CultureInfo.CurrentCulture Property

Reference

Definition

Namespace:: System.Globalization

Assembly:: System.Globalization.dll

Assembly:: System.Runtime.dll

Assembly:: mscorlib.dll

Assembly:: netstandard.dll

Important

Some information relates to prerelease product that may be substantially modified before it’s released. Microsoft makes no warranties, express or implied, with respect to the information provided here.

Gets or sets the CultureInfo object that represents the culture used by the current thread and task-based asynchronous operations.

public:
 static property System::Globalization::CultureInfo ^ CurrentCulture { System::Globalization::CultureInfo ^ get(); void set(System::Globalization::CultureInfo ^ value); };

public:
 static property System::Globalization::CultureInfo ^ CurrentCulture { System::Globalization::CultureInfo ^ get(); };

public static System.Globalization.CultureInfo CurrentCulture { get; set; }

public static System.Globalization.CultureInfo CurrentCulture { get; }

static member CurrentCulture : System.Globalization.CultureInfo with get, set

static member CurrentCulture : System.Globalization.CultureInfo

Public Shared Property CurrentCulture As CultureInfo

Public Shared ReadOnly Property CurrentCulture As CultureInfo

Property Value

CultureInfo

The culture used by the current thread and task-based asynchronous operations.

Exceptions

ArgumentNullException

The property is set to null.

Examples

The following example demonstrates how to change the CurrentCulture and CurrentUICulture of the current thread.

using namespace System;
using namespace System::Globalization;
using namespace System::Threading;

int main()
{
   // Display the name of the current thread culture.
   Console::WriteLine("CurrentCulture is {0}.", CultureInfo::CurrentCulture->Name);
   
   // Change the current culture to th-TH.
   CultureInfo::CurrentCulture = gcnew CultureInfo("th-TH",false);
   Console::WriteLine("CurrentCulture is now {0}.", CultureInfo::CurrentCulture->Name);
   
   // Displays the name of the CurrentUICulture of the current thread.
   Console::WriteLine("CurrentUICulture is {0}.", CultureInfo::CurrentCulture->Name);
   
   // Changes the CurrentUICulture of the current thread to ja-JP.
   CultureInfo::CurrentUICulture = gcnew CultureInfo("ja-JP",false);
   Console::WriteLine("CurrentUICulture is now {0}.", CultureInfo::CurrentCulture->Name);
}
// The example displays the following output:
//       CurrentCulture is en-US.
//       CurrentCulture is now th-TH.
//       CurrentUICulture is en-US.
//       CurrentUICulture is now ja-JP.

using System;
using System.Globalization;
using System.Threading;

public class Example0
{
   public static void Main()
   {
      // Display the name of the current culture.
      Console.WriteLine("CurrentCulture is {0}.", CultureInfo.CurrentCulture.Name);

      // Change the current culture to th-TH.
      CultureInfo.CurrentCulture = new CultureInfo("th-TH", false);
      Console.WriteLine("CurrentCulture is now {0}.", CultureInfo.CurrentCulture.Name);

      // Display the name of the current UI culture.
      Console.WriteLine("CurrentUICulture is {0}.", CultureInfo.CurrentUICulture.Name);

      // Change the current UI culture to ja-JP.
      CultureInfo.CurrentUICulture = new CultureInfo( "ja-JP", false );
      Console.WriteLine("CurrentUICulture is now {0}.", CultureInfo.CurrentUICulture.Name);
   }
}
// The example displays the following output:
//       CurrentCulture is en-US.
//       CurrentCulture is now th-TH.
//       CurrentUICulture is en-US.
//       CurrentUICulture is now ja-JP.

Imports System.Globalization
Imports System.Threading

Public Module Example
   Public Sub Main()

      ' Display the name of the current culture.
      Console.WriteLine("CurrentCulture is {0}.", CultureInfo.CurrentCulture.Name)

      ' Change the current culture to th-TH.
      CultureInfo.CurrentCulture = New CultureInfo("th-TH", False)
      Console.WriteLine("CurrentCulture is now {0}.", CultureInfo.CurrentCulture.Name)

      ' Display the name of the current UI culture.
      Console.WriteLine("CurrentUICulture is {0}.", CultureInfo.CurrentUICulture.Name)

      ' Change the current UI culture to ja-JP.
      CultureInfo.CurrentUICulture = New CultureInfo("ja-JP", False)
      Console.WriteLine("CurrentUICulture is now {0}.", CultureInfo.CurrentUICulture.Name)
   End Sub 
End Module
' The example displays the following output:
'       CurrentCulture is en-US.
'       CurrentCulture is now th-TH.
'       CurrentUICulture is en-US.
'       CurrentUICulture is now ja-JP.

