powerpoint presentation language

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How do I change the language of all Powerpoint slides at once?

I want to change the proofing language of all my slides in a Powerpoint. I've tried setting the language via the Language Preferences menu, however this only changes it for new powerpoints.

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microsoft-powerpoint
microsoft-powerpoint-2010

7 Possible duplicate of Change the spell-checking language on a PowerPoint presentation – sancho.s ReinstateMonicaCellio Commented Aug 31, 2016 at 7:06
2 It seems that the newest version of PowerPoint is especially buggy in this respect. I have a text box where I've changed the language of all text to language A. (The default language is B.) So when I start typing within that text box, the language automatically changes to B. I thought maybe changing the default language helps (having tried everything else) but no. Now the default language is A, the language of all other text in the text box is A (and I've restarted PP) but all new text still appears as B. So my only remaining question is: is there a way to switch proofing off altogether? – lebatsnok Commented Nov 8, 2017 at 9:45
Yes there is a way to turn of spell checking: support.microsoft.com/en-us/help/937422/… -- solved my problem! – lebatsnok Commented Nov 8, 2017 at 9:48
The comment by superuser.com/a/1096722/474383 is actually more relevant. Just changing the keyboard languages (in Windows, not PowerPoint) will make all the newly created text boxes adhere to that language. – Roel Vermeulen Commented Jul 19, 2020 at 15:44
1 The best solution , imo, is to save the presentation as XML and to replace language strings (e.g., "de-DE" with the desired language (e.g., "en-US"). It changes the language not just of normal slides, but also of master slides ! – MrTomRod Commented Jul 15, 2023 at 2:56

9 Answers 9

To change the language of the entire PowerPoint easily, open the View tab and select the Outline view.

Ctrl + A to select all.
Tools → Language → Choose your language to set.

Likewise while you have everything selected you can change other things like fonts, colours etc. Although of course in many case this is better done by changing the slide master, a presentation that has had many editors may have lots of 'hard' formatting set which deviates from the underlying master and needs resetting to be consistent. You can also reset individual slides to the master style, but this may result in placeholders moving as well, which may be undesirable in some situations.

PowerPoint 2013

View → Outline → select all slides (in a left menu) via Ctrl + A .
Review → Language → Set Proofing Language... → Choose your language to set.

As for me - PowerPoint restart was needed. Probably because I also did changed Editing Language :

Review → Language → Set Proofing Language... → Language Preferences → Choose Editing Languages .

66 Thanks for answer, but after changing the language, the newly typed text is still in the previous language (the default one). Moreover, if you go to the master slides, select the slide , you'll notice, that the language in the language bar is still the default one, and the menu to change it is greyed out. I'm getting crazy that it haven't been solved by Microsoft for so many years. – Endrju Commented Apr 25, 2014 at 14:52
9 Powerpoint is just shockingly bad isn't it? I actually miss using open office when I have issues like this. I'll be back to open office as soon as they support saving to a video. – mjaggard Commented Oct 9, 2015 at 14:06
4 Main limitation of this is that if someone in their infinite wisdom created custom text box instead of using proper Title+Content layouts, this just won't work. – Lilienthal Commented Sep 18, 2018 at 13:42
6 Does not work for me as soon as I select multiple slides or even multiple elements on a slide I'm not able to select the language anymore. Maybe due to a very broken master slide, I don't know – Kai Commented May 13, 2020 at 15:52
11 It's absolutely CRAZY that this shit piece of software will not let me once and for ever switch the language used in a presentation deck for good. Yes, you can select all and change it - but every new slide again is presented with the wrong language set... – Zordid Commented Oct 27, 2020 at 13:13

Using Powerpoint 2010 I opened the Outline menu -

Selected all text (Ctrl+A), opened the language menu and set my proofing language

And it worked!

The language menu is located on the Review ribbon tab (after the Slide Show tab and not visible on the screenshot).

5 Only works for a single slide – Helge Klein Commented Oct 16, 2013 at 8:12
19 This works for basic slide layouts. It will not change the language for text inside text boxes or nested within other shapes. – Duncan Jones Commented Nov 25, 2013 at 9:53
Works on Office 2007 too. – Alfredo Osorio Commented Nov 12, 2014 at 19:03
Worked on Office Mac too. – Jim McKeeth Commented Nov 13, 2014 at 18:35

I improved upon Inigo's answer to provide a recursive version that changes all items to the desired language.

This version will recursively investigate each shape that is a group type. Some experimentation suggests that msoGroup and msoSmartArt are the group types - feel free to add to that list if you find other types of shapes that can hold text objects.

2 When running this in PowerPoint 16.10 on OSX, I get: Compile error: Method or data member not found – Etienne Low-Décarie Commented Feb 17, 2018 at 20:20
Thanks a lot for this brilliant solution. If I want the US English, can I just change msoLanguageIDEnglishUK to msoLanguageIDEnglishUS ? – Foad Commented Dec 10, 2020 at 7:40
one other issue I just saw is that it apparently doesn't change the language of the text inside tables. – Foad Commented Dec 10, 2020 at 7:53
1 For those new to Macros (on PowerPoint), help yourself: ionos.com/digitalguide/online-marketing/online-sales/… – Nadjib Mami Commented Jan 5, 2021 at 22:37
Got "Execution error" on line targetShape.TextFrame.TextRange.languageID = languageID with Office 365. – Hebo Commented Apr 28, 2023 at 13:40

The existing answers work for text that is present in the outline. Unfortunately in my case this didn't cover a significant part of the text, including figures, tables, etc.

This macro solved the problem for me :

The "msoLanguageIDEnglishUS" which is used in the above macro can be replaced by any desired language. The full list of languages can be found in this article

(Credit goes to Ganesh Kumar who posted the original macro here . I added support for first level of shape grouping. To further improve it the macro can be made recursive to look for groups which contain other groups, etc.)

+1 Good start. See my answer for a fully recursive version based on this answer. – Duncan Jones Commented Nov 25, 2013 at 9:52

Based on Inigo, Duncan, Maria and DomDev's answers, this works for shapes, tables, groups, SmartArt, now and in the future:

As for other solutions, on when running this in PowerPoint 16.10 on OSX, I get: Compile error: Method or data member not found . Any suggested solutions? It seems to highlight .DefaultLanguageID . – Etienne Low-Décarie Commented Feb 17, 2018 at 20:27
@EtienneLow-Décarie: The API might have changed in PowerPoint 16; I don't have it so I can't check, sorry. – tricasse Commented Feb 19, 2018 at 10:06
Works for me in Powerpoint 2016 on Windows 7 (exact MS Office version is 16.0.11029.20108) – Christopher K. Commented Dec 19, 2018 at 16:18
1 Perfect! Only improvement I could think of is changing the language for slide notes sections, too :) – Marcus Mangelsdorf Commented Apr 17, 2019 at 9:10
The compile error above is because the LanguageID property was not included in the TextFrame object in later PowerPoint versions. Use TextFrame2 instead of TextFrame... – markussvensson Commented Jun 2, 2021 at 13:42

In addition to answer provided by Mastergalen and to address comments regarding newly type text:

If you will notice, that language will automatically change back whenever you start to type new text (which is very annoying), you have to change current default language for PowerPoint:

make sure PowerPoint window is an active window
if not go to Control Panel > Region and Language > Keyboards and Languages . Click Change keybords... , switch to Language bar tab and check Docked in the taskbar option. (this is from Win7, so might be a bit different in other versions).
now key action - in the Language bar in the taskbar, click language code and switch to EN (if you want currently to use English in PowerPoint). From now on, all new text in PowerPoint will be in the selected language :-)
if you want write in your original language, just change it back.

3 But that also changes the keyboard layout, doesn't it?... I want to type English text but I really want to keep my German keyboard layout.... – Johannes S. Commented Jul 16, 2018 at 12:53
2 @JohannesS. If you right click En in the task bar and select Settings.. you will see in Installed languages German (DE) and English (En), if you expand English, there will be Keyboards listed, expand Keyboards, and add your prefered German keyboard, probably remove English one also. I didnt try it, but should work in theory ;-) – Gas Commented Jul 16, 2018 at 21:24
4 Wait, so I need to change my keyboard language if I want to have different proofing language? That's stupid. – Matěj Račinský Commented Apr 4, 2019 at 21:38
1 This is THE answer. I changed the preferred language to English with Hungarian keyboard. Nothing else worked well. If you don't do something like this then all your new English text will be all underlined even if you type in a text box that you previously select all-d to English. It's crazy. – Piedone Commented Nov 23, 2019 at 13:47
1 @MatějRačinský no, you need to change the input language, not your keyboard layout. Windows is smart enough to distinguish between the two, so you can enter Spanish text with a French keyboard layout, and PowerPoint will check Spanish spelling. That is actually quite smart. To configure, in Windows 10 21H1, go to Language settings. You configure a list of Preferred languages at the bottom, and for each one, you can choose a (potentially different) keyboard layout. The language bar then allows you to switch between languages as well as betwen layouts independently. – bers Commented Apr 30, 2021 at 8:45

The version of Duncan works well for everything but tables. I found another code which seems to also work with tables: https://stackoverflow.com/questions/4735765/powerpoint-2007-set-language-on-tables-charts-etc-that-contains-text

1 This seems to have worked on Office 365 – Hebo Commented Apr 28, 2023 at 13:39
Powerpoint is around since 1990, and one has to mess with flippin' VB to change the language for the entire presentation. Somewhat pathetic. Nevertheless, thanks for the script. It seems to have worked on my Powerpoint for Microsoft365 (Version 2304 Build 16.0.something.something) – Dohn Joe Commented May 12, 2023 at 14:52

I made an add-in back in 2014 for myself which still works fine in PowerPoint 2016. https://github.com/wobba/officeaddin/releases/tag/v1.0.1

It scans for used languages, and allows you to change all at once, looping over.

