Enable another language in the interface of Office programs

This article explains what Language Packs do and how you can obtain and use them to control the language of the user interface and Help in Microsoft Office programs. This article can help you if you need to do the following:

• See the Microsoft Office user interface (for example, the text of commands and menus) and Help in another language.
• Check the spelling or grammar of text in another language.
• Get templates and fonts in another language.

Understand what a Language Pack does

Obtain and install a Language Pack

Change the language of the user interface or Help

Set the language priority

Understand what a Language Pack does

A Language Pack enables a Microsoft Office program to offer the following features in another language:

• User interface The user interface includes the text displayed on menus, commands, toolbars, and the Ribbon.

  Note Another way to get the user interface in another language is to download (for free) and install a Language Interface Pack (LIP). Find links to more information in the See Also section.

• Help Help includes the articles displayed in the Help window.
• Proofing tools Proofing tools include the spelling and grammar checkers. Although you can type and edit text in any language without a Language Pack, to use the proofing tools that are appropriate for that language, you must have a Language Pack installed.
• Other language-specific features Other features that can be customized for a specific language include fonts and templates.

Important A Language Pack is not required to type or edit text in another language. Regardless of what Language Pack is installed on your computer, you can enter and edit text in any of the supported languages. You can even enable various language-specific features without installing a Language Pack. For more information, see the article Enable entering text in another language in Microsoft Office.

Notes:

• Some Language Packs include proofing tools for more than one language. For example, the English (United States) Language Pack includes the proofing tools for French and Spanish.
• Some Language Packs provide only partial translation of the user interface and Help in another language. In some cases, some Microsoft Office programs may not be translated into the language of that Language Pack.

Obtain and install a Language Pack

When a copy of Microsoft Office is installed on a computer, it includes at least a Single Language Pack. However, many people and companies need to use more than one language. You can get Language Packs in the following ways:

• Single Language Pack A Single Language Pack enables the interface of some or all programs to support a specific language.
• Multi-Language Pack The Multi-Language Pack enables the interface of each program to support all available languages for that program. Essentially, the Multi-Language Pack is a set of all the available Single Language Packs bundled and sold together.
• Mixed-Language Product A Mixed-Language program or suite of Microsoft Office is sold as one language, but it contains programs in two or more languages. For example, Ukrainian Office contains some programs in Ukrainian, some in Russian, and some in English.
• Multi-Language Product In a Multi-Language program or suite of Microsoft Office, some programs are offered in more than one language.

You can purchase and download Language Packs from Microsoft Office Online.

Change the language of the user interface or Help

If your computer has two or more Language Packs installed, you can enable or disable the available languages, as well as set options for those languages.

1. Click Start, point to All Programs, point to Microsoft Office, point to Microsoft Office Tools, and then click Microsoft Office Language Settings.
2. Click the Display Language tab.

   I don't see the Display Language tab.

   If the Display Language tab is not displayed, you have only one Language Pack installed. For information about how to install another Language Pack, see Obtain and install a Language Pack.
3. Depending on your preferences, do one or more of the following:

   I want the language displayed in the user interface in Microsoft Office to match the Windows setting for menus and dialog boxes.

   1. Select the Set the Microsoft Office display language to match the Windows display language check box. (This setting overrides the selection you make in the Display Microsoft Office menus and dialog boxes in list.)
   2. Click (same as menus and dialog boxes) in the Display Help in list.

   How do I modify the language setting for menus and dialog boxes in Microsoft Windows Vista?

   1. Click the Start button, and then click Control Panel.
   2. Under Clock, Language, and Region, click Change keyboards or other input methods.

      Note In Classic view, double-click Regional and Language Options, and then click the Keyboards and Languages tab.

   3. • If a choice of languages is listed under Display language, select the language you want to use.
      • If the Install/uninstall languages button is available, the language used for menus and dialog boxes is the language of the Windows operating system that you are using.

   How do I modify the language setting for menus and dialog boxes in Microsoft Windows XP?

   1. Click Start, and then click Control Panel.
   2. Click Date, Time, Language, and Regional Options, and then click Regional and Language Options.

      Note In Classic view, double-click Regional and Language Options.

   3. Click the Languages tab.
   4. • If the Language used in menus and dialogs list is shown, select the language you want to use.
      • If the Language used in menus and dialogs list is not shown, the language used for menus and dialog boxes is the language of the Windows operating system that you are using.

   I want Microsoft Office to always use the language specified by me in the user interface and in Help.

   1. Make sure the Display Microsoft Office menus and dialog boxes in check box is cleared.
   2. In the Display Microsoft Office menus and dialog boxes in list, click the language that you want.
4. Click OK.
5. Exit and restart all Microsoft Office programs so that the new setting takes effect.

   Note To exit Microsoft Office Groove, click the Groove icon in the Windows notification area, and then click Exit Groove.

Set the language priority

If a language is not available for a given program, Microsoft Office uses another language. This can happen even though you have the Language Pack for that language installed.

Why would a language not be available for a given program?

When your preferred language is not available for a given program, you can specify which languages Microsoft Office should try to use instead.

1. Click Start, point to All Programs, point to Microsoft Office, point to Microsoft Office Tools, and then click Microsoft Office Language Settings.
2. Click the Display Language tab.

   I don't see the Display Language tab.

   If the Display Language tab is not displayed, you have only one Language Pack installed. To install another Language Pack, see Obtain and install a Language Pack.
3. To arrange the languages in the list in the priority that you want, click each language in the Display language priority order list, and then click Up or Down to change the position of the language.

   I don't see the Display language priority order list.

   The most typical reason for this situation is that you have only two Language Packs installed. You do not need to set the language priority. You can still specify the language that should be used to display the user interface. For more information, see Change the language of the user interface or Help.

See also:

• Enable entering text in another language in Office