Use Firefox in another language

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  • Creator: Rok
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Firefox lets you display menus, notifications, messages and other parts of the Firefox interface in different languages.

Tip: To choose a language for displaying web pages, see Choose display languages for multilingual web pages.

Switch Firefox to another language

You can switch languages at any time to display Firefox menus, notifications and messages in a different language.

  1. In the Menu bar at the top of the screen, click Firefox and select Settings (select Preferences on older macOS versions).Click the menu button Fx89menuButton and select Settings.
  2. In the Language section, choose a language in the drop-down menu.
  3. Restart Firefox.
To add languages, see the next section.

Add languages to the Firefox interface

Follow these steps to add more languages to Firefox.

  1. In the Menu bar at the top of the screen, click Firefox and select Settings (select Preferences on older macOS versions).Click the menu button Fx89menuButton and select Settings.
  2. In the Language section, click Search for more languages in the drop-down menu.
  3. Click Select more languages to add and choose the languages you want to set.
  4. Use the Move Up and Move Down buttons to change the order or Remove a language.
  5. Click OK to save your changes.

Set an order of preference for languages

If a Firefox feature is not available in your top language, Firefox will display your next preferred language.

  1. In the Menu bar at the top of the screen, click Firefox and select Settings (select Preferences on older macOS versions).Click the menu button Fx89menuButton and select Settings.
  2. Click Set Alternatives to open the Firefox Language Settings window.
  3. Select a language and use the Move Up and Move Down buttons to change the order or Remove to remove a language from the list.
The latest version of Firefox lets you change languages without add-ons. Update Firefox to the latest release to use this feature.

Language packs are add-ons that let you to have more languages available for the user interface of Firefox. This article describes how to:

  • Find, install and manage language packs in Firefox.
  • Change the selected language for the interface of Firefox.
You can always get Firefox directly in your language by downloading it from www.mozilla.org/firefox/all.

If you want to control the preferred languages for websites that offer their content in multiple languages, see the Languages section of this article.

How to get language packs for Firefox

  1. Visit the Mozilla Dictionaries & Language Packs page.
  2. In the list, find the language you want to add, and click the Language Pack link for the language you wish to install. The main page of that language pack will open.
  3. Click the Add to Firefox button to install it. Firefox will download the language pack and ask you to confirm the installation.
Note: If you are unable to install any language pack, see the article Unable to install add-ons (extensions or themes). If you are using a pre-release build of Firefox, you need to browse the Mozilla file servers to find compatible language packs, even though these are only recommended for testing purposes.

How to manage language packs

To see what language packs you have installed:

  1. Click the menu button Fx89menuButton, click Add-ons and themesExtensions and themes and select Languages.

If you don't have a Languages panel, don't worry. It's hidden if you don't have language packs installed. The same goes for a few other uncommon types of add-ons.

How to uninstall language packs

If you want to remove a language pack, see Disable or remove Add-ons.

How to change the language of the user interface

Unlike themes, enabling a language pack in the Add-ons Manager only makes the language it provides available. To change the preferred language for the interface:

  1. Type about:config in the address bar and press EnterReturn.
    A warning page may appear. Click Accept the Risk and Continue to go to the about:config page.
  2. In the Search field, type intl.locale.matchOS.
  3. If the intl.locale.matchOS preference has a value of true, double-click it to toggle its value to false.
  4. Clear the Search field, and type general.useragent.locale.
  5. Double-click the general.useragent.locale preference, and enter the code of the language you want to use. This page lists most of the language codes used for Mozilla localizations.
  6. Click the Firefox menu Fx89menuButton and select Exit.Click the Firefox menu at the top of the screen and select Quit Firefox.Click the Firefox menu Fx89menuButton and select Quit.
  1. Type about:config in the address bar and press EnterReturn.
    A warning page may appear. Click Accept the Risk and Continue to go to the about:config page.
  2. Type intl.locale.requested in the Search field.
  3. Double-click the intl.locale.requested preference, if found, or add it as a new preference (see Configuration Editor for Firefox for details).
  4. Enter the code of the language you want to use as the string value or leave it blank to use the language of your system. This page lists most of the language codes used for Mozilla localizations.
  5. Click the Firefox menu Fx89menuButton and select Exit.Click the Firefox menu at the top of the screen and select Quit Firefox.Click the Firefox menu Fx89menuButton and select Quit.

When you start Firefox again, you will see the interface in the new specified language.