You may have noticed that Facebook automatically translates non-English posts into English. But what if you want your entire Facebook to be in a different language?
Perhaps English isn’t your first language, you’ve participated in a cultural exchange, or you’re learning another language and want to improve your skills.
Whatever the reason, you can translate Facebook into over 100 languages, including Spanish, French, Chinese, and Russian, as well as quirky languages like upside-down English and Pirate English.
It’s unclear why you’d require these additional options, but hey, no one’s judging.
You can change your language in two ways: on the Facebook website or on your mobile Facebook app. Here’s how it works:
How to change the language on your Facebook account using a computer
To change your Facebook language on a computer, follow this link to the “Language Settings” page and skip to Step 5 below.
If that doesn’t work, proceed to the next step:
1. Use your computer’s web browser to access your Facebook account at Facebook.com (Safari, Firefox, Chrome, Edge etc.).
2. Tap the downward-facing arrow in the top right corner of your screen, next to the question mark, on the Facebook menu bar.
3. This will bring up a menu. There will be a “Settings” tab near the bottom. Simply click on it.
4. On the left side of your screen, select “Language.”
5. You will now be on the page “Language Settings.” You can change your Facebook language here, as well as set the language into which posts will be translated and select any languages that you don’t want to be translated — this is a useful feature if you’re bilingual and want to avoid mis-translations of your friends’ posts. To change the language on Facebook, click “Edit” on the right side.
6. From the drop-down menu, select your preferred language.
7. To confirm your language, click “Save Changes.”
You can also change the language from your News Feed page
1. Navigate to your News Feed (the page where all of your friends’ posts are displayed in a feed).
2. Scroll down until you see a box on the right side of the screen with a few languages.
3. Click “Change Language” in the pop-up box after selecting one of the visible languages listed in this box. You can also open a list of all available languages by clicking the + button to the right of the box.
4. To make the change, select your desired language from the list.
How to change the language on your Facebook account using a mobile device
To change your language on your phone, go to the Facebook website or, if you have it installed, use the Facebook app.
If you don’t have the app, go to Facebook.com in your phone’s web browser and do the following:
1. Go to Facebook.com and sign in to your account. Click the menu button (three horizontal lines) in the upper right corner.
2. Scroll down to the Help & Settings section and click the “Language” button.
3. Scroll down and select your language from the drop-down menu. To expedite the process, you can also use the search bar.
4. Select the language you want to use for Facebook and click Change.
If you own an iPhone, you can change the language from the Facebook app:
1. Launch the Facebook app and ensure you’re logged in.
2. Select the menu icon (three horizontal lines) in the bottom right corner.
3. Scroll to the bottom and select “Settings & Privacy.” This will bring up a sub-menu. Choose “App Language.”
4. Your Facebook app language will be set to match your phone language (which you can change in the settings on your phone), but you can also manually select your language from the list on this page. Scroll down or use the search bar to find your language, then click to change it.
If you own an Android, you can also change the language through your Facebook app:
1. Select the menu icon (three horizontal lines) at the top right of the menu bar.
2. Scroll down and select “Settings & Privacy” from the submenu. Choose “Language.”
3. Select your language from the drop-down menu. You’ll also be able to set your “Device Language,” which can be found in your phone’s settings.