Provide guidance to Office admins on how to deploy languages (and proofing tools) with Microsoft 365 Apps Show
This article covers the options for deploying languages for Microsoft 365 Apps, including what method to use, where to deploy languages from, how to deploy proofing tools, and best practices. We recommend using this article as part of planning your Office deployment. The guidance in this article applies to the following Office products:
You can't use language resources for Windows Installer (MSI) versions of Office with Microsoft 365 Apps, which uses Click-to-Run. For example, you can't use language packs downloaded from the Volume Licensing Service Center (VLSC) with Microsoft 365 Apps. In general, you deploy languages for Microsoft 365 Apps with the same process and tools that you use to deploy Office itself. You can deploy multiple languages by including those languages directly in the Office packages, or you can deploy languages as a separate package, after Office is already installed. The steps in this article assume that you're deploying with Configuration Manager or the Office Deployment Tool, and that you use the Office Customization Tool (OCT) to create the configuration files for your deployment. If a setting isn't yet available in the OCT, steps are given for creating the configuration file in a text editor. Best practices for deploying languagesWhen deploying multiple languages in a large organization, we recommend these best practices:
This article also includes the list of supported languages and details on how Office conserves network bandwidth when downloading language packs for deployment. Install languages from the Office 365 portalIf your organization allows it, users can install Microsoft 365 Apps languages directly from the Office 365 portal. When users install Office from the Software page, they select a language from the Language drop-down box. If a user needs another language, they can just rerun the process for each required language. The setup will add the selected language to the user's device. Deploy multiple languages as part of deploying OfficeTo deploy Microsoft 365 Apps in multiple languages, you need to include the additional languages in the Office packages you create. To do so, select the languages you want to deploy in the Language section when creating the configuration file in the Office Customization Tool. If you deploy Office from a local source on your network, you must download your languages to that source, in the same way that you download the Office package. For more information, see Download the installation files for Microsoft 365 Apps. When deploying from a local source, we recommend that you use the Office Content Delivery Network (CDN) as a backup source for language packs. For more information on standard deployments, see Plan your enterprise deployment of Microsoft 365 Apps. The primary language selected in the Office Customization Tool determines the Shell UI language. The Shell UI is the language that is used to display shortcuts, right-click context menus, and tooltips. If you decide that you want to change the Shell UI language after an initial installation, you must uninstall Office and reinstall it. Deploy languages to existing installations of Microsoft 365 AppsAfter deploying Microsoft 365 Apps, you can deploy more languages for Office. To do so, use the same process and tools you used to deploy Office, such as Configuration Manager or the Office Deployment Tool.
When you add to an existing deployment, the ODT can automatically use the same architecture (32 bit or 64 bit) and source location (Office CDN or local source) as the existing installation of Microsoft 365 Apps. Because of this, you don't need to specify these values when creating the configuration file, which means you can use a single configuration file to deploy to multiple deployment groups. The Office Customization Tool, however, requires that you specify all these values, so you can only use this feature if you create the configuration file in a text editor. Allow users who aren't admins to install another languageBy default, users must have local administrator permissions on their devices to install more languages for Office. To allow users who aren't local admins on their devices to install another language, you can enable the "Allow users who aren't admins to install language accessory packs" policy setting. You can use either Group Policy or Cloud Policy to enable the policy setting. In the Group Policy Management tool, you can find the policy setting under User Configuration\Policies\Administrative Templates\Microsoft Office 2016\Language Preferences\Display Language. The policy setting applies to Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Outlook, and OneNote. Users can install another language by going to File > Options > Language > Office display language > Add a Language... in their Office app.
If you're using a local source to deploy Office, we recommend that you use the AllowCdnFallback attribute in your configuration.xml file. This attribute enables you to use the Office CDN on the internet as a backup source location for the language files if they aren't available on your local source. For more information, see Use the Office CDN as a backup source for language packs.
Deploy proofing toolsEach language version of Microsoft 365 Apps includes proofing tools for a set of companion languages. For example, when you deploy the English version of Office, users receive proofing tools for English, Spanish, and French. These proofing tools include spelling and grammar checkers, thesauruses, and hyphenators. They might also include language-specific editing features such as Language AutoDetect, AutoSummarize, and Intelligent AutoCorrect. If you want to deploy proofing tools in other languages beyond the companion languages, you can deploy the full language pack for that language or you can deploy just the proofing tools for that language. Many administrators choose to deploy just the proofing tools to conserve bandwidth on the network and speed up installation on client computers. To deploy just the proofing tools, use the same tools you used to deploy Office, such as Configuration Manager or the ODT. You can include proofing tools in the initial deployment of Office, or you can add them later to an existing deployment.
