How to Change the Language in Microsoft Word

Microsoft Word is used in offices, classrooms, and homes across more than 100 countries — which means language settings matter more than most people realize. Whether you're writing in a second language, editing a document sent from abroad, or just correcting a spellcheck that keeps flagging perfectly good British spellings, knowing how to change the language in Word is a genuinely useful skill. The process is straightforward, but it works differently depending on which version of Word you're using and exactly what you're trying to change.

What "Language" Actually Means in Word

Before diving into steps, it's worth understanding that Word treats language as more than one setting. There are actually two distinct language layers:

• Editing language — This controls spelling and grammar checking. It tells Word which dictionary to use, so "colour" gets flagged as wrong in American English but accepted in British English.
• Display language — This controls the Word interface itself: menus, buttons, tooltips, and dialog boxes.

Most people only need to change the editing language. Changing the display language is a bigger operation and, depending on your Office plan, may require installing a language pack separately.

How to Change the Editing Language in Word (Windows)

This applies to Microsoft 365 and most recent standalone versions of Word on Windows.

1. Open your Word document.
2. Select the text you want to affect — or press Ctrl + A to select everything.
3. Go to the Review tab in the ribbon.
4. Click Language, then select Set Proofing Language.
5. Choose your desired language from the list.
6. Click OK.

💡 If you want this to apply to all future documents, click Set As Default before confirming. This updates your Normal template, so every new document starts with that language setting.

One thing to know: if a document has mixed-language content (common with copied-and-pasted text), Word may have applied different language tags to different sections. In that case, selecting all and resetting the proofing language in one step is the cleanest fix.

How to Change the Editing Language in Word (Mac)

The Mac version follows a slightly different path:

1. Open your document.
2. Select the text — or use Cmd + A for everything.
3. Go to the Tools menu (not the Review tab, as on Windows).
4. Click Language.
5. Select your language from the list and click OK.

The same logic applies: selecting all text first ensures the language change applies uniformly across the whole document rather than just a single paragraph.

Changing the Display Language in Word

If you want Word's menus and interface to appear in a different language, that's handled at the Office level rather than inside a single document.

On Windows:

1. Open any Office app and go to File → Options → Language.
2. Under Office Display Language, add or reorder your preferred language.
3. Click Set as Preferred and restart Word.

On Mac: The display language follows your macOS system language. Go to System Settings → General → Language & Region and set your preferred language there. Restart Word for the change to take effect.

On Microsoft 365 (browser version): Word for the web uses your Microsoft account's regional settings. Log in to your Microsoft account, navigate to account settings, and update your language preferences there.

Language Settings in Word Online vs. Desktop

The desktop version gives you the most granular control. Word Online is convenient but doesn't let you set a default proofing language across all future documents.

When Language Settings Don't Seem to Stick

A few common reasons why a language change might not hold:

• Templates overriding settings — If your document is based on a template with a hardcoded language, new paragraphs may revert. Update the template or change the Normal template default.
• Track Changes is on — Accepted changes can sometimes carry original language tags. Turn off Track Changes and accept all before resetting.
• Mixed text sources — Text copied from websites or other documents often brings invisible formatting, including language tags, with it. Paste as plain text first (Ctrl + Shift + V on Windows) to strip this.
• Office language pack not installed — If the language you want doesn't appear in the list or spellcheck doesn't work after switching, the relevant proofing tools may not be installed. In Microsoft 365, additional language packs can be added through the Office settings.

The Variables That Affect Your Experience 🌐

What sounds like a simple setting change can behave quite differently depending on a few factors:

• Version of Word — Word 2016, 2019, and Microsoft 365 all have slightly different menu layouts and options.
• Subscription type — Microsoft 365 subscribers get broader language pack access than users of perpetual-license versions.
• Operating system — Mac and Windows paths diverge, and the Mac version has historically had fewer interface language options.
• Document origin — A document that traveled through multiple systems, editors, or languages may have embedded language tags throughout.
• Organizational settings — If you use a work or school account, IT administrators may restrict which languages or language packs are available.

Someone using Microsoft 365 on a personal Windows laptop has a very different set of options than someone using Word 2019 on a managed corporate Mac — even if the end goal is exactly the same. The right approach for your situation depends on which of those variables applies to you.