--- title: "Translate WhatsApp Voice and Video Calls in Real Time" description: "Translate WhatsApp Desktop and WhatsApp Web calls live on Windows. Hear the other person in your language and reply in theirs — setup guide inside." url: https://voxislive.com/use-cases/whatsapp-translation language: "en" source_html: https://voxislive.com/use-cases/whatsapp-translation site: "Voxis — real-time voice translation" og_image: https://voxislive.com/assets/og.png generated_by: voxislive-markdown-pipeline --- [Home](https://voxislive.com/) · / · [Use cases](https://voxislive.com/use-cases/) · / · WhatsApp WHATSAPP CALLS # Understand — and speak back on — WhatsApp calls in real time. VoxisLive translates WhatsApp Desktop and WhatsApp Web calls as they happen. Listen to the other person in your language the moment you press Start, and with one extra free step, reply in theirs. Nothing joins the call — VoxisLive runs quietly on your own Windows machine. ## Why WhatsApp calls need a different kind of translator WhatsApp is where families call across borders, freelancers close clients in another country, and support agents pick up from a customer who doesn't share their language. These calls are spontaneous — nobody schedules a WhatsApp call a day in advance or invites a human interpreter to join. By the time you'd set one up, the call is already over. VoxisLive works differently: it sits on your Windows PC and listens to the audio your speakers are already playing. There's no bot to invite, no third-party number to add to the chat, and nothing for the person on the other end to notice — the call looks and behaves exactly like a normal WhatsApp call. ## Two ways to use VoxisLive on a WhatsApp call Which one you need depends on whether you only want to understand the other person, or want to reply in their language too. **Just listen (simplest, no extra setup).** Start VoxisLive in **Video & Game** mode before or during your call. It captures your system audio directly — including WhatsApp Desktop or WhatsApp Web running in your browser — and speaks the translation back through your speakers or headphones as the other person talks. Nothing to configure in WhatsApp itself. **Speak back too (two-way conversation).** Start VoxisLive in **Meeting** mode. Incoming speech is translated into your language through your speakers, exactly as above — but your own replies are also translated and sent into the call as your WhatsApp microphone, through a small free virtual audio cable. Both sides speak naturally, no pausing for a translator. The illustrated setup is below. ## Illustrated setup: two-way WhatsApp translation This takes under five minutes and only needs doing once — after the initial setup, every future WhatsApp call just needs Meeting mode started. **You'll need:** VoxisLive (free) · VB-CABLE (free, one-time) · WhatsApp Desktop or WhatsApp Web ![VoxisLive with the Meeting scenario selected, showing the panel note that Meeting mode needs a virtual microphone](https://voxislive.com/assets/shot-voxis-meeting-mode.png?v=1081) STEP 1 ### Install VB-CABLE (free, one-time) VB-CABLE is a small free virtual audio driver from VB-Audio that creates a "cable" Windows can send audio through — it's what lets VoxisLive hand your translated voice to WhatsApp as if it were a microphone. Download it from [vb-audio.com/Cable](https://vb-audio.com/Cable/), run the installer, and restart any app that uses audio (including WhatsApp). You only do this once, and it works for every call app, not just WhatsApp. ![WhatsApp Settings menu with the Video & voice entry highlighted](https://voxislive.com/assets/shot-whatsapp-settings.png) STEP 2 ### Open WhatsApp → Settings → Video & voice In WhatsApp Desktop (or the WhatsApp Web app), open the gear icon in the sidebar for `Settings`, then choose `Video & voice`. This is where WhatsApp picks which camera, microphone and speakers your calls use. ![WhatsApp microphone dropdown with CABLE Output (VB-Audio Virtual Cable) selected and highlighted](https://voxislive.com/assets/shot-whatsapp-mic.png) STEP 3 ### Set Microphone to "CABLE Output" Open the `Microphone` dropdown and select `CABLE Output (VB-Audio Virtual Cable)`. This tells WhatsApp to treat VoxisLive's translated voice as your mic input, instead of your real one. You can switch it back to your headset mic any time you want to speak untranslated. ![VoxisLive running in Meeting mode with both languages set and the session live](https://voxislive.com/assets/shot-voxis-meeting-mode.png?v=1081) STEP 4 ### In VoxisLive, choose Meeting mode and start Open VoxisLive, pick the `Meeting` scenario, set your language and the other person's language, then press Start. Now make (or answer) your WhatsApp call as usual — VoxisLive translates what you hear into your speakers, and translates what you say into the virtual cable WhatsApp is now using as its microphone. Curious how the translation pipeline works? It’s published as an [source-available excerpt](https://github.com/VoxisLive/voxislive) on GitHub. See [how it works](https://voxislive.com/how-it-works) and [pricing](https://voxislive.com/pricing) for details. FAQ ## Common questions ### Does this work with WhatsApp Web, or only WhatsApp Desktop? Both. VoxisLive captures audio at the Windows system level, not inside any specific app, so it works identically whether your call is running in the WhatsApp Desktop app or in WhatsApp Web through your browser. ### Do I need VB-CABLE just to listen to translations? No. VB-CABLE is only needed if you also want