How to Change Interface and Menus Language in VLC Media Player

VLC has been translated into multiple languages. Although the translations are still ongoing, we can get an early taste of it. VLC Media Player and its interface can be used in languages other than English. You can switch from the default (Auto/American English/British English) to other languages like Dansk, Suomi, Italino or Nepali. When you make the switch and restart the software, the menus will be displayed using a completely different language. Some people might have accidentally activated this internationalization feature and they could be stuck in an interface language that they do not understand. This guide is to help people switch the menus language in VLC Media Player.

To change the menus language in VLC Media Player:

  • Click on Tools which is the sixth menu item when counted from the left.
  • Click on Preferences which is the last submenu item under Tools.
    (The shortcut CTRL + P can also be used to directly reach Tools > Preferences)
  • Now, click on the first dropdown under Languages – Menus Languages.
  • Pick a menus language and hit Save (ALT + S).
  • Restart the player to see the changes in action.

VLC Internationalization

The default menus language is Auto. It will pick the language that your operating system is set in. You can also pick American English or British English from the dropdown to use the application in English. There are over 50 languages that are supported. Languages like Brazilian Portuguese, Nederlands, French, German and Italian are there in the options. Pick one language and you will see that the menu items will use a different script or language (after restarting).

The translation is not perfect. Some menu items still display in English. More languages are in the works. You can see the official VLC Media Player internationalization information here. You can also help contribute to the project of translating VLC to the language that you are proficient in.

3 thoughts to “How to Change Interface and Menus Language in VLC Media Player”

  1. “It will pick the language that your operating system is set in.”

    Except it doesn’t for me. My computer’s OS (W10) display language is set to English (United States). To my knowledge only the Regional Format, the Region and the keyboard language are set to the local ones. Other than that the local language is set as a second language in the list of preferred languages (where the apps and websites will use the first language in the list they support i.e. English (United States)).

    I’ll try to change the Region to other one and see if that helps. The description says that the OS and the apps might use it to give us local content.

Leave a Reply

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.