1 really - this didn't make it into Powerpoint itself and is only available for windows? – Wolfgang Fahl Commented Dec 13, 2020 at 15:45
I know.. and the add-in model using javascript don't support iterating over object setting the language :( – Mikael Svenson Commented Dec 21, 2020 at 13:43
Does not appear in Office 365, sadly – MappaM Commented Aug 4, 2022 at 9:44
1 The add-in still works fine in Windows desktop version of PowerPoint. But not for Online web version as the API does not support setting language. – Mikael Svenson Commented Oct 16, 2022 at 8:33

If other methods don't help, unexpected changes of the language may also be caused by the language setting in the slide master.

In order to change it, go to View > Slide Master , select the parent-most master slide, select all elements, and change the language as described in the accepted answer . The change should propagate to all layouts, though placeholder text will remain in the original language.

If possible, the clean solution is to use a template configured with the correct language. However, depending on company-mandated templates / the office installation, or simply when trying to fix an existing file, this might not be possible.

It doesn't work on 365 v2008 build 13127.21064. Powerpoint always detect languages even if they are not in the list of language preferences. At the moment i have to go to every text box, select all, and set the "proofing language" to the desired and default. Powerpoint is a really unprofessional software – Daniel Perez Commented Jan 29, 2021 at 9:23
If only it was as simple as that :) – MappaM Commented Oct 16, 2023 at 6:58

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Home Blog PowerPoint Tutorials How to Change Language in PowerPoint

How to Change Language in PowerPoint

People who require juggling multiple languages to suit their professional needs can often find a single language inadequate for their PPT and the interface. This might mean switching between the proofing language to check spelling and grammar, as well as the interface language to adjust it to editing needs. Below are instructions on how to change language in PowerPoint.

If you are a Google Slides user looking for this solution, please refer to our article on how to change language in Google Slides .

Should I change Proofing Language or Interface Language?

PowerPoint enables using multiple languages that you can switch between to match your presentation needs. Most commonly, users require to change the proofing language in PowerPoint, which means changing the grammar checker assigned language.

In case you are working at a remote location with a borrowed computer, you may be required to change the interface language of PowerPoint, as it would feel uncomfortable to locate menus or specific tools.

Check below for the instructions to change both the language interface and proofing language in PowerPoint.

How to Change PPT Language Interface in PowerPoint

To change the language of the PowerPoint interface on a PC, go to Review > Language > Language Preferences .

Note: Follow the following instructions for other devices:

Mac: If you are using Mac, you can change the interface language via the Apple menu from System Preferences > Language & Region .
iPhone/iPad/Android: iOS and Android users, by default, will see the language set for their device as the default language in PowerPoint.
PowerPoint for the Web: If you are using PowerPoint for the Web, it uses the same language as the host app of your documents, such as OneDrive, SharePoint, Dropbox, etc.

find the language preferences in PowerPoint to change language interface

The Language Preferences option provides a menu from which you can choose the language you intend to use from the Office display language menu. The menu allows adding the new and preferred language and the one to be used if the text is unavailable for the primary language. To remove a specific language from the list, select it from the Office authoring languages and proofing menu at the bottom and click Remove .

adding a new language to change language interface in PowerPoint

If you are installing a new language, it will take a few minutes before it is installed and ready for use.

selecting a new language in PowerPoint from the available languages and variants

You can switch between languages anytime by following the same steps and managing your preferred list for the interface.

setting language preferences in PowerPoint

The selected language will become available for PowerPoint and other Office apps such as Word and Excel. The default preferences you set will also be applied across your Office apps.

PowerPoint's interface shown with changed language

How to Change Proofing Language in PowerPoint

Whether you’re using PowerPoint on a PC or an Android or iOS device, you might have multiple keyboards installed to type in various languages when creating PPTs for different audiences. To set and change the proofing language, go to Review > Language > Set Proofing Language on a PC or Tools > Language on Mac. If you’re using PowerPoint for the Web, go to Review > Spelling & Grammar > Set Proofing Language .

In the dialog box, select the language for checking spelling and grammar. When selecting a proofing language, you can also set a default language.

picking the proofing language in PowerPoint

Once selected, PowerPoint will check the spelling and grammar in your desired proofing language. PowerPoint provides the utility to choose between specific languages and the version of the language preferred by the user (e.g., European or Latin American versions of Spanish).

correcting grammar and spelling in a different language in PowerPoint

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How to change your language settings in Microsoft PowerPoint in 3 different ways

You can change the language in PowerPoint in three different ways to help with editing or translating, or to set your display settings in another language.
To change the language settings in PowerPoint for editing purposes, you'll need to access the "Language..." option in the "Tools" tab.
To translate text, you can launch the Translator tool instead.
If you're looking to change the display language, you'll have to change your operating system settings.
Visit Business Insider's Tech Reference library for more stories .

If you want to change the language in PowerPoint, the presentation program offers you three different options depending on what you need.

You can change the editing language, which tells PowerPoint how to edit text as you type in your preferred language. This may prove particularly helpful if you've been sent a slideshow to edit that's written in another language.

You can also select "Translate…" to use the Translator tool on text in real-time, though Microsoft Office notes that this feature is only available for users with an Office 365 subscription, Office 2019 for Mac or Windows. This feature allows you to highlight entire text boxes or individual words and transform your presentation text any of the languages PowerPoint offers.

Lastly, you change the display language on PowerPoint by altering your operating system's language setting. On a Mac, depending on the language, you may be asked to add input sources.

None of these options affects the others, so you can have different languages for edits, slide text, and display. Here's how to change all three language settings in PowerPoint.

Check out the products mentioned in this article:

Microsoft office (from $149.99 at best buy), apple macbook pro (from $1,299.00 at apple), acer chromebook 15 (from $179.99 at walmart), how to change the powerpoint editing language.

1. Open PowerPoint on your Mac or PC.

2. Click the "Tools" tab on the top menu.

3. Select "Language…" from the dropdown menu.

4 . In the pop-up window that appears, scroll and select a language from the list.

5. Check the box for "Do not check spelling or grammar" if you don't want PowerPoint to use the language for proofreading.

6. Click the "Set As Default" button if applicable.

7. Click the "Yes" button to proceed.

How to use the PowerPoint Translator Tool for text

1. Open PowerPoint and click "Tools."

2. Choose "Translate..." from the dropdown menu.

3 . The "Translator" window on the right side of your presentation screen will open.

4. Click a text box that you'd like to translate. The text will appear in the white box in the Translator window.

5. Select a language from the "To:" dropdown menu. The translated text will appear in the blue box below.

6. Click "Insert" to insert that translated text in a new text box on the slide. You can then move the text box and resize it as needed.

7. You can also highlight individual words or sentences with different translations appearing below the blue box, depending on the context. Click the three dots to view a sample sentence.

8. Choose "Insert" when you're ready to substitute.

How to change the PowerPoint display language on Mac

1. Click the Apple icon on your Mac.

2. Select "System Preferences…" from the dropdown menu.

3. Click the "Language & Region" option in the first row.

4. Toggle to the individual "Apps" menu.

5. Click the (+) icon in the lower right of the window.

6. Select "Microsoft PowerPoint" from the "Application:" dropdown menu.

7. Select your preferred language from the "Language:" dropdown menu below.

8. Click the "Add" button.

9. Restart the app when prompted.

How to change the PowerPoint display language on PC

1. Sign on to an Administrator account.

2. Select the Start button.

3. Choose Settings.

4. In the window, click Time & Language.

5. Select the Language option.

6. Choose a language from the Windows display language dropdown.

Related coverage from Tech Reference :

How to download and access microsoft powerpoint on your mac computer, how to convert google slides to a powerpoint presentation in 4 easy steps, how to embed a youtube video into your microsoft powerpoint presentations using a mac or pc, how to convert a powerpoint to google slides in 2 different ways, yes, you can use microsoft word on a chromebook — here's how to install it.

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Blog > How to change languages in PowerPoint

How to change languages in PowerPoint

01.01.20 • #powerpointtips.

In this post you will learn how to change languages in PowerPoint. Watch our video-tutorial or follow the steps listed down below!

First, select File in the PowerPoint menu. Then go to Options – a window will open. Select Languages . You can change both editing language (to check spelling and grammar) and display language (defines language of tabs and features). If your desired language is already in the menu, you can simply click on it and then select Set as default – Close PowerPoint and restart – your language should be changed now, and you are all done. If you cannot find the language you want, click on Get more display and help languages from Office.com and proceed with the next step.

The Office-webpage now opens. Scroll down a little and you will see a selection box that asks you what language you need. Choose the one you want. In a grey box, two different versions for download show up: 32-bit and 64-bit. To check which one you need, simply go to your computer settings > System > About . Under Device Specifications , you will see whether you have a 32 or 64-bit operating system. Download the version that matches it.

