My folders are in the wrong language

Question

All of a sudden, some of my folders are in a foreign language. I did not change them and do not know how they changed. It is like half of my account is in this foreign language.

Answer 1

Hello,

If Outlook is giving you trouble, start by checking whether the language and time‑zone settings are correct. Click the settings icon in the upper‑right corner of Outlook, select General, and then choose Language and time zone. Make sure both settings are correct. If they already are, switch to a different language temporarily, let Outlook reload, and then switch back to the correct language.

If you have multiple email accounts added to Outlook and only the folders under a specific account appear in a different language, open Settings, select Accounts, choose Manage for the account that shows folder names in another language, and set it as the primary account.

Answer 2

Some default Outlook folders can switch to another language if the mailbox was accessed or synchronized by a mobile device or third‑party app using that language. The folder names are stored per mailbox, so once changed they stay that way until reset.

To reset the folder names back to the correct language in Outlook on the web (Outlook.com):

1. Exit any desktop Outlook apps.
2. Sign in to Outlook on the web with the affected account.
3. Select Settings (gear icon) > View all Outlook settings.
4. Go to General > Language and time.
5. In Language, choose the preferred language.
6. Check Rename default folders so their names match the specified language.
7. Select Save.
8. Close Outlook on the web, then reopen Outlook/Outlook.com and verify the folder names.

If the preferred language is already selected, change it temporarily to a different language, save, then change it back to the desired language and save again. This forces Outlook to re-localize the default folders.

If an error appears stating that default folders cannot be localized, there may be custom folders whose names conflict with default folder names in the target language. In that case, rename those conflicting folders first, then repeat the steps above.

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References:

• Issues with default folders in Outlook
• Cannot localize the default folders error when changing default folder names to another language in Outlook on the web
• Check or change language settings