Install Drupal in another language

Last updated March 31, 2013. Created by yoroy on September 12, 2010.
Edited by silverwing, beatricestransl..., 2020media, manish_mics. Log in to edit this page.

Please refer to the Multilingual Handbook if you want more information on How to install a different language.

Manual Drupal 7 setup

To install and use Drupal in a language other than English without additional module requirements:

See if a translation of this Drupal version is available in your language of choice on the translation server. Not all languages are available for every version of Drupal, but if yours is available, follow these steps to install Drupal in your language:

Installing language before installing Drupal

1. Download the language file from the translation server.
2. You will find a directory named translations inside the directory of the profile you will be using. Normally you use standard profile so you can use profiles/standard/translations. Move the downloaded .po file inside this folder.
3. Install Drupal as per usual by visiting www.example.com/install.php.

Installing language after installing Drupal

1. Download the language file from the translation server.
2. You will find a directory named translations inside the directory of the profile you will be using. Normally, you use standard profile so you can use profiles/standard/translations. Move the downloaded .po file inside this folder.
3. Go to Modules and make sure 'Locale' is activated.
4. Go to Configuration and choose Languages.
5. Click on 'add languages', choose your language, and save configuration.
6. After your language is added, you can make it default by clicking the radiobutton in the list and save configuration.

Automating installation and updates

Once you start to add modules and a theme to the site, downloading and keeping translations updated manually can be tedious. It is suggested that instead you start off with the Localized Drupal installation profile or use the Localization update module to import the translation files automatically.

Legacy translation downloads

You might find documentation mentioning drupal.org/project/translations as the source for Drupal translations. These projects only cover Drupal core and are packaged differently to the files available from localize.drupal.org. The new files and sources are better in many ways, so we are/were continually migrating to use localize.drupal.org only. It is suggested you look at localize.drupal.org as the primary source of language translations.

Drupal 5 and 6

See: How to install a different language

Drupal language resources

• Multilingual Guide
• Internationalization issues (besides translation)
• Multilingual modules
• Installing Drupal in other languages (videos and slides)
• Translation Interface