Install the language you just downloaded. To do so, just follow the instructions you get during the installation process. Once that is finished, we will repeat what we did in the first step ( File > Options > Languages ) Your new language should appear now. Click on it, press Set as default and close the Options-window. Next time you start PowerPoint, the language will be changed.

How can I change the language in PowerPoint?

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How to change language in PowerPoint

If you create PowerPoint presentations in different languages from time to time you’ll know that the language settings can change – seemingly unpredictably – as you work. Indeed, if you have ever created a PowerPoint presentation in another language than the one you usually use, this has probably happened to you.

This guide will teach you how to set the text (authoring and proofing) language in a PowerPoint presentation. Also, you will learn how to change the language of buttons and menus, and how to install a new language.

Change text language in PowerPoint

There are a few ways to change the text editing language in Microsoft Office PowerPoint which will set the proofing language for your spelling and grammar check. The simplest is the following:

Select the text you are working on
Click the ‘Language’ button to the left in the Status Bar at the bottom of your PowerPoint window ( or go to the ‘Review’ tab, ‘Language’ group, click ‘Language’, select ‘Set Proofing Language’ in the drop-down menu)
Select the language you want
Click ‘Ok’

Setting the same editing language for all text boxes and shapes on a single slide :

Click on the slide
Press ‘Ctrl-A’ to select all elements on the slide
Click the ‘Language’ button to the left in the Status Bar at the bottom of your PowerPoint window
Select your the language you want
Press ‘Ok’

You can continue to do this for all your slides, but if you are working on a large presentation this might not be very practical. In that case, you can try the following.

Change language of placeholders across all slides in a PowerPoint presentation :

Go to the ‘View’ tab
Select ‘Outline View’ in the ‘Presentation Views’ group to the left
Click on a slide in the view pane to the left
Press ‘Ctrl-A’ to select all slides

This will change the language of all placeholder elements in your presentation. These include elements that have been defined in your slide master, e.g., tagline placeholders, text placeholders, content placeholders, etc. Unfortunately, any text boxes, shapes, or other elements, that have been added to the presentation and are not present in the slidemaster used will not be affected. In this case you need to change the language of each slide as described above or use an addin such as Ampler for PowerPoint which automatically sets the language across the entire presentation.

Change the language of buttons and menus in Microsoft Office PowerPoint

To change the display language in PowerPoint, i.e., the language of buttons, menus and controls, follow these steps:

Go to the ‘File’ tab
Select ‘Options’ in the menu to the left
Select ‘Language’ the menu to the left in the dialog box
Select the default language you want
Select ‘Set as Preferred’

If the language you want is not listed, follow the steps below.

Add a new language

If your preferred display language is not available in PowerPoint, you can download and install it from the Microsoft Office support page. This is also the case if you change the text language of a PowerPoint presentation and the spelling and grammar check does not seem to work (you will not get an error message if your language is not installed). Just follow these steps to add a new display or proofing language:

Select the ‘Install additional display languages from Office.com’ link
Follow the instructions on the webpage

This will guide you through download and install of display, help, and proofing tools for the language you want. Be aware that all install menus will also be in the selected language!

Automatically set language of all slides in a PowerPoint presentation (and keep it!)

The above steps might help you in setting a language for your PowerPoint presentation, but to change the language for all elements on all slides across your presentation, you need to do a lot of manual work. This is one of the main reasons I use Ampler for PowerPoint.

Ampler automatically sets the language for all elements on all slides in your entire presentation with just a click – no need for all the tedious, manual formatting!

Free trial download here:

Ampler for PowerPoint

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How To Change Language In PowerPoint

Looking to enhance your PowerPoint presentations by changing the language to better communicate with non-native speakers or customize your content for a specific audience?

From accessing language settings to avoiding common mistakes, this article will provide you with valuable tips and tricks to ensure a seamless language transition in your presentations.

Key Takeaways:

Why change language in powerpoint.

When you customize the language in your PowerPoint presentation, you open up avenues for better audience engagement. By speaking to people in their preferred language, you demonstrate respect for their identity and enhance inclusivity within your presentation. This thoughtful gesture can significantly impact how your message is received, leading to increased comprehension and retention among viewers. Using different languages can help you convey complex ideas more clearly, making your content accessible to a wider range of individuals.

Communicate with Non-native Speakers

Making presentations accessible to a global audience involves more than just visual aids. Language plays a crucial role in connecting with diverse viewers. By adjusting the language settings in your slides, you can break through communication barriers and foster deeper engagement.

Customize Presentations for Specific Audiences

By customizing your presentation through language changes, you can better resonate with the audience, making the content more relatable and impactful. When presenting in a language familiar to the audience, you demonstrate respect for their culture and preferences, fostering a deeper connection. This level of personalization showcases your attention to detail and commitment to effective communication. Cultural sensitivity plays a crucial role in ensuring that your message is received positively, avoiding any misunderstandings or misinterpretations.

How to Change Language in PowerPoint

Here, you can customize the proofing options such as spelling and grammar checking . You can also change the display language for commands, buttons, and tabs within PowerPoint to match your preferred language . Once you have made your desired changes, click ‘OK’ to save your new settings.

Step 1: Access the Language Settings

To change the language in PowerPoint, the first step is to access the language settings through the ‘Review’ tab and select the desired language option.

Upon clicking on the language settings, a drop-down menu will appear, presenting you with a list of available languages. Take your time to select the language that you feel most comfortable working in, taking into consideration your audience and the overall design aesthetics of your presentation.

Step 2: Select the Language You Want to Use

Whether you need to present in English, Spanish, French, or any other supported language, PowerPoint offers a wide range of options to cater to your specific needs.

Step 3: Change the Default Language for New Presentations

By navigating to the ‘Options’ or ‘Preferences’ menu in your PowerPoint application, you can access the ‘Language’ settings. Here, you will find a list of available languages to choose from, allowing you to select the one that best aligns with your content requirements.

Step 4: Change the Language for Existing Presentations

To modify the language settings in PowerPoint, follow these simple steps:

By changing the text language, you ensure that spell check and other language-specific features work accurately. Consistency in language usage across your slides is crucial for maintaining professionalism and conveying your message clearly to your audience.

Tips for Changing Language in PowerPoint

Utilize language dictionaries to ensure the correctness of translated text and proper use of language-specific terms. Check for language-specific fonts to maintain consistency and readability across different languages.

It’s also helpful to create test presentations to practice language changes and identify any potential issues beforehand.

Use a Language Dictionary for Accurate Translations

Language dictionaries play a pivotal role in ensuring that the text and content of your PowerPoint presentation are accurately translated from one language to another. These resources provide comprehensive lists of words, phrases, and expressions in multiple languages, helping you avoid potential errors or misinterpretations.

Check for Language-specific Fonts and Symbols

Language changes in a PowerPoint presentation can significantly impact how your content is perceived. When transitioning between languages, visual elements should remain seamless to ensure clarity for viewers. Consistency in font choices and symbols is crucial in upholding the professional look of your slides across different linguistic contexts. Remember that design elements play a crucial role in enhancing the overall message you wish to convey.

Practice-Changing Language in a Test Presentation

By dedicating time to test out different language styles and changes in PowerPoint, you can increase your familiarity with the tools available to you, dampening the chances of making mistakes in crucial situations. This rehearsal not only serves as a preventive measure against errors but also contributes to boosting your confidence when using the software. Remember, repetition is key in mastering any skill, so don’t hesitate to run through a few trial presentations to refine your language transition process.

Common Mistakes When Changing Language in PowerPoint

Selecting the incorrect language setting can cause confusion and misinterpretation of text, impacting the overall message of the presentation.

Not Saving Changes

When you switch the language settings in PowerPoint to suit your audience or collaborators, it’s essential to remember that these changes need to be saved. Failing to do so can lead to errors in formatting and even misunderstandings during your presentation. To avoid this issue, always make sure to save the language preferences after customization by navigating to the File tab and selecting Save or Save As . This simple step ensures that your language modifications are retained, facilitating seamless communication and maintaining the integrity of your content.

Choosing the Wrong Language

Not checking for language compatibility.

Failing to verify language compatibility across different PowerPoint features and content elements can result in formatting issues and inconsistencies within your presentations.

Customizing the language in PowerPoint allows presenters to tailor their message to different audiences, making it more relatable and comprehensible. By adjusting the language settings, presenters can enhance user engagement and ensure the message resonates effectively. This customization feature not only aids in better communication but also reflects respect for diverse linguistic backgrounds among viewers, fostering a more inclusive environment. These language adjustments help break down language barriers, ensuring clarity and optimizing the overall presentation impact.

By exploring Microsoft’s official support documentation , attending online tutorials by expert presenters, or engaging with PowerPoint communities on platforms like Reddit or TechNet, users can delve deeper into the nuances of language customization. Effectively maneuvering these settings not only personalizes your presentations but also helps you communicate with diverse audiences more effectively.

Frequently Asked Questions

1. how do i change the language in powerpoint.

To change the language in PowerPoint, go to the “File” tab and select “Options” from the menu. In the “Powerpoint Options” window, click on “Language” in the left sidebar. From there, you can choose your desired language from the dropdown menu and click “Set as Default” to save the changes.

2. Can I change the language for just one slide?

3. what if the language i need is not listed in the options.

If the language you need is not listed in the options, you can click on “Add additional editing languages” at the bottom of the list. This will take you to the Microsoft Office Language Preferences, where you can download and install the language you need for PowerPoint.

