Some of the content in this topic may not be applicable to some languages.
The feature described in this Help topic is only available if support for the language you want to use is enabled through Microsoft Office Language Settings.
Do any of the following to change the language format of text:
Automatically detect the language as you type
If you're working in more than one language within a document, Microsoft Word can automatically detect each language as you type it.
- On the Tools menu, point to Language, and then click Set Language.
- Select the Detect language automatically check box.
Notes
- To turn off automatic language detection in your document, clear the Detect language automatically check box.
- To turn off the automatic detection of a particular language, remove it from the list of enabled languages in the Microsoft Office Language Settings tool. Remove the language only if you don't want to use features particular to that language (for example, date formats) in Word and other Microsoft Office programs.
Manually apply a language format to text
- Select the text you want to change the language format for.
- On the Tools menu, point to Language, and then click Set Language.
- In the Mark selected text as list, select the language you want.
A check mark next to the language name indicates that the spelling files for the language are installed.
Notes
- To quickly apply a language format, add the Language button to the Formatting toolbar (toolbar: A bar with buttons and options that you use to carry out commands. To display a toolbar, press ALT and then SHIFT+F10.). On the Formatting toolbar, click Toolbar Options
, point to Add or Remove Buttons, point to Formatting, and then click Language.
- To apply a language format during a spelling check, right-click a word, point to Language on the shortcut menu (shortcut menu: A menu that shows a list of commands relevant to a particular item. To display a shortcut menu, right-click an item or press SHIFT+F10.), and then click a language. If the language you want is not listed, click Set Language, and then select the language you want.
- If you apply a right-to-left language format, the Formatting toolbar looks different when you select or edit text with that format. For example, the Bullets, Decrease Indent, Increase Indent, and Numbering buttons indicate the direction of text.
Note You can also change the default language format for text. This can be useful if you are not using automatic language detection or automatic keyboard language switching. In the Language dialog box, select the language you want to make your default language, and then click Default.