your own replies translated and sent into the call. To just hear the other person translated, start VoxisLive in Video & Game mode — no extra setup, no virtual cable. ### Can the other person tell I'm using VoxisLive? Not from the call itself. Nothing joins as a participant and no notification fires. In two-way mode they simply hear your voice arrive as translated speech through the virtual microphone, the same as any other call. ### Does this work for WhatsApp video calls too, or only voice calls? Both — VoxisLive only touches audio, so your video call's picture is untouched. The other person's speech is translated into your speakers exactly as on a voice call, and your camera keeps working normally. ### How is this different from WhatsApp's own translation features? WhatsApp translates typed chat messages, not live call audio — it has no real-time voice translation of its own. VoxisLive fills that specific gap: spoken translation, during the call, in both directions if you want it. ## Keep reading [Meetings & calls · Real-time meeting translation, without a bot in your call. Works with Zoom, Teams and Google Meet.](https://voxislive.com/use-cases/meetings) · [Discord Audio · Translate Discord voice channels in real time. Hear international gamers and friends in your native language with AI…](https://voxislive.com/use-cases/discord-voice-live-dubbing) · [How it works · VoxisLive captures system audio directly through WASAPI loopback, detects speech on-device, translates it with a…](https://voxislive.com/how-it-works) Free to start · 10 free minutes every day ## Hear every language, in real time. Runs on Windows 10 and 11 and on Linux — no drivers required to listen, no bot in your call. [Get it on Microsoft Store](https://apps.microsoft.com/store/detail/9P5Z0KVS58RS?cid=DevShareMCLPCB) [Linux · Snap Store](https://snapcraft.io/voxis) [View on GitHub](https://github.com/VoxisLive/voxislive) ## Structured data (JSON-LD) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "BreadcrumbList", "itemListElement": [ { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 1, "name": "Home", "item": "https://voxislive.com/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 2, "name": "Use cases", "item": "https://voxislive.com/use-cases/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 3, "name": "WhatsApp", "item": "https://voxislive.com/use-cases/whatsapp-translation" } ] }, { "@type": "WebPage", "name": "Translate WhatsApp Voice and Video Calls in Real Time", "url": "https://voxislive.com/use-cases/whatsapp-translation", "description": "Translate WhatsApp Desktop and WhatsApp Web calls live on Windows. Hear the other person in your language and reply in theirs — setup guide inside.", "inLanguage": "en", "dateModified": "2026-08-15", "isPartOf": { "@type": "WebSite", "name": "VoxisLive", "url": "https://voxislive.com/" } }, { "@type": "HowTo", "name": "Set up two-way WhatsApp call translation with VoxisLive", "step": [ { "@type": "HowToStep", "position": 1, "name": "Install VB-CABLE", "text": "Download and install VB-CABLE, a free virtual audio driver, from vb-audio.com/Cable, then restart apps that use audio." }, { "@type": "HowToStep", "position": 2, "name": "Open WhatsApp Video & voice settings", "text": "In WhatsApp, open Settings, then Video & voice." }, { "@type": "HowToStep", "position": 3, "name": "Select CABLE Output as the microphone", "text": "In the Microphone dropdown, choose CABLE Output (VB-Audio Virtual Cable)." }, { "@type": "HowToStep", "position": 4, "name": "Start VoxisLive in Meeting mode", "text": "In VoxisLive, choose the Meeting scenario, set both languages, and press Start before making or answering your WhatsApp call." } ] }, { "@type": "FAQPage", "mainEntity": [ { "@type": "Question", "name": "Does this work with WhatsApp Web, or only WhatsApp Desktop?", "acceptedAnswer": { "@type": "Answer", "text": "Both. VoxisLive captures audio at the Windows system level, not inside any specific app, so it works identically whether your call is running in the WhatsApp Desktop app or in WhatsApp Web through your browser." } }, { "@type": "Question", "name": "Do I need VB-CABLE just to listen to translations?", "acceptedAnswer": { "@type": "Answer", "text": "No. VB-CABLE is only needed if you also want your own replies translated and sent into the call. To just hear the other person translated, start VoxisLive in Video & Game mode — no extra setup, no virtual cable." } }, { "@type": "Question", "name": "Can the other person tell I'm using VoxisLive?", "acceptedAnswer": { "@type": "Answer", "text": "Not from the call itself. Nothing joins as a participant and no notification fires. In two-way mode they simply hear your voice arrive as translated speech through the virtual microphone, the same as any other call." } }, { "@type": "Question", "name": "Does this work for WhatsApp video calls too, or only voice calls?", "acceptedAnswer": { "@type": "Answer", "text": "Both — VoxisLive only touches audio, so your video call's picture is untouched. The other person's speech is translated into your speakers exactly as on a voice call, and your camera keeps working normally." } }, { "@type": "Question", "name": "How is this different from WhatsApp's own translation features?", "acceptedAnswer": { "@type": "Answer", "text": "WhatsApp translates typed chat messages, not live call audio — it has no real-time voice translation of its own. VoxisLive fills that specific gap: spoken translation, during the call, in both directions if you want it." } } ] } ] } ```