4. Can I change the language for the entire presentation?

5. will changing the language affect the formatting of my presentation, 6. how can i tell which language is currently being used in my presentation.

To see which language is currently being used in your presentation, go to the “Review” tab and click on “Language” in the “Proofing” section. The current language will be listed at the top of the dropdown menu.

Changing Languages in PowerPoint

Looking to wow your colleagues, boss or maybe your fellow students with your presentations? Then Microsoft PowerPoint is probably your go-to choice. Thanks to this program, you can breathe new life into even the driest topics and guarantee your audience an entertaining presentation.

One really handy PowerPoint feature is its language settings and built-in spell checker. It’s like having your own personal, real-time proofreader.

But what if you have to write your presentation in a different language? No problem – you can change the language settings with a few simple clicks. We’ll show you exactly how this works, how to change a slide to English and everything else you need to know about changing the language in PowerPoint.

In addition, we’ll explain the limitations of PowerPoint’s language capabilities and how using a spell check language switcher add-in can save you a lot of time and hassle.

Changing languages in PowerPoint – it’s easy

While PowerPoint is extremely useful, some people aren’t familiar with it and find it a bit too complicated. If this sounds like you, here’s something that may surprise you: it only takes a few clicks to change languages. Even complete computer newbies will find it easy. We’ve prepared a step-by-step, foolproof guide for you. Here’s what to do:

Once you have Microsoft PowerPoint open, you’ll see the File tab at the very top left of your document. Click on it once.

A panel will open with a list of actions to choose from. At the very bottom left of this list, you’ll find Options . Click it once to open the Options window.

Now click Language . This will open a long list of different language functions to choose from. But what exactly do they do?

Editing language

The authoring language is the one used in the document. The authoring language you select will be detected by the spelling and grammar checker. After making your selection, be sure to click Set as Default to finalize your choice.

Display and help language

The display and help languages specify which language is used for the entire PowerPoint menu. Normally, both should be set to the same language. To change these, select a language from the list then click on Set as Default .

You’re all set! Your language preferences will remain active until you make another change. And since PowerPoint belongs to MS Office, your changes will apply to other programs, like Word, too.

Changing language on all slides in PowerPoint

Maybe you’ve already created a presentation and want to change the language setting to proof it. Or maybe you have a document that was written in a different language than the one currently used by your Office programs.

Does this mean you have to rewrite everything or painstakingly double-check every red, squiggly line in the document? Thankfully, no. In fact, you can change the language and apply it to documents that have already been written. Here’s how that works.

Open your PowerPoint presentation and click the View tab. This is located at the top in the same row as File and Start .

Select Outline View . A small pane will open on the left displaying only the text for all slides in the presentation.

Hit Crtl + A , click the Review tab and make your selection under Language .

Changing the language for specific text passages in PowerPoint

Maybe you have some quotes in your presentation in a different language and you want to make sure the spelling and grammar are correct. It’s not a problem in PowerPoint. Just follow these steps:

Highlight the text passage in the other language with your mouse.

Click the Review tab at the top of the screen.

You can now change the language settings for the selected text passages. It’s that simple.

Change language settings in PowerPoint for Mac

If you’ re looking for how to make these same changes in PowerPoint for Mac, we’ve got you covered.

Open PowerPoint and go to Tools > Language .

Select the language you would like to work in and click Ok .

Select Default to make it the default language for all new documents.

Change the language for individual text passages in PowerPoint for Mac

Changing the language for selected text passages is no problem at all.

Go to menu item: Tools > Language…

In the Mark selected text as box , select the language from the list.

But what happens if you want to use more than two languages in your presentation? Here’s where the program reaches its limits, quickly becoming overwhelmed and confused. Not to worry though, we have the perfect solution to that problem.

Language Add-in for PowerPoint

If you work often with Office programs, chances are you’re a fan of the built-in spell check function. But, if you’ve ever had to prepare a PowerPoint presentation that uses not one, but several languages, then you’ve probably noticed that this spellchecker does have limitations .

Sure, you could mark each text passage, change the language setting and rinse and repeat until you’ve checked the entire document. But do you really want to invest so much time and work when there’s an easier solution out there? Thanks to the Spell Check Language Switcher add-in , this painstaking work is no longer necessary. You can find the Add-In here .

Change language settings with just one click

The Spell Check Language Switcher add-in makes changing language settings easy. You can quickly change individual text fields, grouped elements, notes and even tables to the language of your choice. The add-in provides four different language buttons in the Review tab.

You can change the default languages (German, British English, American English and French) according to your own preferences. Other available languages include Russian, Chinese, Spanish, Greek and Turkish.

With the Spell Check Language Switcher add-in, you can:

run a quick spell check in multiple languages.
quickly access your four preferred languages.
spell check all slide content – from bullet points, tables and more.

The Spell Checker Language Switcher add-in is compatible with all PowerPoint versions from 2010 on and is installed in seconds. Once you decide to use this program, we’ll email your license key within 48 hours. Click here to get the Add-In.

Changing languages in PowerPoint is easy

Changing languages in PowerPoint is no big deal and requires no expertise. Just follow our step-by-step, hassle-free instructions.

It only starts to get tricky when different languages are used in the same document. If you’ve faced this problem and want to avoid marking every single language and changing the settings, the Spell Check Language Switcher add-in is definitely the right tool for you. With this tool, language changes with a simple click. Nothing will stand in the way of stress-free preparation and a successful presentation.

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How To Change The Language Of PowerPoint: A Complete Tutorial

October 2, 2023

PowerPoint is an easy-to-use program with an interface similar to other Microsoft Office Programs. Even better, it allows you to create presentations in different languages for use by a mixed global audience. But how do you change the language in PowerPoint?

There are three methods on how to change the language of PowerPoint. For starters, you can modify the language for selected texts in the presentation. Alternatively, you can modify the language for the whole application. You can also alter the language for a particular presentation.

So, do these methods work? In this step-by-step guide, we will discuss all of this and more.

How To Change The PowerPoint Language?

As I said, There are at least 3 ways you can alter the language of PowerPoint. Let’s discuss how each works.

Method 1: Change The Language For Specific Text In A Presentation

This is the easiest method of changing your PowerPoint’s language by choosing a specific text. It involves the following:

Step 1: Start your PowerPoint application and select “New” . Then, click on “Blank Presentation” .

Step 2: Next, highlight the text on the presentation that you would like to change the language. If it is the entire text, right-click on the text and press “Ctrl + A” on your keyboard if using a Windows computer. But if using a Mac, press “Command+A” .

Step 3: From the left sidebar at the bottom of your PowerPoint window, Choose “Language” . A new pop-up window will appear with different languages.

Step 4: Choose your preferred language from the list and click “Default” . On the popup window that appears, click “Yes” to set the language. Then, press the “OK” button. Your presentation should now appear in the new language.

Method 2: Change The Language for The Entire PowerPoint Application

In this method, you get to modify the editing and display language for the whole PowerPoint and Microsoft Word applications. Here is how to do it.

Step 1: Open your PowerPoint on your Windows computer. Here is how it should look like:

Step 2: Once you have opened the application, click on “Options” at the bottom part of the left sidebar.

Step 3: A pop-up window will appear after clicking ‘’Options”. Select “Language” on the left sidebar.

Step 4: Under the Office Display Language, choose your desired language if it’s already in the menu. Then, click on “Set as Preferred” from the right sidebar and press “OK” .

Step 5: Next, a pop-up window will appear, asking you to restart Office so the language modifications can be implemented. Click the “OK” button and close your PowerPoint application. Then, open the program again.

Step 6: If your preferred language is unavailable, click “Add a Language” from the right sidebar. Then, choose the language you want to use from the list and click “Install” .

Step 8: After installing the new language, this pop-up window will appear. Click “Continue” to close and restart your PowerPoint application and allow the modifications to take effect.

Method 3: Change The Language For A Specific Presentation

This is also a relatively easy way to alter the language of PowerPoint, but only for a particular presentation. Here are step-by-step instructions on how it works:

Step 1: Start your PowerPoint application. Then, click on the tab “New” from the top left sidebar. Next, choose “Blank Presentation” .

Step 2: On the top menu, click the “Review” tab if you have a Windows computer. If using a Mac, select the “Tools” tab instead.

Step 4: A new language dialog box will pop up. From the Office Display Language, choose your desired language. Then, click on “Set as Preferred” from the right sidebar. Next, press the “OK” button.

Step 6: If you would like to alter the proofing language, select your preferred under the Office Authoring Languages and Proofing. Then, click on the “Set as Preferred” button.

Step 8: If your desired language is unavailable in the Office Display Language list, click on “Add a Language” to install it.

If you are using a Mac computer, watch this video on how to change the PowerPoint language:

Troubleshooting Tips for Changing PowerPoint Language

Sometimes, you may experience problems while trying to change the language of PowerPoint. Below are a few troubleshooting tips that could help you.

Before attempting to alter the language, ensure your Office 365 subscription supports the language you want to use for PowerPoint.
Make sure your PowerPoint application is up-to-date. Outdated versions may have bugs or compatibility problems.
If you have set multiple language preferences in PowerPoint, try clearing them and restart the program. Then, modify the language.
Clean the cache and delete any temporary files related to PowerPoint.
Delete and reinstall the Microsoft Office, including PowerPoint. This could help fix any corrupted files, causing the issue.
Alternatively, restart your PC and try to alter the language once more.
If all the above options don’t yield results, you can reach out to Microsoft Support for further assistance.

