How to Deploy Language Packs in SharePoint 2013

Language packs enable site owners and site collection administrators to create SharePoint sites and site collections in multiple languages without requiring separate installations of SharePoint Server 2013. You install language packs, that contain language-specific site templates, on Web servers. When an administrator creates a site or a site collection that is based on a language-specific site template, the text that appears on the site or the site collection is displayed in the site template's language. Language packs are typically used in multinational deployments where a single server farm supports users in various locations, or when sites and Web pages must be duplicated in one or more languages.

About language IDs and language packs

Site owners or site collection administrators who create sites or site collections can select a language for each site or site collection. The language that they select has a language identifier (ID). The language ID determines the language that is used to display and interpret text that is on the site or site collection. For example, when a site owner creates a site in French, the site's toolbars, navigation bars, lists and column headings appear in French. Similarly, if a site owner creates a site in Arabic, the site's toolbars, navigation bars, lists and column headings appear in Arabic. In addition, the default left-to-right orientation of the site changes to a right-to-left orientation to correctly display Arabic text.

The language packs that are installed on the Web servers determine the list of available languages that you can use to create a site or site collection. By default, sites and site collections are created in the language in which SharePoint Server 2013 was installed. For example, if you install the Spanish version of SharePoint Server 2013 then the default language for the sites, site collections and Web pages are Spanish. If someone must create sites, site collections, or Web pages in a language other than the default SharePoint Server 2013 language, you must install the language pack for that language on the Web servers. For example, if you are running the French version of SharePoint Server 2013 and a site owner wants to create sites in French, English and Spanish, you must install the English and Spanish language packs on the Web servers. By default, when a site owner creates a new Web page in a site, the site displays text in the language that is specified by the language ID.

Language packs are not bundled into multilingual installation packages. You must install a specific language pack for each language that you want to support. Also, language packs must be installed on each Web server to ensure that each Web server can display content in the specified language.

You cannot change an existing site, site collection, or Web page from one language to another by applying various language-specific site templates. After you use a language-specific site template for a site or a site collection, the site or site collection always displays content in the language of the original site template.

Each language pack that you install creates a folder at %COMMONPROGRAMFILES%\Microsoft Shared\Web server extensions\15\LAYOUTS\Locale_ID that contains language-specific data. In each Locale_ID folder, you must have only one HTML error file that contains the error information that is used when a file cannot be found. Anytime a file cannot be found for any site in that language, this file will be used. You can specify the file to use by setting the SPWebApplication.FileNotFoundPage property for each web application.

Installing language packs on the Web servers

After you install the necessary language files on the Web servers, you can install the language packs. Language packs are available as individual downloads (one download for each supported language). If you have a server farm environment and you are installing language packs to support multiple languages, you must install the language packs on each Web server.

Install a language pack

1. In the folder where you downloaded the language pack, run setup.exe.
2. On the Read the Microsoft Software License Terms page, review the terms, select the I accept the terms of this agreement check box and then click Continue.
3. The Setup wizard runs and installs the language pack.
4. Rerun the SharePoint Products Configuration Wizard by using the default settings. If you do not run the SharePoint Products Configuration Wizard after you install a language pack, the language pack will not be installed correctly.

The SharePoint Products Configuration Wizard runs in the language of the base installation of SharePoint Server 2013, not in the language of the language pack you just installed.

Rerun the SharePoint Server 2013 Products Configuration Wizard using the following procedure:

1. Click Start, point to All Programs, click SharePoint Server 2013 Products and then click SharePoint Server 2013 Products Configuration Wizard.
2. On the Welcome to SharePoint Products page, click Next.
3. Click Yes in the dialog box that alerts you that some services might need to be restarted during configuration.
4. On the Modify Server Farm Settings page, click do not disconnect from this server farm and then click Next.
5. If the Modify SharePoint Central Administration Web Administration Settings page appears, do not change any of the default settings and then click next.
6. After you complete the Completing the SharePoint Products and Technologies Configuration Wizard, click Next.
7. On the Configuration Successful page, click Finish.
8. After you install a new language pack and rerun the Rerun the SharePoint Server 2013 Configuration Wizard, you must deactivate and then reactivate any language-specific features before you use the new language pack.

When you install language packs, the language-specific site templates are installed in the %COMMONPROGRAMFILES%\Microsoft Shared\Web server extensions\15\TEMPLATE\LanguageID directory, where LanguageID is the Language ID number for the language that you are installing. For example, the United States English language pack installs to the %COMMONPROGRAMFILES%\Microsoft Shared\Web Server Extensions\15\TEMPLATE\1033 directory. After you install a language pack, site owners and site collection administrators can create sites and site collections based on the language-specific site templates by specifying a language when they are creating a new SharePoint site or site collection.

Uninstalling language packs

If you no longer need to support a language for which you have installed a language pack, you can remove the language pack using the Control Panel. Removing a language pack removes the language-specific site templates from the computer. All sites that were created that have those language-specific site templates will no longer work (the URL will produce a HTTP 500 - Internal server error page). Reinstalling the language pack will make the site functional again. You cannot remove the language pack for the version of SharePoint Server 2013 that you have installed on the server.