries are generated on-device by Chrome's built-in AI, so transcript text never reaches our backend either. For a longer treatment of this architecture, see How Gaavala Protects Your Meeting Audio.
Frequently Asked Questions
Does Gaavala conflict with Teams Premium features like Translated Captions or the Interpreter Agent?
No. Gaavala runs entirely in your browser tab and never registers anything inside the Teams platform. If you have Teams Premium enabled, your captions and translations continue to work exactly as before. You can run them side by side — some users do, when they want a second language target that Teams Premium does not cover.
Can I use Gaavala if I am a guest in someone else's Teams meeting?
Yes, if you can join the meeting in a supported browser tab and your browser policy allows Gaavala. The extension does not require the host to buy a translation license. Native translated captions may also be available through a qualifying host; check the official sources above rather than assuming guests are excluded.
Does it work with teams.live.com (personal Teams)?
Yes. The extension's content script targets both teams.microsoft.com and teams.live.com. Personal meetings created from a Microsoft account work the same way as work meetings.
Is my meeting audio sent to Gaavala servers?
No. The browser opens a direct WebSocket to Soniox and streams the audio there. Gaavala's backend is not in that path. You can verify it yourself in Chrome DevTools.
What about the Teams desktop app?
Gaavala captures audio from the browser tab, not the separate Teams desktop app. Join with the Teams web client in a supported Chromium browser.
Try It on Your Next Meeting
The fastest way to see whether Gaavala fits your workflow is to install it before your next multilingual meeting and let it run.
One-time free trial — 5 minutes of transcription, no credit card required, never resets. Upgrade to Pro ($19.99/month) for 120 minutes per day and Speak Mode.
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