Install or uninstall language packs for SharePoint 2013
APPLIES TO: 
2013 
2016 2019 Subscription Edition SharePoint in Microsoft 365
Language packs enable site owners and site collection administrators to create SharePoint sites and site collections in multiple languages without requiring separate installations of SharePoint 2013. You install language packs, which contain language-specific site templates, on web and application servers. When an administrator creates a site or a site collection that is based on a language-specific site template, the text that appears on the site or the site collection is displayed in the site template's language. Language packs are typically used in multinational deployments where a single server farm supports users in different locations, or when sites and web pages must be duplicated in one or more languages.
If users are accessing Project Server 2016 in the SharePoint farm and have to view their project data in another language, they'll also have to install a corresponding Project Server 2016 language pack. For more information about Project Server 2016 language packs, see Deploy language packs in Project Server 2013.
Word breakers and stemmers enable you to search efficiently and effectively across content on SharePoint sites and site collections in multiple languages without requiring separate installations of SharePoint 2013. Word breakers and stemmers are automatically installed on web and application servers by Setup.
Important
If you are uninstalling SharePoint 2013, you must uninstall all language packs before you uninstall SharePoint 2013.
About language IDs and language packs
Site owners or site collection administrators who create sites or site collections can select a language for each site or site collection.
The language that they select has a language identifier (ID). The language ID determines the language that is used to display and interpret text that is on the site or site collection. For example, when a site owner creates a site in French, the site's toolbars, navigation bars, lists, and column headings appear in French. Similarly, if a site owner creates a site in Arabic, the site's toolbars, navigation bars, lists, and column headings appear in Arabic. In addition, the default left-to-right orientation of the site changes to a right-to-left orientation to correctly display Arabic text.
The language packs that are installed on the web and application servers determine the list of available languages that you can use to create a site or site collection. By default, sites and site collections are created in the language in which SharePoint 2013 was installed. For example, if you install the Spanish version of SharePoint 2013, the default language for sites, site collections, and web pages is Spanish. If someone has to create sites, site collections, or web pages in a language other than the default SharePoint 2013 language, you must install the language pack for that language on the web and application servers. For example, if you're running the French version of SharePoint 2013, and a site owner wants to create sites in French, English, and Spanish, you must install the English and Spanish language packs on the web and application servers.
By default, when a site owner creates a new web page in a site, the site displays text in the language that is specified by the language ID.
Language packs aren't bundled into multilingual installation packages. You must install a specific language pack for each language that you want to support. Also, language packs must be installed on each web and application server to make sure that each web and application server can display content in the specified language.
Important
You cannot change an existing site, site collection, or web page from one language to another by applying different language-specific site templates. After you use a language-specific site template for a site or a site collection, the site or site collection always displays content in the language of the original site template.
Only a limited set of language packs are available for SharePoint 2013.
Although a site owner specifies a language ID for a site, some user interface elements such as error messages, notifications, and dialogues don't display in the language that was specified. This is because SharePoint 2013 relies on several supporting technologies—for example, the Microsoft .NET Framework, Microsoft Windows Workflow Foundation, Microsoft ASP.NET, and SQL Server—some of which are localized into only a limited number of languages. If a user interface element is generated by any of the supporting technologies that aren't localized into the language that the site owner specified for the site, the user interface element appears in English. For example, if a site owner creates a site in Hebrew, and the .NET Framework component displays a notification message, the notification message won't display in Hebrew because the .NET Framework isn't localized into Hebrew. This situation can occur when sites are created in any language except the following: Chinese, French, German, Italian, Japanese, Korean, and Spanish.
Each language pack that you install creates a folder at %COMMONPROGRAMFILES%\Microsoft Shared\Web server extensions\15\LAYOUTS\Locale_ID that contains language-specific data. In each locale_ID folder, you must have only one HTML error file that contains the error information that is used when a file can't be found. Anytime a file can't be found for any site in that language, this file will be used. You can specify the file to use by setting the FileNotFoundPage() for each web application.