When presenting to a diverse audience from different countries and cultures, knowing how to change PowerPoint language is crucial. It is the only way to serve them better. The good news is that there are several easy ways to make the modifications.

However, some methods only allow you to modify the language for selected text and others for the entire presentation. So, you must carefully choose the best one that matches your needs. With that said, if you counter challenges while trying to alter the language, there are various troubleshooting tips to help you.

How to change your language settings in Microsoft PowerPoint in 3 different ways

Marissa perino .

You can change the language in PowerPoint in three different ways to help with editing or translating, or to set your display settings in another language.
To change the language settings in PowerPoint for editing purposes, you'll need to access the "Language..." option in the "Tools" tab.
To translate text, you can launch the Translator tool instead.
If you're looking to change the display language, you'll have to change your operating system settings.

If you want to change the language in PowerPoint, the presentation program offers you three different options depending on what you need.

Lastly, you change the display language on PowerPoint by altering your operating system's language setting. On a Mac, depending on the language, you may be asked to add input sources.

None of these options affects the others, so you can have different languages for edits, slide text, and display. Here's how to change all three language settings in PowerPoint.

Check out the products mentioned in this article:

Microsoft office (from $149.99 at best buy), apple macbook pro (from $1,299.00 at apple), acer chromebook 15 (from $179.99 at walmart), how to change the powerpoint editing language.

1. Open PowerPoint on your Mac or PC .

2. Click the "Tools" tab on the top menu.

3. Select "Language…" from the dropdown menu.

4 . In the pop-up window that appears, scroll and select a language from the list.

5. Check the box for "Do not check spelling or grammar" if you don't want PowerPoint to use the language for proofreading.

6. Click the "Set As Default" button if applicable.

7. Click the "Yes" button to proceed.

How to use the PowerPoint Translator Tool for text

1. Open PowerPoint and click "Tools."

2. Choose "Translate..." from the dropdown menu.

3 . The "Translator" window on the right side of your presentation screen will open.

4. Click a text box that you'd like to translate. The text will appear in the white box in the Translator window.

5. Select a language from the "To:" dropdown menu. The translated text will appear in the blue box below.

6. Click "Insert" to insert that translated text in a new text box on the slide. You can then move the text box and resize it as needed.

7. You can also highlight individual words or sentences with different translations appearing below the blue box, depending on the context. Click the three dots to view a sample sentence.

8. Choose "Insert" when you're ready to substitute.

How to change the PowerPoint display language on Mac

1. Click the Apple icon on your Mac.

2. Select "System Preferences…" from the dropdown menu.

3. Click the "Language & Region" option in the first row.

4. Toggle to the individual "Apps" menu.

5. Click the (+) icon in the lower right of the window.

6. Select "Microsoft PowerPoint" from the "Application:" dropdown menu.

7. Select your preferred language from the "Language:" dropdown menu below.

8. Click the "Add" button.

9. Restart the app when prompted.

How to change the PowerPoint display language on PC

1. Sign on to an Administrator account.

2. Select the Start button.

3. Choose Settings.

4. In the window, click Time & Language.

5. Select the Language option.

6. Choose a language from the Windows display language dropdown.

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Present with real-time, automatic captions or subtitles in PowerPoint

PowerPoint for Microsoft 365 can transcribe your words as you present and display them on-screen as captions in the same language you are speaking, or as subtitles translated to another language. This can help accommodate individuals in the audience who may be deaf or hard of hearing, or more familiar with another language, respectively.

There are also position, size, color, and other appearance options for the captions and subtitles to accommodate different environments and audience needs.

For best results, we highly recommend using a headset microphone connected to the device running PowerPoint. Also, the feature requires a reliable internet connection throughout your presentation.

( Requires Windows 10 and later, with PowerPoint for Microsoft 365 version 16.0.11601.20178 or higher on Current Channel. The feature isn't supported if you're using an earlier version of Windows.)

Set up captions and subtitles

You can choose which language you want to speak while presenting, and which language the caption/subtitle text should be shown in (i.e. if you want it to be translated). You can select the specific microphone you want to be used (if there is more than one microphone connected to your device), the position where the subtitles appear on the screen (bottom or top, and overlaid or separate from slide), and other display options.

Always Use Subtitles checkbox in Slide Show tab

Use Spoken Language to see the voice languages that PowerPoint can recognize, and select the one you want. This is the language that you will be speaking while presenting. (By default, this will be set to the language corresponding to your Office editing language .)

Use Subtitle Language to see which languages PowerPoint can display on-screen as captions or subtitles, and select the one you want. This is the language of the text that will be shown to your audience. By default, this will be the same language as your Spoken Language, but it can be a different language, meaning that translation will occur.

In the Subtitle Settings menu, set the desired position of the captions or subtitles. They can appear over the top or bottom margin of the slide (overlaid), or they can appear above the top or below the bottom of the slide (docked). The default setting is Below Slide .

More appearance settings are available by clicking Subtitle Settings > More Settings (Windows) .

You can change the color, size, transparency, and font style of the subtitles. You can change the background to improve contrast and make text easier to read.

Turn the feature on or off while presenting

If you're in the middle of giving a presentation and want to turn the feature on or off, click the Toggle Subtitles button from Slide Show View or Presenter View, on the toolbar below the main slide:

In Slide Show View :

Toggle Subtitles button in PowerPoint Slide Show View.

In Presenter View :

You can also toggle subtitles from the right-click menu, or with the shortcut key J .

To have subtitles always start up when a Slide Show presentation starts, from the ribbon you can navigate to Slide Show > Always Use Subtitles to turn this feature on for all presentations. (By default, it's off.) Then, in Slide Show and Presenter View, a live transcription of your words will appear on-screen.

(This feature requires PowerPoint for Microsoft 365 for Mac version 16.22.127.0 or higher.)

On the Slide Show ribbon tab, select Subtitle Settings .

Settings for Captions and Subtitles are on the Slide Show tab in PowerPoint.

More appearance settings are available by clicking Subtitle Settings > System Caption Preferences .

The Toggle Subtitles button in PowerPoint Slide Show View.

(This feature is compatible with the following web browsers: Microsoft Edge, Google Chrome 34+, Mozilla Firefox 25+)

You can choose which language you want to speak while presenting, and which language the caption/subtitle text should be shown in (i.e., if you want it to be translated). You can also select whether subtitles appear at the top or bottom of the screen.

(Simplifed Ribbon) On the Slide Show ribbon tab, select the drop-down arrow next to Always Use Subtitles to open the menu of options.

(Classic Ribbon) On the View ribbon tab, select Use Subtitles . Then click Subtitle Settings to open the menu of options.

Use Subtitle Language to see which languages PowerPoint can display on-screen as captions or subtitles, and select the one you want. This is the language of the text that will be shown to your audience. (By default, this will be the same language as your Spoken Language, but it can be a different language, meaning that translation will occur.)

Set the desired position of the captions or subtitles: they can appear overlaid at the top or bottom margin of the slide. The default setting is Bottom (Overlaid) .

To have subtitles always start up when a Slide Show is presented, select View > Always Use Subtitles .

If you're in the middle of giving a presentation and want to turn the feature on or off, click the Use Subtitles button in Slide Show, on the toolbar below the main slide:

On/Off keyboard shortcut: J

If you see problems in the captions or subtitles, try speaking more deliberately.

Try to avoid or eliminate background noise that may interfere with your voice.

Captions & Subtitles depends on a cloud-based speech service, so it's important to have an internet connection that's fast and reliable.

Spoken languages supported by live captions & subtitles (voice input)

Several spoken languages are supported as voice input to live captions & subtitles in PowerPoint for Microsoft 365. The languages marked as Preview are offered in advance of full support, and generally will have somewhat lower accuracy, which will improve over time.

Fully supported languages	Preview languages *
Chinese (PRC)	Arabic
English (Canada)	Danish
English (United Kingdom)	Dutch
English (United States)	English (Australia)
French (France)	English (India)
German (Germany)	Finnish
Italian (Italy)	French (Canada)
Spanish (Spain)	Hindi
	Japanese
	Korean
	Norwegian
	Portuguese (Brazil)
	Russian
	Spanish (Mexico)
	Swedish

* "Preview Languages" are not as fully supported at this time. Our recognition of these languages will improve over time.

On-screen languages supported by live captions & subtitles (text output)

PowerPoint for Microsoft 365 can display captions or subtitles on-screen in any of more than 60 languages:

Afrikaans	Latvian
Arabic	Lithuanian
Bangla	Malagasy
Bosnian	Malay
Bulgarian	Maltese
Cantonese (Traditional)	Maori
Catalan	Norwegian (Bokmål)
Chinese (Simplified)	Persian
Chinese (Traditional)	Polish
Croatian	Portuguese
Czech	Querétaro Otomi
Danish	Romanian
Dutch	Russian
English	Samoan
Estonian	Serbian (Cyrillic)
Fijian	Serbian (Latin)
Filipino	Slovak
Finnish	Slovenian
French	Spanish
German	Swedish
Greek	Tahitian
Haitian Creole	Tamil
Hebrew	Telugu
Hindi	Thai
Hmong Daw	Tongan
Hungarian	Turkish
Icelandic	Ukranian
Indonesian	Urdu
Italian	Vietnamese
Japanese	Welsh
Kiswahili	Yucatec Maya
Korean

Important information about live captions & subtitles

PowerPoint live captions & subtitles is one of the cloud-enhanced features in Microsoft 365 and is powered by Microsoft Speech Services. Your speech utterances will be sent to Microsoft to provide you with this service. For more information, see Make Office Work Smarter for You .

