Microsoft Word is one of the most popular and widely used programs for documentation purposes worldwide. If you are from a non-English speaking country, you may want to use MS Word in your own language or another language of your choice.
Sometimes you may want to access accents or include special characters from another language in your text - you'll need to change the language of MS Word yourself to do this. Fortunately, in Microsoft Word, you can change the editing language, proofreading tools, user interface (display) language, and set a different display language when editing and viewing documents in a different language.
In this article, we will show you how to change the display language as well as the editing and proofing language in Microsoft Word. Throughout the post we're using Microsoft 365, but most of the options are similar to the offline versions (2019, 2016, 2013 or 2010) and Office 365. Whichever version you're using, this article can definitely help you learn the language (n ) change or rearrange in Microsoft Word.
Change the help screen and languages
When you install Microsoft Office, it is usually English as the default language or the locale/regional language of the website where you purchased MS Word. If you want to change these languages to another, you need to install them manually first.
A display language is one that is visible in all tabs, menus, buttons, settings, dialog boxes, and other controls in the Word application. If you want to use a different language instead of the default language, proceed as follows:
Open Microsoft Word and click the File tab.
In the Backstage view, click Options.
A Word Options dialog box appears. Select the "Language" tab here. In the Language tab, you will see two sections - Office Display Language and Office Writing Languages and Proofing Tools.
If you're using Office 2019, 2016, 2013, or 2010, you'll see "Choose editing languages" and "Choose display languages."
In the Office Display Language or Select Display Languages section, you can set the MS Word display (UI) language. This section displays a list of installed languages. If the language you are looking for is not included in the scope of delivery, you must download and install the corresponding language pack manually.
Add language packs to Office
If a specific language is not listed here, click the "Install additional display languages from Office.com" link below the box (as shown below).
The Set Display Language dialog box appears. Select your language here and click "Install".
This will take you to the Microsoft website where you can download the language pack for the selected language as shown below. Click the Download button here.
Run the downloaded setup file to install it.
Wait for the installation to complete, then close and restart Word. Sometimes you may need to restart your computer to make it work more smoothly.
Then re-open the MS Word application and go toFile > Options > Language. Note that the installed language is listed in the Office Display Language field. Now select the language you want and click "Set as preferred" or "Set as default" (for Office 2019 and earlier versions).
After selecting the "Set as preferred" or "Set as default" button, at the bottom of the selected language should be "
Add language packs from the Office website
Alternatively, you can also visit MS Office directlyLanguage pack for the Office side, where you can download the language you want to use. Microsoft Office offers over 100 additional language accessory packs that you can download and install for free.
Once you're on the Office Language Pack webpage, scroll down to see a section titled "Step 1: Install the language pack." In this section, select the version of the Office tab.
Then select your language from the "What language do you need?" drop-down menu.
After selecting the language, you will notice "32-bit" and "64-bit" download links. If your operating system is 32-bit, click Download (32-bit). Or if your system is using a 64-bit operating system, select Download (64) bit.
After the file download is complete, install the setup file, and then close and reopen the Word application. Next, go to the Word Options menu, select the language pack you have installed in the Office Display Language field, and select Preferred or Set as Default. Then click OK".
Restart Word and you will see that the MS Word interface language has changed.
Change the editing and proofreading language
The editing/authoring language is the language in which you write and edit documents. This language also controls text direction and layout for vertical, right-to-left, and mixed text. The proofreader checks for spelling and grammar mistakes. If the editing/importing and proofing language is already installed on your computer, you can easily change it. If not, you need to install the language manually first and then change it.
Open the Word application, click the File tab, and select Options to open Word Options. You can also open the Word Options window by going to the Review tab on the ribbon, clicking the Language button, and then selecting the Language preference option.
In Word Options, select the Language tab. You will see the Office Build Languages and Proofing Tools or Select Editing Language section where you can add and set the editing language. When you install MS Word, the application is automatically set to use the default system language.
The Office Authoring Languages and Proofing Tools field lists all installed system and Office languages. If the language you want to change is listed, select the language and click Set as preferred or Set as default.
Install additional input languages for Word
Follow these installation steps if a specific language is listed in the Office Build Languages and Debugging Tools box.
To add an authoring language, click the Add Language button.