If you're adding to an existing deployment, the ODT will automatically use the same architecture (32 bit or 64 bit) and source location (Office CDN or local source) as the existing installation of Microsoft 365 Apps. Because the same architecture and location is used, you don't need to specify these values when creating the configuration file, meaning you can use a single configuration file to deploy to multiple deployment groups.
For details on how to edit the configuration file in a text editor, see Configuration options for the Office Deployment Tool. ExampleThis configuration file installs proofing tools for German and Italian using Monthly Enterprise Channel on a device with Office already installed. If the original installation of Office was from a local source, make sure to download the proofing tools to that source. If the tools aren't found at the local source, the AllowCdnFallback setting installs the tools directly from the Office CDN. <Configuration> <Add Channel="MonthlyEnterprise" AllowCdnFallback="TRUE"> <Product ID="ProofingTools"> <Language ID="de-de" /> <Language ID="it-it" /> </Product> </Add> </Configuration> Install the same languages as the operating systemWhen deploying Office, you can automatically install the same languages that are in use by the operating system. To do so, include the steps below when deploying Office with your standard process and tools:
When Match Operating System is used, the base language of the operating system and all active display languages for user profiles on the device are installed. Match Operating System can be used in combination with a fixed list of languages. Deploy Visio or Project in the same languages as an existing version of Microsoft 365 AppsYou can automatically deploy Visio and Project in the languages that are in use by an existing version of Microsoft 365 Apps. To do so, use the same process and tools you used to deploy Office, such as Configuration Manager or the Office Deployment Tool.
If you're adding to an existing deployment, the ODT will automatically use the same architecture (32 bit or 64 bit) and source location (Office CDN or local source) as the existing installation of Microsoft 365 Apps. Because you can use the same architecture and source location, you don't need to specify these values when creating the configuration file, which means you can use a single configuration file to deploy to multiple deployment groups.
You can also use MatchInstalled as the Language ID when adding Office apps to or removing them from an existing installation of Office. For details on how to edit the configuration file in a text editor, see Configuration options for the Office Deployment Tool. Example<Configuration> <Add Channel="MonthlyEnterprise" AllowCdnFallback="True"> <Product ID="VisioProRetail"> <Language ID="MatchInstalled" TargetProduct="O365ProPlusRetail" /> </Product> </Add> </Configuration> Learn more about how to use MatchInstalled in second-install scenarios. Install the same languages as a previous MSI installationIf you're upgrading from a Windows Installer (MSI) version of Office, you can get Click-to-Run versions of the same language resources — for example, language packs, language interface packs, or proofing tools — installed when you install Microsoft 365 Apps. For more information, see Remove existing MSI versions of Office when upgrading to Microsoft 365 Apps. Remove languages packs or proofing toolsTo remove a language pack or proofing tool, you can use the Remove element, just as you would for a product. For product ID, specify LanguagePack or ProofingTools. In the example, the German language pack is removed across all installed products: Example<Configuration> <Remove> <Product ID="LanguagePack"> <Language ID="de-de" /> </Product> </Remove> </Configuration> Use the Office CDN as a backup source for language packsIf you deploy Office from a local source on your network, you can use the Office CDN as a backup source for language packs that might not be available at that local source. To do so, use the same process and tools you used to deploy Office, such as Configuration Manager or the Office Deployment Tool. When creating the configuration file in the Office Customization Tool, select Fallback to the CDN for missing languages in the installation settings of the