Technical support for customers with disabilities

Microsoft wants to provide the best possible experience for all our customers. If you have a disability or questions related to accessibility, please contact the Microsoft Disability Answer Desk for technical assistance. The Disability Answer Desk support team is trained in using many popular assistive technologies and can offer assistance in English, Spanish, French, and American Sign Language. Please go to the Microsoft Disability Answer Desk site to find out the contact details for your region.

If you are a government, commercial, or enterprise user, please contact the enterprise Disability Answer Desk .

Accessibility features in video and audio playback on PowerPoint

Set up your device to work with accessibility in Microsoft 365

Make your PowerPoint presentations accessible

Manually add closed captions or subtitles in PowerPoint

Need more help?

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If you're presenting a slideshow to others who speak a different language, you can use subtitles in Microsoft PowerPoint. This helpful feature lets you talk to your audience without doing the work of translation yourself.

Related: How to Translate a Word Document

If you have members of your audience who speak a different language or dialect, you may contemplate translating the slides or even creating two versions of the presentation. But with the subtitles in Microsoft PowerPoint, you don't have to do either.

You can speak in your native tongue and show real-time captions of everything you say in another language of your choice. All you need is a connected and working microphone with a stable internet connection for the live translation. You can then talk through each slide so that everyone understands.

You might also consider using the subtitle feature if members of your audience are hard of hearing. You can simply display the captions in the same language as the spoken one.

Open your slideshow in PowerPoint and head to the Slide Show tab to set up the subtitles. On the right side of the ribbon, click "Subtitle Settings."

Use the drop-down list to select the Spoken Language, if necessary, and then the Subtitle Language from over 60 dialects.

If you have more than one microphone connected to your computer , choose the one you want to use in the Microphone pop-out menu.

Lastly, select the location for the subtitles to appear on the screen. You can show them overlaid on the top or bottom, or above or below the slide.

Adjust the Subtitle Appearance

You can also change the appearance of the subtitles including the font and background. Select the Subtitle Settings drop-down arrow and choose "More Settings (Windows)" on Windows or "System Caption Preferences" on Mac.

Related: How to Change the Appearance of Netflix's Subtitles

On Windows, you can choose the caption font color, transparency, style, size, and effects using the drop-down boxes. Additionally, you can pick a background color and opacity setting, and dim the window content to improve contrast.

On Mac, you can select a preset option like Transparent Background, Classic, or Outline Text. To customize the background color and opacity along with the font color, size, style, and more, click the plus sign at the bottom of the preset list.

Once you have your subtitles set up, they're ready to use. You can enable subtitles by default or toggle them on and off during your presentation.

To use subtitles automatically, check the box for Always Use Subtitles above the Subtitle Settings in the ribbon.

You can still turn off subtitles during the presentation when you use the automatic option.

To turn on subtitles during your slideshow, you can right-click the slide and select "Start Subtitles." This option then changes to "Stop Subtitles" if you decide to turn them off.

If you're using Presenter View on Windows, you can use the Toggle Subtitles icon.

In Presenter View on Mac, use the Closed Caption icon to turn the subtitles on and off.

Subtitles in PowerPoint give you an easy way to present your slideshow in almost any language you need.

For help like this during a meeting, take a look at how to use live captions in Microsoft Teams or how to add live closed captions in Zoom .

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Set PowerPoint Proofing Language for all slides or a selection

June 15, 2020

Easily set all your existing slides to the same language in PowerPoint using PPT Productivity add-in , including shapes or objects on slides and the notes pages! This feature is especially useful for anyone working in countries like Canada or Switzerland where multiple official languages are used, or for companies where teams are collaborating from different countries. But it's also useful to ensure a consistent type of English is used throughout your presentation (eg UK English vs US English).

Set Proofing Language determines the dictionary for spell checking that is used - this is what determines whether words appear with a red squiggly line beneath them. Standard PowerPoint does not include an option to change the language easily for an entire presentation to make proofing or reviewing easier. If you try to update the set language in Standard PowerPoint, you need to apply it for each textbox. But PPT Productivity add-in for PowerPoint solves this problem and gives you a feature to change the set proofing language for all slides in PowerPoint . Or for selected slides or shapes - you have options!

Standard PowerPoint Change Language for all slides

In standard PowerPoint, to change language for all slides you need to:

Select all slides by pressing CTRL+A (from the Thumbnail pane in Normal view or from the Slide Sorter view)
Navigate to the Review tab on the ribbon and Click the Language button
Click the Set Proofing Language menu option
Select the language you would like to use as the proofing language

This standard PowerPoint option will update the language for titles and textboxes as defined in the slide layouts. But the standard PowerPoint feature will not include text boxes added to your slides, shapes added to your slides with wording, or the text in handout notes for each slide . This is why we created the change set language feature in PPT Productivity for PowerPoint .

How to change language in PowerPoint for spell check review for entire presentation?

With PPT Productivity you can set the proofing language for the entire presentation , a specific slide, or individual shapes. Using the PPT Productivity Proofing Language drop-down menu you can change the language in PowerPoint. You can:

Set the Default Proofing language for your presentation
Select the shapes/ slides to update language - all text-boxes in the selection, including any text-boxes in Grouped shapes, will be set to the Default Language of your presentation
Convert all shapes in all slides to your Default Language
Change language for all slides or a selection of slides or shapes
When you change language for the entire presentation or selected slides, the set language for notes in these slides will also be updated

To do this, you simply select either the Set all slides language or Set selected slides/ shapes language features from the PPT Productivity Ribbon. Watch a brief demonstration of the Set proofing language features in the video below.

Take a look and let us know what you think.

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Text and Fonts

Changing Proofing Language for an Entire Presentation in PowerPoint 365 for Windows

Learn how to set proofing language for an entire presentation in PowerPoint 365 for Windows. These guidelines will help you approach the task of changing the proofing language.

Author: Geetesh Bajaj

Product/Version: PowerPoint 365 for Windows

OS: Microsoft Windows 10 and higher

Date Created: February 7, 2022 Last Updated: February 7, 2022

Learn PowerPoint

Learn how you can center objects on a PowerPoint Slide?

While it is easy to change the proofing language for selected text containers , doing so one text container at a time can be a great time-waster, especially if you need the language changed across all content in many slides. There are three ways to set the proofing language for your entire presentation, and you can use one or more of these approaches. Make sure you have the proofing tools installed for all or any of the languages that you need to work within PowerPoint.

Follow these steps to change the proofing language for an entire presentation in PowerPoint 365 for Windows :

1. By Selecting Individual Text Containers

Follow these steps to change the proofing language for some or all text containers in your presentation:

Within PowerPoint, navigate to any slide. Now, select all text containers on this slide. You can select the text containers in various ways:
If there is only one text container on the slide, click on the edge of the text container to select it.
If there are more than one text containers on the slide and nothing else, press Ctrl + A to select all text containers.
If there are more than one text containers on the slide that also include other slide objects, press Ctrl + A to select all slide objects on the slide. Then, deselect the slide object that you may not want as part of the selection. You can quickly deselect any object by Shift +clicking the object.

PowerPoint Keyboard Shortcuts

Do you want more keyboard shortcuts?

Explore our PowerPoint Keyboard Shortcuts and Sequences Ebook that is updated for all PowerPoint versions.

At this point of time, you have selected one or all text containers you want to alter the proofing language for, as shown in Figure 1 , below.

Text containers selected on a slide in PowerPoint 365 for Windows

You can alter the proofing language by clicking the Language button, as shown highlighted in red within Figure 2 , below. Alternatively, click the Language option on the Status Bar , as shown highlighted in red within Figure 1 , above.

No Language Option on the Status Bar?

Cannot see the Language option on the Status Bar . See our Language Options on the Status Bar in PowerPoint 365 for Windows tutorial.
Doing so brings up the Language dialog box, shown in Figure 3 , below. Scroll down to select an installed Editing Languages . Installed languages can be recognized by the checkmark preceding them as shown in Figure 3 . Choose the language you want to use for your selected text container. Thereafter click the OK button, highlighted in blue within Figure 3 .

Doing so will change the proofing language, and you will see the updated language on the Status Bar .
You can repeat this process to change the Language option for all the other slides in your presentation.

2. By Using Outline View

Follow these steps to change the proofing language for the entire presentation through Outline view :

With your presentation open, access Outline view , as shown highlighted in red within Figure 4 , below. This view is a special view that's part of the PowerPoint 365 interface and shows all text within the text placeholders of your presentation.

Outline view within PowerPoint 365 interface

Text Placeholders vs. Text Boxes

The Outline view only shows textual content in placeholders, and leaves out any text content in text boxes or shapes. Learn about the difference between a text box and a text placeholder in our Text Boxes vs. Text Placeholders tutorial.
Click once within the left pane in Outline view, and select the entire text content by pressing Ctrl + A on your keyboard. Now, click the Language option on the Status Bar , as shown highlighted in blue within Figure 5 , above.
This step summons the Language dialog box, as shown previously on this page in Figure 3 . Scroll down to select an installed Editing Languages . Installed languages can be recognized by the checkmark preceding them as shown in Figure 3 . Choose the language you want to use for your selected text container. Thereafter click the OK button, highlighted in blue within Figure 3 .
Note that this approach only changes the proofing language for text placeholders, and leaves text boxes and shapes untouched. For more information on the differences between these various text containers, look at our Text Placeholders vs. Text Boxes tutorial. Shapes with text behave just like text boxes.
Save your presentation.