Select the language you want to add and click Add.
Even if you add the language, in most cases you need to manually install the language or additional debugging tools on your Windows operating system.
To install additional input/editing languages on your computer, click the Install additional keyboards through Windows settings link under the Office Writing Languages and Proofing Tools box.
This will open the Windows Settings page where you can install languages on your system. Click the Add language button (if you have Windows 10 or 11).
In the Select Language to Install dialog box, select a language and click Next.
On the next page, select "Install".
Once done, you will see the installed language in the list of languages.
Normally, when you type on your computer, the system uses the default input language (the first one in this list) to enter characters. Therefore, you should change the input language to the latest installed language to use it actively. You can do this from the settings app or from the system tray.
Through the Settings app
To change the input keyboard layout, select the Time and Language settings and click Input.
Then select "Advanced keyboard settings".
Now select the input method you want to use by default.
Through the taskbar
Or you can easily switch between input methods from the taskbar.
After installing the language, go back toFile > Options > Language. In the Word options, you can see the installed language in the "Office writing and editing language" field.
To remove an editing language, first select the language, then click Remove.
Installation testing tools
Sometimes, checking tools may not be installed in Office even after the input language is installed. If you're using Microsoft 365, you'll see three testing tool statuses next to each language, namely Testing Available, Testing Unavailable, Testing Installed. For other Office suites (such as Office 2019, 2016, etc.), the status in the Keyboard Layout column will show as Enabled or Not Enabled.
"Proofing Not Available" means proofing tools are not available for that language. The "Check Available" option suggests that you download and install the language pack that contains the debugging tools for that language. And "Proofing Installed" means proofing tools for that language are installed and you can use them freely.
If testing tools are available but not installed, click the Available Testing link next to the language you want to use to download the language pack.
This will take you to the language pack download page on the Microsoft Office website. Click the Download button here.
After the download is complete, install the OfficeSetup.exe file, wait for the installation to complete, and then close and restart the Word application.
After restarting the application, go to Word Options. "Proofing Installed" now appears next to the selected language. Now select the language and click on “Set as preferred”.
Word will display a warning message to let you know that the writing language you just selected will take effect the next time you start Office. It also warns you about changes that can be made to custom settings (eg your preferred default font). If you want to continue, click Yes. Then click OK to close Word Options.
Now restart Microsoft Word to change the editing and proofing language.
Once Word's editing language is changed, you must change your keyboard layout to enter text in the changed language. Normally, the keyboard layout language corresponds to the characters of another language because the keys on your keyboard are automatically translated into the selected other language on your screen. Essentially, the keyboard layout language controls and changes the characters displayed when you manually type.
Switch between keyboard layouts
When you install a new language on your operating system, it comes with a keyboard for language-specific key layouts and input options. After installing more than one keyboard layout for different languages, you can easily switch between those keyboard languages using the language bar.
If you switch/change the keyboard language, the keyboard layout will change to the keyboard for that language. For example, if you're writing something in English and want to include content in another language, you can quickly switch between keyboard layouts to write in different languages.
See what you need to do to change the keyboard layout to another language.
If you have more than one theme installed, the language bar (language abbreviation) will automatically appear in the "Taskbar" or "Notification Area". To change the keyboard layout, click the language icon (ENG stands for English keyboard) and select the language you want to use from the list of available keyboards.
If you have Windows 10 or 11, you can tapWindows+spacebarto change the layout. The language code represents the system's active keyboard layout.
Now you can easily write and edit Word documents in another language.
Fixes in various languages
MS Word also allows you to write or edit in one language and correct text in another language. To proofread in another language, go to the Review tab, select Language, and click Set Proofing Languages.
Then, in the Language dialog box, select the language and click OK. Here you also have the option to ignore spelling/grammar errors, automatically detect the language or set the default language.
For example, if you want to enter a word or phrase in a different language without seeing grammatical errors, you should only change the correction language for that word or phrase.
To do this, first select the word or phrase, then go to the Review tab, select Language, and click Set proofing languages. Then select a language from the list and click OK. Word ignores the spelling and grammar of the highlighted selection.
This is it guys! Now you can also easily change the display, editing and proofing languages in your MS Word to any language(s) of your choice.