Remarks

The CultureInfo object that's returned by this property and its associated objects determine the default format for dates, times, numbers, currency values, the sorting order of text, casing conventions, and string comparisons.

The current culture is a property of the executing thread. When you set this property to a CultureInfo object that represents a new culture, the value of the Thread.CurrentThread.CurrentCulture property also changes. However, we recommend that you always use the CultureInfo.CurrentCulture property to retrieve and set the current culture.

The CultureInfo object that this property returns is read-only. That means you can't mutate the existing object, for example, by changing the DateTimeFormat. To change the date-time format or some other aspect of the current culture, create a new CultureInfo object and assign it to the property.

Note

In .NET Framework 4.5.2 and earlier versions, the CultureInfo.CurrentCulture property is read-only; that is, you can retrieve the property value, but you cannot set it.

In this section:

How a Thread's Culture Is Determined
Get the Current Culture
Set the CurrentCulture Property Explicitly
User Overrides
Culture and Windows Apps

How a Thread's Culture Is Determined

When a thread is started, its culture is initially determined as follows:

By retrieving the culture that is specified by the DefaultThreadCurrentCulture property in the application domain in which the thread is executing, if the property value is not null.

If the thread is a thread pool thread that is executing a task-based asynchronous operation and the app targets the .NET Framework 4.6 or a later version of the .NET Framework, its culture is determined by the culture of the calling thread. The following example changes the current culture to Portuguese (Brazil) and launches six tasks, each of which displays its thread ID, its task ID, and its current culture. Each of the tasks (and the threads) has inherited the culture of the calling thread.

using System;
using System.Collections.Generic;
using System.Globalization;
using System.Runtime.Versioning;
using System.Threading;
using System.Threading.Tasks;

public class Example14
{
    public static async Task Main()
    {
        var tasks = new List<Task>();
        Console.WriteLine("The current culture is {0}",
                          Thread.CurrentThread.CurrentCulture.Name);
        Thread.CurrentThread.CurrentCulture = new CultureInfo("pt-BR");
        // Change the current culture to Portuguese (Brazil).
        Console.WriteLine("Current culture changed to {0}",
                          Thread.CurrentThread.CurrentCulture.Name);
        Console.WriteLine("Application thread is thread {0}",
                          Thread.CurrentThread.ManagedThreadId);
        // Launch six tasks and display their current culture.
        for (int ctr = 0; ctr <= 5; ctr++)
            tasks.Add(Task.Run(() =>
            {
                Console.WriteLine("Culture of task {0} on thread {1} is {2}",
                                  Task.CurrentId,
                                  Thread.CurrentThread.ManagedThreadId,
                                  Thread.CurrentThread.CurrentCulture.Name);
            }));

        await Task.WhenAll(tasks.ToArray());
    }
}
// The example displays output like the following:
//     The current culture is en-US
//     Current culture changed to pt-BR
//     Application thread is thread 9
//     Culture of task 2 on thread 11 is pt-BR
//     Culture of task 1 on thread 10 is pt-BR
//     Culture of task 3 on thread 11 is pt-BR
//     Culture of task 5 on thread 11 is pt-BR
//     Culture of task 6 on thread 11 is pt-BR
//     Culture of task 4 on thread 10 is pt-BR

Imports System.Collections.Generic
Imports System.Globalization
Imports System.Runtime.Versioning
Imports System.Threading
Imports System.Threading.Tasks

<assembly:TargetFramework(".NETFramework,Version=v4.6")>

Module Example
   Public Sub Main()
      Dim tasks As New List(Of Task)
      Console.WriteLine("The current culture is {0}", 
                        Thread.CurrentThread.CurrentCulture.Name)
      Thread.CurrentThread.CurrentCulture = New CultureInfo("pt-BR")
      ' Change the current culture to Portuguese (Brazil).
      Console.WriteLine("Current culture changed to {0}",
                        Thread.CurrentThread.CurrentCulture.Name)
      Console.WriteLine("Application thread is thread {0}",
                        Thread.CurrentThread.ManagedThreadId)
      ' Launch six tasks and display their current culture.
      For ctr As Integer = 0 to 5
         tasks.Add(Task.Run(Sub()
                               Console.WriteLine("Culture of task {0} on thread {1} is {2}",
                                                 Task.CurrentId, 
                                                 Thread.CurrentThread.ManagedThreadId,
                                                 Thread.CurrentThread.CurrentCulture.Name)
                            End Sub))                     
      Next
      Task.WaitAll(tasks.ToArray())
   End Sub
End Module
' The example displays output like the following:
'     The current culture is en-US
'     Current culture changed to pt-BR
'     Application thread is thread 9
'     Culture of task 2 on thread 11 is pt-BR
'     Culture of task 1 on thread 10 is pt-BR
'     Culture of task 3 on thread 11 is pt-BR
'     Culture of task 5 on thread 11 is pt-BR
'     Culture of task 6 on thread 11 is pt-BR
'     Culture of task 4 on thread 10 is pt-BR

For more information, see the "Culture and task-based asynchronous operations" section in the CultureInfo topic.

