Plan for multilanguage deployment of Office 2016
Summary: Plan for multilanguage setup, and customization and proofing tools for Office 2016.
Support for multiple languages and languages other than the default are provided through language accessory packs (LAPs) and language interface packs (LIPs) that you install. Language accessory packs (LAPs) let you see ribbon or menu items, commands, Help, and proofing tools like the spelling checker, grammar checker, and thesaurus in a translated version of Office for all Office applications. Language interface packs (LIPs) only change the language for the ribbon and commands for some Office applications.
To deploy Office 2016 in multiple languages, you must plan carefully. This article discusses the planning considerations for setup and the customizations that you can make when you install language packs or proofing tools.
Important
This article describes methods of deploying and managing language packs for versions of Office 2016 that use the Windows Installer (MSI) installation technology, which are available for enterprises through volume licensing. If you have an Office subscription and you're deploying Microsoft 365 Apps, which uses the Click-to-Run installation technology, see Overview of deploying languages for Microsoft 365 Apps.
Plan setup of Office 2016 multilanguage deployment
The language-neutral design of Office 2016 helps simplify the deployment of Office products in multiple languages. Instead of creating a series of installations, you enable setup to coordinate a single installation of multiple language versions.
All language-specific components for a particular language are contained in an Office 2016 Language Pack. Each Office 2016 Language Pack includes language-specific folders for all Office 2016 products that are available in that language. A language tag appended to the folder name identifies each folder. For a complete list of language tags, see Language identifiers and OptionState ID values in Office 2016.
You install all the Office 2016 Language Packs that you want at the same time by copying them to a network installation point that contains at least one complete Office 2016 product. By default, setup automatically installs the language version that matches the Windows user locale that is set on each user's computer. Or, you can override this default behavior and manage the distribution of multiple language versions manually. For example, you can perform any of the following tasks:
Install more than one language on a single computer
Specify the languages to install on users' computers, independent of the operating system's language set by the user locale
Specify custom settings once and then apply them to all language versions that you deploy in your organization
Deploy different languages to different groups of users
Deploy the Microsoft Office 2016 proofing tools for other languages
Each Office 2016 Language Pack contains the proofing tools for one or more languages. For example, the Office 2016 Language Pack - Danish contains the proofing tools for English and German, in addition to Danish. All Office 2016 Language Packs contain the proofing tools for English. For more information about proofing tools, see Plan for Office proofing tools. To determine which companion proofing languages are included in an Office 2016 Language Pack, see Companion proofing languages for Office 2016.
Before setup installs a language version of an Office 2016 product, setup determines whether the user has the required operating system support for that language. Setup stops the installation if there's no support. For example, if a user doesn't enable support for East Asian languages, setup doesn't install the Japanese version of Office 2016.
Determine the languages that you want before you begin your deployment. There are special steps that you must take to include other languages if you have to change users' configurations after the initial deployment. For more information, see Add or remove language packs after deployment of Office 2016.
Understanding the setup logic for Shell UI language
If you're deploying Office 2016 from a network installation point that includes multiple language versions, the setup must determine which language to use for the user interface. By default, setup uses that same language for the Office 2016 installation language and for the shell user interface (Shell UI). The Shell UI includes core elements of Office 2016 that register with the operating system, such as file name extensions, Tool Tips, and right-click menu items.
Setup always installs Office 2016 in the language of the Shell UI, in addition to any other installation languages. For example, if the Shell UI is set to French, the user can select other installation languages on the Languages tab. However, the user can't remove French. You specify the language for the Shell UI by modifying a configuration file, Config.xml.
To install a single language version of Office 2016 on each client computer, you need to modify the configuration file. If you don't specify languages in the file, setup uses the following logic to determine which language to use:
Setup matches the language of the user locale.
If there's no match, setup looks for a close match. For example, if the user locale is set to English (Canada), setup installs Office 2016 in English (U.S).
If there's no close match, setup looks for a language in the following subkey in the Windows registry:
HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Office\16.0\Common\LanguageResources
If the InstallLanguage entry isn't added to the LanguageResources subkey and set to a specific language (LCID), setup either prompts the user to select a language during an interactive installation or stops a silent installation.
If you're installing multiple languages, the setup user interface language follows the logic described previously. However, the entries you specify in Config.xml determine the languages installed on the computer and the language of the Shell UI.
For specific steps on how to customize setup for different scenarios, including how to modify Config.xml, see applicable sections in Customize language setup and settings for Office 2016:
Plan language customizations for Office
When a user launches an Office 2016 application for the first time, the setup applies default settings. These settings correspond to the language installed on the computer and the language specified in the Windows user locale setting.