3. By Using think-cell

This technique requires that you have think-cell installed. think-cell is a third-party add-in for PowerPoint. Although we select one text container using this process, the resultant change of proofing language will be for the entire presentation. Follow these steps to proceed:

Select any text container in your presentation, as shown in Figure 5 , below.

Select any text container in PowerPoint 365 for Windows

What's a Text Container?

A text container is any of these three slide objects that can include text: text placeholders , text boxes , and shapes .
Within the Review tab of the Ribbon, locate and click the Language button, as shown highlighted in red within Figure 2 , previously on this page. Doing so brings up a small drop-down menu. Choose the Set Proofing Language option, as shown highlighted in blue within Figure 2 .
Doing so will summon the Language dialog box that you see in Figure 6 , below. Do note that this dialog box is different than the original Language dialog box shown in Figure 3 , previously on this page. This new dialog box shows up only when you have the think-cell add-in for PowerPoint installed.

Language dialog box in PowerPoint 365 for Windows

Choose a proofing language from the dialog box shown in Figure 6 , above. You may need to scroll down to choose a language you need. Do note that installed languages can be recognized by the checkmark preceding them as shown in Figure 6 . When you have selected the proofing language, you can choose any of the following options:
Click the OK button, highlighted in blue within Figure 6 . To make this change for the selected text container.
Click the All Text button, highlighted in red within Figure 6 to change the proofing language of all text containers in the presentation.

Text on Slide

Click the Text on Slide button, highlighted in green within Figure 6 to change the proofing language of all text containers in the slide.
Doing so changes the proofing language for all text containers to the selected language.

Why does my proofing language keep changing in PowerPoint and Word?

The proofing language could change because your entire PowerPoint presentation or Word document may have text elements set in different languages. In this article, we explore how you can change the proofing language for your entire PowerPoint presentation.

How do I change the spell check language in PowerPoint?

To change the spell check language in PowerPoint, you need to change the proofing language of selected text containers or the entire presentation. Both these issues are addressed in this article and linked pages.

05 08 20 - Spelling, AutoCorrect, and Reference Tools: Changing Proofing Language for an Entire Presentation in PowerPoint (Glossary Page)

Changing Proofing Language for an Entire Presentation in PowerPoint 2013 for Windows Changing Proofing Language for an Entire Presentation in PowerPoint 2011 for Mac Changing Proofing Language for an Entire Presentation in PowerPoint 2010 for Windows

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This entire kit contains 5 different styles of jigsaw pieces: typical jigsaws, arrows, hearts, ovals, and rounded squares. Each jigsaw shape is available in three counts: small, medium, and large. We made these available in two slide sizes for both standard (4:3) and widescreen (16:9) resolutions.

You can get this kit for only $9.99 .

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Presentation Translator for PowerPoint

About presentation translator.

Presentation Translator subtitles your live presentation straight from PowerPoint, and lets your audience join from their own devices using the Translator app or browser.

As you speak, Presentation Translator displays subtitles directly on your PowerPoint presentation in any one of more than 60 supported text languages. This feature can also be used for audiences who are deaf or hard of hearing.

Up to 100 audience members in the room can follow along with the presentation in their own language by downloading the Translator app or joining directly from their browser.

Key features

Presentation Translator for PowerPoint showing live subtitles

Live subtitling

Speak in any of the 11 supported speech languages and subtitle into any one of the 60+ text translation languages.

Interactive audience experience

Share a QR- or five letter conversation code and your audience can follow along with your presentation, on their own device, in their chosen language.

asian women speaking into her phone using the Translator live feature

Multi-language Q&A

Unmute the audience to allow questions from the audience on their device in any of the supported languages.

student behind a laptop, looking up at the front of the classroom

Inclusivity through Accessibility

Help audience members who are deaf or hard of hearing follow the presentation, and participate in the discussion.

image of icons illustrating food, directions, transportation, and time

Customized speech recognition

Customize the speech recognition engine using the vocabulary within your slides and slide notes to adapt to jargon, technical terms, and product or place names. Customization is currently available for English, Chinese, and Spanish.

Translated presentations with preserved formatting

The "Translate Slides" button allows presenters to translate their whole presentation while preserving its formatting.

How Presentation Translator works

The technologies behind presentation translator.

Presentation Translator for PowerPoint is powered by the Microsoft Translator live feature which lets you have translated chats by starting or joining a conversation from the Translator app. Up to 100 people can chat at once using the Translator app or directly from their browser at http://translate.it .

The Microsoft Translator live feature is built using Microsoft Translator core speech translation technology, the Microsoft Translator API, an Azure Cognitive Service.

Presentation Translator integrates the speech recognition customization capabilities of Custom Speech Service (CSS) from Azure’s Cognitive Services to adapt speech recognition to the vocabulary used in the presentation.

How to set-up Presentation Translator for PowerPoint

Learn how to download the add-in, install it, and share the QR and conversation code directly from the presentation so your audience can follow along in their language.

Presentation Translator in Action

For this demo, English is the chosen speech and captioned language - highlighting the use of live captioning for the deaf or hard of hearing community. Users could also join and participate in other languages. The talks were titled "Access and Understanding in the Classroom: How Deaf Children Learn (or not)", given at Microsoft Research on May 9th, 2017.

What is custom speech recognition?

What does custom speech recognition do.

Improves the accuracy of your subtitles by learning from the content in your slides and slide notes. In some cases, you will see up to 30% improvement in accuracy.
Customizes speech recognition for industry-specific vocabulary, technical terms, acronyms, and product or place names. Customization will reduce these errors in your subtitles, as long as the words are present in your slide or slide notes.

How to set up custom speech in your presentation

The first time you customize speech recognition for your presentation, it can take up to 5 minutes for Presentation Translator to finish learning.
After the first time, the subtitles will start instantaneously unless you update the content of your slides.
Tip: start the custom speech recognition during a practice run so that you don’t experience delays when you present to your audience.

How does the custom speech recognition feature work?

The custom speech recognition feature works by training unique language models with the content of your slides. The language models behind Microsoft’s speech recognition engine have been optimized for common usage scenarios.

The language model is a probability distribution over sequences of words and helps the system decide among sequences of words that sound similar, based on the likelihood of the word sequences themselves. For example, “recognize speech” and “wreck a nice beach” sound alike but the first sentence is far more likely to occur, and therefore will be assigned a higher score by the language model.

If your presentation uses particular vocabulary items, such as product names or jargon that rarely occur in typical speech, it is likely that you can obtain improved performance by customizing the language model.

For example, if your presentation is about automotive, it might contain terms like “powertrain” or “catalytic converter” or “limited slip differential.” Customizing the language model will enable the system to learn this.

When you use the Customize speech recognition feature in Presentation Translator, your presentation content – including notes from the slides – is securely transmitted to the Microsoft Translator transcription service to create an adapted language model based on this data. Data used for customization is not de-identified and is retained in full, along with the adapted model, by the service for thirty (30) days from last use to support your future presentations and use of the language modeling.

Tips for using Presentation Translator

Audio/visual set-up.

Before you get started, you’ll need:

A working microphone: We suggest using a Bluetooth headset so you can move around without restrictions. Check out our list of recommended headsets
PowerPoint for Windows: PC only. Make sure you do not have any Office applications open while Presentation Translator installs. Once installed, the add-in will update automatically each time a new version is published.
Permissions: If you are an educator and use a school login for PowerPoint, you may need to contact your administrator to install the add-in on your device(s).
Internet connection: A hard-wired connection is ideal, but a reliable WiFi connection works well also.If you’re using the add-in for an event, the lecturer should use a wired connection if possible, or dedicated WiFi. Although it will work on WiFi or 4G, if either is weak, or there’s a lot of competition for bandwidth, it can adversely affect performance. Audience participants can use WiFi or 4G as they are only receiving transcriptions or translations and their data requirements are much lower.

How to set up customized content

Depending on what you’re presenting you will probably want to customize how Presentation Translator “understands” your content.

Here are a few tips to set-up CSS:

Include all relevant content: Don’t forget your presenter notes! Before CSS “learns” your content, the content needs to be present within the slides or slide notes. Full sentences will be used for word contexts, so a full script of your presentation within the slide notes will be useful.
After you click “Start Subtitling”, a dialogue box will appear to set-up your presentation. Make sure to check the box that says “Personalize speech recognition” so it can customize your presentation speech model*. This will take 3 to 5 minutes depending on the length of your presentation.
Train in advance. Content, notes, and audio logs will be retained by the service for thirty (30) days from last use to support future presentations. You only need to train the system again if you have updated content or it’s past 30 days since the last training.

* Currently only English and Chinese are supported.

Microsoft Translator live feature

Now that your audio, visual, and presentation content are ready to go, you can now start presenting! This is where audience participation can play a role – to expand the audience that understands your content, or invite them to comment in real-time in their own language.

