Microsoft Office 2016 supports nearly every major world language, from Afrikaans to Welsh. This is essential for the world's leading productivity suite, used by over 1.5 billion people for seamless collaborations, daily spelling, and grammar checks. Learn how to customize Word's spelling and grammar tools for even greater efficiency.
As a seasoned Microsoft Office specialist, I've guided countless users through multilingual setups. Office 2016 truly shines as international software, letting you customize three key elements independently.
How to Change the Language in Microsoft Office 2016
Customize languages for:
- The user interface
- Editing and proofing tools
- Help files
Match your interface to your OS language, select a different one for proofing (ideal for cross-cultural teams), and set Help to your native tongue. The process is straightforward.
- Open any Office app and navigate to File > Options > Language.
- Check if your desired language appears in the Choose Editing Languages box.
- If not, add it via the dropdown. It will appear in the list, and the Proofing column will indicate if tools are installed (via the language accessory pack).
- If Proofing shows "Not installed," download the language accessory pack from Microsoft and double-click to install.
Note: Editing languages include keyboard layouts and proofing tools like dictionaries, grammar checks, and text direction controls. - Set your preferred language as default.
- Restart the Office app for changes to apply.
- In Choose Display and Help Languages, adjust UI and Help languages.
- Select from available packs, reorder, and set defaults. Restart to activate.
Follow these steps to reset defaults if settings change unexpectedly due to errors.