Four main language settings affect the way users work with Office 2016:
Primary editing language When more than one language version of Office 2016 is installed on the computer, this setting determines the language in which users work with Office applications and documents.
Enabled editing languages Users can specify more than one language for editing Office 2016 documents. Depending on the languages selected, this setting might require the user to install more proofing tools.
User interface language This setting determines the language in which the user interface is displayed.
Help language This setting determines the language in which users view Help articles.
You can configure these language settings for users in advance. When you install Office, you can specify custom language settings either by applying a setup customization file (.msp file) or by setting policies. With Office 2016, your custom settings aren't overwritten with default settings when users first start the applications.
Customizing language settings for Office
You configure language settings by using one of the following methods:
Group Policy Group Policy settings enforce default language settings. Group Policy manages settings in your organization, preventing users from permanently changing them. The settings are reapplied every time that the user logs on.
Office Customization Tool (OCT) You use the OCT to create a setup customization file (.msp file) that setup applies during the installation. Settings specified in the OCT are the default settings. Users can change the settings after the installation.
Language Settings tool If you don't enforce language settings by policy, users who work in Office 2016 applications can use the Language Settings tool to change their language settings.
For specific steps on how to use these tools to customize Office 2016 for multiple language deployments, see Customize language settings.
You can also configure language-specific settings, such as number formats related to user locale. For more information, see Customize language-specific settings that are related to user locale.
Plan for Office proofing tools
Proofing tools let users edit documents in 52 languages. Depending on the language, these editing tools might include spelling and grammar checkers, thesauruses, and hyphenators. Proofing tools might also include language-specific editing features such as Language AutoDetect, AutoSummarize, and Intelligent AutoCorrect.
The Proofing Tools 2016 ISO provides a single resource from which you can install any of the proofing tools. You can install proofing tools on a local computer or deploy tools to a group of users. You can also customize and install the tools for one user or all users in your organization.
Determining the method to deploy proofing tools
You can deploy extra proofing tools from either of these sources for users who need to edit documents in languages not already installed on their computers:
Office 2016 Language Pack Use this option if users want both the user interface and the proofing tools for a specific language. Often, one language pack can provide all the proofing tool languages that you want. The companion proofing tool languages contained in a language pack mirror the languages found in the language versions of Office 2016. You can also use the Office Multilanguage Pack, which contains all of the Office language packs.
For a list of companion languages, see Companion proofing languages for Office 2016. If a language pack has all the proofing tool languages that you want, deploy a language pack by using the instructions that fit your scenario in Customize language setup and settings for Office 2016.
Proofing Tools 2016 This product contains the proofing tools for all languages that are available with Office 2016. Select this option to access proofing tools not covered by the companion languages of your installed languages or any other language packs you might install.
The hard disk space requirement to install proofing tools is 1 gigabyte (GB). However, the overall disk space depends on whether you deploy proofing tools from a language pack or from the proofing tools. As with most products in the Office 2016, the complete Proofing Tools 2016 package is cached to the local installation source (LIS).
Proofing tools don't include bilingual dictionaries or word breakers. Those tools are part of the language version or language pack.
Individual Office Language Packs, the Office Multilanguage Pack, and Proofing Tools 2016 are available through Microsoft Volume Licensing programs.
For instructions on downloading language packs and proofing tools, see Download language packs, language interface packs, and proofing tools for volume license versions of Office.
Precaching the local installation source for the Office 2016 proofing tools
When you deploy the Office 2016 proofing tools, setup creates a local installation source on the user's computer, which is a copy of the compressed source files for the Office 2016 proofing tools. After the files are copied to the user's computer, setup completes the installation from the local installation source. You can minimize the load on the network by deploying the local installation source separately, before you deploy the Office 2016 proofing tools. For information about how to cache the local installation source for the Office proofing tools, see Precache the local installation source for Office 2010. (Although this article is for an earlier version of Office, the information also applies to Office 2016.) Use the Setup.exe and Config.xml files from the ProofKit.WW folder from the Proofing Tools 2016 ISO. For instructions on downloading the Proofing Tools 2016 ISO, see Download language packs, language interface packs, and proofing tools for volume license versions of Office.
Related articles
Language identifiers and OptionState ID values in Office 2016
Companion proofing languages for Office 2016
Customize language setup and settings for Office 2016
Add or remove language packs after deployment of Office 2016