Here are a few tips to set-up the Microsoft Translator live feature:

After you click “Start Subtitling”, a dialogue box will appear to set-up your presentation. Under “Additional Settings”, make sure to check the box that says “Add instructional slide”. This will explain to the audience how they can view subtitles on their own devices.
The add-in will then insert the instructional slide before the start of your presentation. These instructions will allow your audience to easily join the conversation (up to 100 people) on their device, in their language.
You can choose to “unmute” the audience – allow comments directly from their device – or “mute” the audience so your presentation is uninterrupted. You can simply click “Audience Unmuted” towards the end of the presentation for an interactive Q&A session.

More resources

young professionals around a table working on their laptops and tablets.

Presentation Translator Help & FAQs

Get your questions answered by searching our Help and FAQ section.

illustration of a globe with mobile devices translating the word

Translator languages

Want to know what features are supported for your chosen language? Visit our languages page.

Translator for business

Learn more about how Microsoft Translator’s text and speech translation technology can globalize your business and connect with your customers worldwide.

Download the app

To start using Presentation Translator for PowerPoint, download both the PowerPoint add-in and the Translator app for an interactive experience.

screen grab of a dialog box in Presentation Translator asking users to select their spoken language, and which language they want to display subtitles in.

Download the add-in (Windows only).

Screen grab of a device using the Translator live feature to translate someone's Hindi message into English.

Translator app

Students can follow along with Presentation Translator in their own language and language learners can have one-on-one translated conversations with teachers using the app.

IMAGES

Free Language Lesson PowerPoint Template & Google Slides Theme
Free Language Lesson PowerPoint Template & Google Slides Theme
Free Language Lesson PowerPoint Template & Google Slides Theme
Languages Of The World Global Powerpoint Templates Ppt Themes And
Free Language Lesson PowerPoint Template & Google Slides Theme
Language Linguistics Ppt Powerpoint Presentation Professional Example

COMMENTS

How to Change Language in Microsoft PowerPoint
To do this, open your PowerPoint presentation and select any text you've inserted. Next, press Review > Language > Set Proofing Language on the ribbon bar. In the "Language" box, select a language from the list provided and press "OK" to save your choice. The text you've selected will now use this language to check for spelling and grammatical ...
How do I change the language of all Powerpoint slides at once?
265. To change the language of the entire PowerPoint easily, open the View tab and select the Outline view. Now press. Ctrl + A to select all. Tools → Language → Choose your language to set. Likewise while you have everything selected you can change other things like fonts, colours etc.
How to Change Language in PowerPoint: Step-by-Step Guide
How to Change PPT Language Interface in PowerPoint. To change the language of the PowerPoint interface on a PC, go to Review > Language > Language Preferences. Note: Follow the following instructions for other devices: Mac: If you are using Mac, you can change the interface language via the Apple menu from System Preferences > Language & Region.
How to Change the Language in PowerPoint in 3 Ways
Click the (+) icon in the lower right of the window. This will edit the display language of PowerPoint only. Melanie Weir/Business Insider. 6. Select "Microsoft PowerPoint" from the "Application ...
How to change the language in PowerPoint (2022)
Step #1. First, select File in the PowerPoint menu. Then go to Options - a window will open. Select Languages. You can change both editing language (to check spelling and grammar) and display language (defines language of tabs and features). If your desired language is already in the menu, you can simply click on it and then select Set as ...
How to change language in PowerPoint
Click the 'Language' button to the left in the Status Bar at the bottom of your PowerPoint window ( or go to the 'Review' tab, 'Language' group, click 'Language', select 'Set Proofing Language' in the drop-down menu) Select the language you want. Click 'Ok'. However, this will only change the default language of your ...
How To Change Language In PowerPoint
To modify the language settings in PowerPoint, follow these simple steps: Open your presentation. Navigate to the 'Review' tab in the menu bar. In the 'Language' group, click on the 'Language' option. A drop-down menu will appear, allowing you to select the desired language for your presentation.
Changing Languages in PowerPoint: That's how!
The display and help languages specify which language is used for the entire PowerPoint menu. Normally, both should be set to the same language. To change these, select a language from the list then click on Set as Default. You're all set! Your language preferences will remain active until you make another change.
How To Change The Language Of PowerPoint: A Complete Tutorial
Step 1: Start your PowerPoint application and select "New". Then, click on "Blank Presentation". Step 2: Next, highlight the text on the presentation that you would like to change the language. If it is the entire text, right-click on the text and press "Ctrl + A" on your keyboard if using a Windows computer.
How to change your language settings in Microsoft PowerPoint in 3
How to use the PowerPoint Translator Tool for text. 1. Open PowerPoint and click "Tools." 2. Choose "Translate..." from the dropdown menu. 3.The "Translator" window on the right side of your ...
Present with real-time, automatic captions or subtitles in PowerPoint
On the Slide Show ribbon tab, select Subtitle Settings. Or, you can adjust the settings without leaving your presentation through the context menu, Slide Show or Presenter View menus > Subtitle Settings > More Settings . Use Spoken Language to see the voice languages that PowerPoint can recognize, and select the one you want.
How to Set Up and Use Subtitles in Microsoft PowerPoint
Set Up Subtitles in PowerPoint. Open your slideshow in PowerPoint and head to the Slide Show tab to set up the subtitles. On the right side of the ribbon, click "Subtitle Settings." Use the drop-down list to select the Spoken Language, if necessary, and then the Subtitle Language from over 60 dialects. If you have more than one microphone ...
Set PowerPoint Proofing Language for all slides or a selection
In standard PowerPoint, to change language for all slides you need to: Select all slides by pressing CTRL+A (from the Thumbnail pane in Normal view or from the Slide Sorter view) Navigate to the Review tab on the ribbon and Click the Language button. Click the Set Proofing Language menu option. Select the language you would like to use as the ...
Setting language for entire presentation all at once / Selecting all
Step 1:- By using Macro we can change the language in powerpoint for all slides. Create a new macro: 1. Go to Tools, Macro, and Visual Basic Editor. 2. Insert a new empty module by selecting Insert, Module. 3. Paste this code on the right panel and save the macro: Option Explicit.
Changing Proofing Language for an Entire Presentation in ...
Follow these steps to change the proofing language for an entire presentation in PowerPoint 365 for Windows: 1. By Selecting Individual Text Containers. Follow these steps to change the proofing language for some or all text containers in your presentation: Within PowerPoint, navigate to any slide. Now, select all text containers on this slide.
PowerPoint
You can provide translated subtitles to your presentations on the Slide Show ribbon tab by selecting Subtitle Settings. Use Spoken Language to see the voice languages that PowerPoint can recognize and select the one you want. This is the language that you will be speaking while presenting. Use Subtitle Language to see which languages PowerPoint ...
Presentation Translator for PowerPoint
As you speak, Presentation Translator displays subtitles directly on your PowerPoint presentation in any one of more than 60 supported text languages. This feature can also be used for audiences who are deaf or hard of hearing. Up to 100 audience members in the room can follow along with the presentation in their own language by downloading the ...
Change Powerpoint Online Language
So to make the UI of PowerPoint Online app show in English, please following the steps below: 1. In your OneDrive for Business page, click Site settings > Language sittings, if the Default Language is not English, please tick the checkbox of English under Alternate language, then click OK. 2. Click your avatar in the upper right corner and ...
Introducing the Ink to Text Pen tool in Word, OneNote, and PowerPoint
The Ink to Text Pen tool currently only supports English (en-US), with additional languages coming very soon. The Ink to Text Pen tool is not available on the Draw tab if your input language is not supported. In PowerPoint, the Ink to Text Pen tool will always insert text into the active shape or text box.
Language on power point templates
The low-tech alternative is to use PowerPoint to save the file as a PowerPoint XML Presentation (*.xml). Then open that file in a text editor like the free NotePad++ (don't use Word) and do a find and replace on the language tags. Here's an example, adjust to the language variants actully used in your deck. Find what: lang="fr-FR" Replace with:
Spell Check in Another Language Not Working Properly in PowerPoint
My default spell-check language is Slovenian. Since I'm working in PowerPoint in English, I want the spell-check to be in English. I've changed the default spell-check language (Language options → Set Proofing Lnaguage) to English, but it's still checking in Slovenian.
PowerPoint keeps changing default language from English (UK) to
My default Windows language is English (UK). My default and preferred proofing language in Office 365 is English (UK). BUT for some reason, no matter how many times I change the proofing language to English (UK) and click the "Default" button, whenever I click to another word in the text, it bounces back to English (US).

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How do I change the language of all Powerpoint slides at once?

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How to change your language settings in Microsoft PowerPoint in 3 different ways

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How to use the PowerPoint Translator Tool for text

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How To Change Language In PowerPoint

Key Takeaways:

Communicate with Non-native Speakers

Customize Presentations for Specific Audiences

How to Change Language in PowerPoint

Step 1: Access the Language Settings

Step 2: Select the Language You Want to Use

Step 3: Change the Default Language for New Presentations

Step 4: Change the Language for Existing Presentations

Tips for Changing Language in PowerPoint

Use a Language Dictionary for Accurate Translations

Check for Language-specific Fonts and Symbols

Practice-Changing Language in a Test Presentation

Common Mistakes When Changing Language in PowerPoint

Not Saving Changes

Choosing the Wrong Language

Frequently Asked Questions

2. Can I change the language for just one slide?

4. Can I change the language for the entire presentation?

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With the Spell Check Language Switcher add-in, you can:

Changing languages in PowerPoint is easy

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How To Change The PowerPoint Language?

Method 1: Change The Language For Specific Text In A Presentation

Method 2: Change The Language for The Entire PowerPoint Application