In some cases, some text might originate from the original installation language, which can create a mixed-language experience. This kind of mixed-language experience is typically seen only by content creators or site owners and isn't seen by site users.
Downloading language packs
Follow these steps for each language that you want to support. If you decide to download more than one language, please be aware that a unique file that has a common name is downloaded for each language. Therefore, make sure that you download each language pack to a separate folder on the hard disk so that you don't overwrite a language pack of a different language.
Important
By default, the Microsoft PowerShell Help files are installed in English (en-us). To view these files in the same language as the operating system, install the language pack for the same language in which the operating system was installed.
You can download language packs from the same location where you downloaded SharePoint 2013.
Installing language packs on the web and application servers
After you install the necessary language files on the web and application servers, you can install the language packs. Language packs are available as individual downloads (one download for each supported language). If you have a server farm environment and you're installing language packs to support multiple languages, you must install the language packs on each web and application server.
Important
The language pack is installed in its native language. The procedure that follows is for the English language pack.
To install a language pack
Verify that the user account that is performing this procedure is the Setup user account. For information about the Setup user account, see Initial deployment administrative and service accounts in SharePoint Server.
In the folder where you downloaded the language pack, run setup.exe.
On the Read the Microsoft Software License Terms page, review the terms, select the I accept the terms of this agreement check box, and then click Continue.
The Setup wizard runs and installs the language pack.
Rerun the SharePoint Products Configuration Wizard by using the default settings. If you don't run the SharePoint Products Configuration Wizard after you install a language pack, the language pack won't be installed correctly.
The SharePoint Products Configuration Wizard runs in the language of the base installation of SharePoint 2013, not in the language of the language pack that you installed.
To rerun the SharePoint 2013 Configuration Wizard
Verify that the user account that is performing this procedure is the Setup user account. For information about the Setup user account, see Initial deployment administrative and service accounts in SharePoint Server.
Click Start, point to All Programs, click SharePoint 2013, and then click SharePoint 2013 Products Configuration Wizard.
On the Welcome to SharePoint Products page, click Next.
Click Yes in the dialog that alerts you that some services might have to be restarted during configuration.
On the Modify Server Farm Settings page, click Do not disconnect from this server farm, and then click Next.
If the Modify SharePoint Central Administration Web Administration Settings page appears, don't change any of the default settings, and then click Next.
After you complete the Completing the SharePoint Products and Technologies Configuration Wizard, click Next.
On the Configuration Successful page, click Finish.
After you install a new language pack and rerun the Rerun the SharePoint 2013 Configuration Wizard, you must deactivate and then reactivate any language-specific features before you use the new language pack.
When you install language packs, the language-specific site templates are installed in the %COMMONPROGRAMFILES%\Microsoft Shared\Web server extensions\15\TEMPLATE\ LanguageID directory, where LanguageID is the Language ID number for the language that you're installing. For example, the United States English language pack installs to the %COMMONPROGRAMFILES%\Microsoft Shared\Web Server Extensions\15\TEMPLATE\1033 directory. After you install a language pack, site owners and site collection administrators can create sites and site collections based on the language-specific site templates by specifying a language when they're creating a new SharePoint site or site collection.
Uninstalling language packs
If you no longer have to support a language for which you have installed a language pack, you can remove the language pack by using the Control Panel. Removing a language pack removes the language-specific site templates from the computer. All sites that were created that have those language-specific site templates will no longer work (It could cause many issues that are, the URL will produce an HTTP 500 - Internal server error page, broken layout, mixture of default, and uninstalled language.). Reinstalling the language pack makes the site functional again.
You can't remove the language pack for the version of SharePoint 2013 that you have installed on the server. For example, if you're running the Japanese version of SharePoint 2013, you can't uninstall the Japanese language support for SharePoint 2013.