By calling the GetUserDefaultLocaleName function on Windows or the uloc_getDefault function from ICU, which currently calls the POSIX setlocale function with category LC_MESSAGES, on Unix-like systems.

Note that if you set a specific culture that is different from the system-installed culture or the user's preferred culture, and your application starts multiple threads, the current culture of those threads will be the culture that is returned by the GetUserDefaultLocaleName function, unless you assign a culture to the DefaultThreadCurrentCulture property in the application domain in which the thread is executing.

For more information about how the culture of a thread is determined, see the "Culture and threads" section in the CultureInfo reference page.

Get the Current Culture

The CultureInfo.CurrentCulture property is a per-thread setting; that is, each thread can have its own culture. You get the culture of the current thread by retrieving the value of the CultureInfo.CurrentCulture property, as the following example illustrates.

using System;
using System.Globalization;

public class Example5
{
   public static void Main()
   {
      CultureInfo culture = CultureInfo.CurrentCulture;
      Console.WriteLine("The current culture is {0} [{1}]",
                        culture.NativeName, culture.Name);
   }
}
// The example displays output like the following:
//       The current culture is English (United States) [en-US]

Imports System.Globalization

Module Example
   Public Sub Main()
      Dim culture As CultureInfo = CultureInfo.CurrentCulture
      Console.WriteLine("The current culture is {0} [{1}]",
                        culture.NativeName, culture.Name)
   End Sub
End Module
' The example displays output like the following:
'     The current culture is English (United States) [en-US]

Set the CurrentCulture Property Explicitly

To change the culture that's used by an existing thread, you set the CultureInfo.CurrentCulture property to the new culture. If you explicitly change a thread's culture in this way, that change persists if the thread crosses application domain boundaries. The following example changes the current thread culture to Dutch (Netherlands). It also shows that, when the current thread crosses application domain boundaries, its current culture remains changed.

using System;
using System.Globalization;
using System.Threading;

public class Info11 : MarshalByRefObject
{
    public void ShowCurrentCulture()
    {
        Console.WriteLine("Culture of {0} in application domain {1}: {2}",
                          Thread.CurrentThread.Name,
                          AppDomain.CurrentDomain.FriendlyName,
                          CultureInfo.CurrentCulture.Name);
    }
}

public class Example11
{
    public static void Main()
    {
        Info11 inf = new Info11();
        // Set the current culture to Dutch (Netherlands).
        Thread.CurrentThread.Name = "MainThread";
        CultureInfo.CurrentCulture = CultureInfo.CreateSpecificCulture("nl-NL");
        inf.ShowCurrentCulture();

        // Create a new application domain.
        AppDomain ad = AppDomain.CreateDomain("Domain2");
        Info11 inf2 = (Info11)ad.CreateInstanceAndUnwrap(typeof(Info11).Assembly.FullName, "Info11");
        inf2.ShowCurrentCulture();
    }
}
// The example displays the following output:
//       Culture of MainThread in application domain ChangeCulture1.exe: nl-NL
//       Culture of MainThread in application domain Domain2: nl-NL

Imports System.Globalization
Imports System.Threading

Public Class Info : Inherits MarshalByRefObject
   Public Sub ShowCurrentCulture()
      Console.WriteLine("Culture of {0} in application domain {1}: {2}",
                        Thread.CurrentThread.Name,
                        AppDomain.CurrentDomain.FriendlyName,
                        CultureInfo.CurrentCulture.Name)
   End Sub
End Class

Module Example
   Public Sub Main()
      Dim inf As New Info()
      ' Set the current culture to Dutch (Netherlands).
      Thread.CurrentThread.Name = "MainThread"
      CultureInfo.CurrentCulture = CultureInfo.CreateSpecificCulture("nl-NL")
      inf.ShowCurrentCulture()
      
      ' Create a new application domain.
       Dim ad As AppDomain = AppDomain.CreateDomain("Domain2")
       Dim inf2 As Info = CType(ad.CreateInstanceAndUnwrap(GetType(Info).Assembly.FullName, "Info"),
                          Info)  
       inf2.ShowCurrentCulture()                       
   End Sub
End Module
' This example displays the following output:
'       Culture of MainThread in application domain Example.exe: nl-NL
'       Culture of MainThread in application domain Domain2: nl-NL

Note

Changing the culture by using the CultureInfo.CurrentCulture property requires a SecurityPermission permission with the ControlThread value set. Manipulating threads is dangerous because of the security state associated with threads. Therefore, this permission should be given only to trustworthy code, and then only as necessary. You cannot change thread culture in semi-trusted code.

