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DeepL — Create and Manage Glossaries

Learn how to create, populate, and use DeepL glossaries for consistent terminology.

Who is this for?

Translators and technical writers who need term consistency across projects.

Prerequisites

  • DeepL account (Free or Pro)
  • Browser access
  • Optional: API key (for the API example)

Create a Glossary

DeepL Glossary creation dialog
Create a new glossary from DeepL's Glossary panel.
  1. Open DeepL and go to Glossaries.
  2. Click New glossary and provide a name and language pair.
  3. Click Create.

Naming convention

Use a project prefix (e.g., ACME_UI_en-de) to keep glossaries organized.

Add Entries

You can add terms in two ways:
- Manually (best for a few terms)
- Using a file (best for many terms at once)

  1. Click Add entry.
  2. Enter the Source term and the Target term.
  3. (Optional) Add a Comment to explain special cases.
  4. Click Save.

When to use this

Use the manual option if you only need to add a handful of terms.

DeepL also allows you to copy/paste a list of terms from a CSV file.

What is a CSV file?
A CSV is just a simple text file where each line contains information separated by commas.
For example:

source_term,target_term,comment
file,Datei,UI label
folder,Ordner,UI label
translate,übersetzen,verb form

When to use this

If you have dozens of terms, create a list in Excel or Google Sheets and export it as CSV.
Then copy the lines into DeepL’s import box.

Adding glossary entries in DeepL
Bulk entry via CSV paste saves time for larger term sets.

Use the Glossary in Translation

  • Start a translation as usual.
  • Select your Glossary from the dropdown for the current language pair.
  • Terms will be replaced automatically according to your entries.

Note: If a term is not replaced, check the exact case and plural form.

Export / Import (Reference)

Action Where to click Result
Export Glossary → ••• → Export CSV Downloads CSV of entries
Import Glossary → Add entries → CSV Appends entries

Footnote example: Glossary behavior may vary slightly across languages[^1].

[^1]: DeepL occasionally updates glossary handling for specific language pairs.

Troubleshooting

Glossary not visible?
  • Confirm the language pair matches your document.
  • Refresh the page after creating a new glossary.
CSV import failed
  • Ensure three columns: source, target, comment (optional but keep column).
  • Remove stray semicolons or tabs.

Optional: API Example (Advanced)

If you have an API key, you can create a glossary programmatically.

```bash curl https://api-free.deepl.com/v2/glossaries \ -H "Authorization: DeepL-Auth-Key YOUR_API_KEY" \ -d "name=ACME_UI_en-de" \ -d "source_lang=EN" \ -d "target_lang=DE" \ --data-urlencode "entries=file,Datei\nfolder,Ordner\ntranslate,übersetzen"