Floating Capsule

The Floating Capsule is a row of action buttons that appears beside selected text. Use it to translate, copy, or speak the selection without copying the text, switching apps, and pasting it somewhere else. You can also add extension capabilities and workflows to the capsule.

Turn on the capsule and make it appear

Open Float Translate and select Floating Capsule in the left sidebar.
Turn on the Enable Floating Capsule switch in the top-right corner.
Open Settings and choose the selection methods you want under When to show.
Switch to a browser, document, or another app where text can be selected, then select some text with one of the methods you enabled.

The available mouse triggers are limited to these five methods:

Double-click a word.
Drag to select text.
Triple-click a paragraph.
Shift-click to extend a selection.
Hold the left mouse button.

You can also make the capsule respond to the copy, cut, or select-all keyboard shortcut. The settings page displays the key combination for the current operating system.

When setup is working, the capsule appears beside the selection. If Float Translate asks for input-monitoring or accessibility permission, complete the in-app permission flow and select the text again.

Use the selected text

Select text in another app.
Wait for the capsule to appear beside the selection.
Click the action you need, such as translate, copy, or speak.

After you click Selected Text Translation in the capsule, the result opens in the Mini Panel near the cursor. Expand it to the full translation panel when you need more detail, service comparison, or further processing.

The capsule can also run other actions, such as search, save, convert, and extension-provided capabilities. It runs only the action you click; placing several buttons in the same layout does not run them together.

Add, reorder, and remove buttons

Open Floating Capsule → Layout. The left side shows the current capsule structure, and the right side contains actions that can be added.

To add a button:

Under Add to, choose the capsule itself or an existing group.
Select the capability or workflow from the available actions.
The new button appears in the structure on the left and in the preview above it.

Drag the handle beside a button in the left column to change its position. Hover over a button to hide it, change its after-execution behavior, or remove it. Hiding keeps the item in the saved layout but removes it from the capsule. Removing deletes it from the current capsule layout.

Extension capabilities are not added automatically. Enable and configure the extension that provides the capability, then add it from the right side of the Layout page. See Configure Capabilities for the complete setup path.

Organize a longer layout with groups

Use the Structure area on the right side of the Layout page to add a group or divider.

After creating a group, you can rename it, change its icon, and select it under Add to to place actions directly inside it. Group triggers are limited to click, hover, and automatic expansion. Group presentations are limited to menu, inline, and arc.

Groups work well for related actions such as several translation capabilities or several search destinations. Keep the actions you use most at the capsule root for faster access.

Change behavior, position, and appearance

The Settings page contains these controls:

Behavior: Set the pointer-away hide delay and choose whether the capsule closes or stays open after a successful action. An individual button can override the shared after-execution behavior from Layout.
Position: Place the capsule above, below, left, or right of the cursor, or at the bottom center of the screen. Horizontal and vertical offsets provide finer adjustment.
Appearance: Follow the app theme, invert it, use light or dark mode, or follow the system theme. Size is limited to Small, Default, and Large, and the background transparency can also be adjusted.

The preview above the tabs reflects the current layout, position, size, and theme. Changes are saved without a separate save button.

Limit which apps show the capsule

Open Filter to control where the capsule appears:

Blacklist: Apps in this list do not trigger the capsule.
Whitelist: Only apps in this list can trigger the capsule.

If the capsule disappears only in certain apps, check this page for a matching application rule.

If the capsule does not work as expected

Nothing appears after selecting text: Confirm that the capsule is enabled and that the selection method is active under When to show. Then check that the current app is outside the blacklist or included in the whitelist you are using.
The settings page asks for system permission: Complete the in-app recovery flow. Denying permission does not erase the saved capsule configuration, so you can grant it and try the original action again.
Only one app fails to trigger the capsule: If that app runs as administrator, see Windows Administrator Apps. Otherwise, it may not expose a readable text selection to the system; test in a normal text field, then see Troubleshooting.
A capability is missing from the capsule: Open Layout and confirm that it was added to the capsule or the intended group. If it is also absent from the available actions, confirm that its extension, capability instance, or workflow is enabled and configured.
Translate opens but returns no result: Confirm that at least one translation service is enabled, fully configured, and supports the current languages. If you have not configured a service yet, see Add your first translation service.
The capsule closes too quickly or never closes: Check the hide delay and after-execution behavior under Settings → Behavior, then check whether that button has its own after-execution override.