Starting with .NET Framework 4, you can explicitly change the current thread culture to either a specific culture (such as French (Canada)) or a neutral culture (such as French). When a CultureInfo object represents a neutral culture, the values of CultureInfo properties such as Calendar, CompareInfo, DateTimeFormat, NumberFormat, and TextInfo reflect the specific culture that is associated with the neutral culture. For example, the dominant culture for the English neutral culture is English (United States); the dominant culture for the German culture is German (Germany). The following example illustrates the difference in formatting when the current culture is set to a specific culture, French (Canada), and a neutral culture, French.

using System;
using System.Globalization;
using System.Threading;

public class Example12
{
   public static void Main()
   {
      double value = 1634.92;
      CultureInfo.CurrentCulture = new CultureInfo("fr-CA");
      Console.WriteLine("Current Culture: {0}",
                        CultureInfo.CurrentCulture.Name);
      Console.WriteLine("{0:C2}\n", value);

      Thread.CurrentThread.CurrentCulture = new CultureInfo("fr");
      Console.WriteLine("Current Culture: {0}",
                        CultureInfo.CurrentCulture.Name);
      Console.WriteLine("{0:C2}", value);
   }
}
// The example displays the following output:
//       Current Culture: fr-CA
//       1 634,92 $
//
//       Current Culture: fr
//       1 634,92 €

Imports System.Globalization
Imports System.Threading

Module Example
   Public Sub Main()
      Dim value As Double = 1634.92
      CultureInfo.CurrentCulture = New CultureInfo("fr-CA")
      Console.WriteLine("Current Culture: {0}", 
                        CultureInfo.CurrentCulture.Name)
      Console.WriteLine("{0:C2}", value)
      Console.WriteLine()
      
      Thread.CurrentThread.CurrentCulture = New CultureInfo("fr")
      Console.WriteLine("Current Culture: {0}", 
                        CultureInfo.CurrentCulture.Name)
      Console.WriteLine("{0:C2}", value)
   End Sub
End Module
' The example displays the following output:
'       Current Culture: fr-CA
'       1 634,92 $
'       
'       Current Culture: fr
'       1 634,92 €

You can also use the CultureInfo.CurrentCulture property along with the HttpRequest.UserLanguages property to set the CurrentCulture property of an ASP.NET application to the user's preferred culture, as the following example illustrates.

CultureInfo.CurrentCulture = CultureInfo.CreateSpecificCulture(Request13.UserLanguages[0]);

Thread.CurrentThread.CurrentCulture = CultureInfo.CreateSpecificCulture(Request.UserLanguages(0))

The Current Culture and User Overrides

Windows allows users to override the standard property values of the CultureInfo object and its associated objects by using Regional and Language Options in Control Panel. The CultureInfo object returned by the CurrentCulture property reflects these user overrides in the following cases:

If the current thread culture is set implicitly by the Windows GetUserDefaultLocaleName function.
If the current thread culture defined by the DefaultThreadCurrentCulture property corresponds to the current Windows system culture.
If the current thread culture is set explicitly to a culture returned by the CreateSpecificCulture method, and that culture corresponds to the current Windows system culture.
If the current thread culture is set explicitly to a culture instantiated by the CultureInfo(String) constructor, and that culture corresponds to the current Windows system culture.

In some cases, particularly for server applications, setting the current culture to a CultureInfo object that reflects user overrides may be undesirable. Instead, you can set the current culture to a CultureInfo object that does not reflect user overrides in the following ways:

By calling the CultureInfo(String, Boolean) constructor with a value of false for the useUserOverride argument.
By calling the GetCultureInfo method, which returns a cached, read-only CultureInfo object.

The current culture and UWP apps

In Universal Windows Platform (UWP) apps, the CurrentCulture property is read-write, just as it is in .NET Framework and .NET Core apps; you can use it both to get and to set the current culture. However, UWP apps do not distinguish between the current culture and the current UI culture. The CurrentCulture and CurrentUICulture properties map to the first value in the Windows.ApplicationModel.Resources.Core.ResourceManager.DefaultContext.Languages collection.

In .NET Framework and .NET Core apps, the current culture is a per-thread setting, and the CurrentCulture property reflects the culture of the current thread only. In UWP apps, the current culture maps to the Windows.ApplicationModel.Resources.Core.ResourceManager.DefaultContext.Languages property, which is a global setting. Setting the CurrentCulture property changes the culture of the entire app; culture cannot be set on a per-thread basis.

Applies to