Frequently asked questions

A chat translator for Windows. It puts the official web versions of WhatsApp, LINE, Instagram and other apps (for LINE, its official extension) in one window. Messages from the other person are translated into your language as they arrive; type in your language, press Enter, and it is translated into theirs.

Translation works in WhatsApp, LINE, Instagram, Messenger, Telegram, TikTok and Zalo, plus private messages on the Facebook website. Discord, LinkedIn and some others can be signed in to and used inside Liao, with translation coming later.

All the common ones: English, Chinese (Simplified and Traditional), Japanese, Korean, Thai, Vietnamese, Indonesian, Spanish, Portuguese, Russian, Arabic and more. The other person’s language is detected automatically, and you can also set it for each chat account.

Six: 简体中文, 繁體中文, English, 日本語, ไทย and Tiếng Việt. It follows your computer’s language by default; you can change it in Settings at any time, and the change applies right away.

When a message means more than it says (a polite no, a joke, sarcasm, a hint of annoyance), a subtext line appears under the translation, saying in one sentence what they probably mean. Ordinary messages get nothing extra.

Yes. Pictures in WhatsApp, Telegram, Zalo, LINE and other apps get a “Read image” button, or you can switch to automatic in Settings: foreign text in the picture is translated, forwarded chat screenshots are translated line by line, and payment screenshots are read for the amount and currency. Right-click a picture and choose “Ask Liao about this image” to ask Liao what it shows. The picture goes to an AI service for that one request only; our servers don’t keep it.

Add them to the Glossary with the translation you want, and every translation follows it from then on. Each chat account can keep its own list. You can also ask Liao in the side panel to add a term for you.

It can see the chat you are in, helps you work out how to reply and drafts in your usual tone. It can also read files you give it (PDF, Word, Excel, PowerPoint, images), make pictures, search the web and remember what each person has talked about. Memories are stored only on your computer, and you can clear them in Settings at any time. Drafts go into the input box; whether to send is up to you.

No. Liao only gives translations and suggestions; you confirm every message in the input box and press Send yourself. There is no auto-reply, it never sends messages in a row by itself, and it never works your accounts in the background. To send the same note to people you have chatted with, the Broadcast helper translates it for each person and puts it in their input box one chat at a time; you check each one and press Send yourself.

Liao opens each app’s official web version, and every message is sent by you, by hand, just as in a browser. Each account has its own separate environment and can use its own proxy, and Liao has no bulk friend-adding or messaging of strangers. Every app still has its own rules: adding lots of people quickly or bulk marketing messages can get an account restricted by themselves, so please use each app as its rules allow.

Not yet. Liao runs on Windows 10 / 11 only for now. If you are on a Mac, open the sign-up page on your Mac and leave your email; we will send you one email when the Mac version is out, just that one.

Click “More info”, then “Run anyway”. The installer isn’t signed with a paid code-signing certificate yet, and Windows shows this for new software; it is not a virus warning.

No. Liao installs into your own user folder and doesn’t change system settings. That is also why updates can install in the background without a prompt every time.

It updates itself. Liao checks for and downloads new versions in the background; they install when you close Liao, and the next time you open it you are on the new version. You can also restart to update right away in Settings → Help & diagnostics.

The same way as LINE for PC: scan the QR code with LINE on your phone, or log in with your email and password. Liao already includes LINE’s official extension, so there is nothing else to install.

Yes, including several accounts on the same app. Each account’s login environment is kept separate so they never get mixed up, and each can use its own proxy.

Check your spam folder and mark the email as “not spam”. The code is valid for 10 minutes; if it still hasn’t arrived, wait a minute and request a new one.

On the reset password page, get a code sent to the email you signed up with, then set a new password.

You pay for what you use; there is no monthly fee. New accounts get free credit to start. After that you top up: pick an amount or enter your own from $5 (whole dollars), and bigger top-ups come with extra characters. You pay in USDT; 1 USDT is 1 US dollar. See pricing.

Yes, both of you do. Copy your invite link in My account (in Chinese for now) and send it to a friend: when they sign up through it and first use Liao on a computer, they get 100,000 characters on top of the sign-up gift (once per computer and per email); when they have actually used 200 characters, you get 100,000 characters, for up to 20 friends a month; when their first top-up arrives, you get another 200,000.

Message our support bot @liaohelp_bot on Telegram. New versions and announcements are posted on the @liaonews channel (in Chinese). Official support will never message you first asking for money, and the only valid payment address is the one shown in the Liao app.

Send exactly the amount shown, including the identifier in the last 3 decimals. Credit arrives automatically once the blockchain confirms, usually within minutes. Blockchain transfers can’t be reversed, so top-ups aren’t refundable; please read the top-up terms before paying.

Not as a whole. Login status and chat history for each app are stored only on your computer. Only the text that needs translating passes through our servers to a translation service, and our servers don’t keep the original. To make repeat translations faster, results are cached (only the translation and a fingerprint of the original) and deleted automatically 7 days after they were last used. See the privacy policy.

In Singapore. Logins and chat history for each app stay on your computer. Text to translate, and files and pictures you give Liao, pass through our servers in Singapore to a translation or AI service, and the originals aren’t kept. Translation results are cached to make repeats faster and deleted automatically 7 days after they were last used.

No. Uninstalling removes only the program itself; your logins for each app stay on this computer, and everything works as before when you reinstall.