Changing display language in Microsoft Office

The display language in Microsoft Office for Mac OS X follows the language setting for the OS as far as possible. If Mac OS X is set to your preferred language, but Microsoft office is displayed in another, Office is not available in your preferred language. Please see Changing the system language in Mac OS X for more information.

The display language in Microsoft Office for Windows follows the language setting for the OS. Please see Changing display language for Windows for more information about the Windows language versions. If you want to use Office in a different language than Windows, you can set this. 

Changing the display language in Microsoft Office for Windows:

  1. Open the Start menu, select Microsoft Office Tools and then select Microsoft Office Language Settings or Language Preferences (depending on the Office version). 

  2. Go to the Display Language tab, and deselect (click to remove the check mark) in the Set the Microsoft Office display language to match the Windows display language box. Select your language from the dropdown menu. In this dialogue you may also set a different language for Help topics in MS Office. 

  3. Go to the Editing Languages tab, and select the languages you'll use for editing documents. Here you may also select your primary editing language, which is the language you will be using most. Your settings on this tab are important for spellchecking and other language specific options for your Office documents.

Can't find your preferred language?

If the language you want to use does not appear in the dropdown menus in Microsoft Office Language Settings, you need to get a language pack for the language installed. Please contact your local IT staff for installation.

Published Aug. 26, 2011 1:44 PM - Last modified Feb. 3, 2021 8:47 AM