Office Customization Tool. When installing languages, the ODT looks first for source files in the source path location. If the language pack isn't available at that location and the Fallback setting is selected, then the ODT will use source files from the Office CDN. Conserve network bandwidth when adding language packsWhen you use the Office Deployment Tool (ODT) to download the installation files for Office to a folder that already contains that version of Office, the ODT will conserve your network bandwidth by downloading only the missing files. For example, if you use the ODT to download Office in English and German to a folder that already contains Office in English, only the German language pack will be downloaded. Languages, culture codes, and companion proofing languagesLanguage-neutral product resources for Microsoft 365 Apps are packaged into a single file that contains all the neutral resources. Language-specific resources are packaged into language-specific files such as en-us for English (United States) resources. The following table lists all the supported languages for Microsoft 365 Apps, along with culture codes and companion proofing languages. LanguageCulture (ll-CC)Companion proofing languagesAfrikaansaf-ZAAlbaniansq-ALArabicar-SAArabic, English, FrenchArmenianhy-AMAssameseas-INAzerbaijani (Latin)az-Latn-AZBangla (Bangladesh)bn-BDBangla (Bengali India)bn-INBasque (Basque)eu-ESBosnian (Latin)bs-latn-BABulgarianbg-BGBulgarian, English, German, RussianCatalanca-ESCatalan (Valencia)ca-ES-valenciaChinese (Simplified)zh-CNChinese (Simplified), EnglishChinese (Traditional)zh-TWChinese (Traditional), EnglishCroatianhr-HRCroatian, English, German, Serbian, ItalianCzechcs-CZCzech, English, German, SlovakDanishda-DKDanish, English, German, SwedishDutchnl-NLDutch, English, French, GermanEnglishen-USEnglish, French, SpanishEnglish UK [1]en-GBEnglish, Irish, Scottish Gaelic, WelshEstonianet-EEEstonian, English, German, Russian, Finnish,Finnishfi-FIFinnish, English, Swedish, German, RussianFrenchfr-FRFrench, English, German, Dutch, Arabic, SpanishFrench Canada [1]fr-CAFrench, English, German, Dutch, Arabic, SpanishGaliciangl-ESGeorgianka-GEGermande-DEGerman, English, French, ItalianGreekel-GRGreek, English, French, GermanGujaratigu-INHausaha-Latn-NGHebrewhe-ILHebrew, English, French, Arabic, RussianHindihi-INHindi, English, Tamil, Telegu, Marathi, Kannada, Gujarati, Punjabi, UrduHungarianhu-HUHungarian, English, GermanIcelandicis-ISIgboig-NGIndonesianid-IDIndonesian, EnglishIrishga-IEisiXhosaxh-ZAisiZuluzu-ZAItalianit-ITItalian, English, French, GermanJapaneseja-JPJapanese, EnglishKannadakn-INKazakhkk-KZKazakh, English, RussianKinyarwandarw-RWKiSwahilisw-KEKonkanikok-INKoreanko-KRKorean, EnglishKyrgyzky-KGLatvianlv-LVLatvian, English, German, RussianLithuanianlt-LTLithuanian, English, German, Russian, PolishLuxembourgishlb-LUMacedonian (North Macedonia)mk-MKMalay (Latin)ms-MYMalay, English, Chinese (Simplified)Malayalamml-INMaltesemt-MTMaorimi-NZMarathimr-INNepaline-NPNorwegian Bokmålnb-NONorwegian (Bk), English, German, Norwegian (Ny)Norwegian Nynorsknn-NONorwegian (Bk), English, German, Norwegian (Ny)Odiaor-INPashtops-AFPersian (Farsi)fa-IRPolishpl-PLPolish, English, GermanPortuguese (Portugal)pt-PTPortuguese, English, French, SpanishPortuguese (Brazil)pt-BRBrazilian, English, SpanishPunjabi (Gurmukhi)pa-INRomanianro-RORomanian, English, FrenchRomanshrm-CHRussianru-RURussian, English, Ukrainian, GermanScottish Gaelicgd-GBSerbian (Cyrillic, Serbia)sr-cyrl-RSSerbian (Latin, Serbia)sr-latn-RSSerbian (Latin), English, German, French, CroatianSerbian (Cyrillic, Bosnia & Herzegovina)sr-cyrl-BASesotho sa Leboanso-ZASetswanatn-ZASinhalasi-LKSlovaksk-SKSlovak, English, Czech, Hungarian, GermanSloveniansl-SISlovenian, English, German, Italian, CroatianSpanishes-ESSpanish, English, French, Basque (Basque), Catalan, Galician, BrazilianSpanish Mexico [1]es-MXSpanish, English, French, BrazilianSwedishsv-SESwedish, English, Finnish, GermanTamilta-INTatar (Cyrillic)tt-RUTelugute-INThaith-THThai, English, FrenchTurkishtr-TRTurkish, English, French, GermanUkrainianuk-UAUkrainian, English, Russian, GermanUrduur-PKUzbek (Latin)uz-Latn-UZVietnamesevi-VNVietnamese, English, FrenchWelshcy-GBWolofwo-SNYorubayo-NG
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