Title: Preferred Languages Author: Pascal Birchler Published: October 2, 2017 Last modified: May 25, 2026 --- Search plugins ![](https://ps.w.org/preferred-languages/assets/icon.svg?rev=3039183) # Preferred Languages By [Pascal Birchler](https://profiles.wordpress.org/swissspidy/) [Download](https://downloads.wordpress.org/plugin/preferred-languages.2.4.2.zip) * [Details](https://test.wordpress.org/plugins/preferred-languages/#description) * [Reviews](https://test.wordpress.org/plugins/preferred-languages/#reviews) * [Development](https://test.wordpress.org/plugins/preferred-languages/#developers) [Support](https://wordpress.org/support/plugin/preferred-languages/) ## Description Thanks to language packs it’s easier than ever before to change the main language of your site. However, in some cases a single locale is not enough. When WordPress can’t find a translation for the active locale, it falls back to the original English strings. That’s a poor user experience for many non-English speakers. This feature project aims to change that by letting users choose multiple languages for displaying WordPress in. That way you can set some sort of “fallback chain” where WordPress tries to load translations in your preferred order. Please help us test this plugin and let us know if something is not working as you think it should. **Keyboard Shortcuts** * `Arrow Up`: Move selected locale one position up. * `Arrow Down`: Move selected locale one position down. * `Home`: Select first locale in the list. * `End`: Select last locale in the list. * `Backspace`/`Delete`: remove the selected locale from the list. * `Alt+A`: Add the current locale from the dropdown to the list. **Note**: the Preferred Languages UI needs to be focused in order for the keyboard shortcuts to work. **Merging Translations** Previously, only the first available translation for a given locale and domain will be loaded. However, when translations are incomplete, some strings might still be displayed in English. That’s a poor user experience as well. To prevent this, Preferred Languages now automatically merges all incomplete translations in the list. the `preferred_languages_merge_translations` filter can be used to opt out of this behavior. It provides three parameters: 1. `$merge` – Whether translations should be merged. Defaults to `true`. 2. `$domain` – The text domain 3. `$current_locale` – The current locale. #### Get Involved Active development is taking place on [GitHub](https://github.com/swissspidy/preferred-languages). If you want to get involved, check out [open issues](https://github.com/swissspidy/preferred-languages/issues) and join the [#core-i18n](https://wordpress.slack.com/messages/core-i18n) channel on [Slack](https://wordpress.slack.com/). If you don’t have a Slack account yet, you can sign up at [make.wordpress.org/chat/](https://make.wordpress.org/chat/). ## Screenshots [⌊The new language section in 'Settings' -> 'General'⌉⌊The new language section in 'Settings' -> 'General'⌉[ The new language section in ‘Settings’ -> ‘General’ [⌊The new language section in your user profile.⌉⌊The new language section in your user profile.⌉[ The new language section in your user profile. ## Reviews ![](https://secure.gravatar.com/avatar/c99f01f36a2f7c1e6afc87f80445e35971ab18e097ce3d76f2aa1c1e6444ebcc? s=60&d=retro&r=g) ### 󠀁[Excellent Solution for Managing Multiple Language Preferences in WordPress](https://wordpress.org/support/topic/excellent-solution-for-managing-multiple-language-preferences-in-wordpress/)󠁿 [alisharattuwp](https://profiles.wordpress.org/alisharattuwp/) June 25, 2026 Preferred Languages is a well-designed and highly practical plugin for multilingual WordPress environments. It allows users to set multiple language preferences and creates a smart fallback system when translations are incomplete. The plugin improves the overall user experience by reducing untranslated content and seamlessly merging available language packs. Easy to configure, lightweight, and a valuable addition for websites targeting international audiences. ![](https://secure.gravatar.com/avatar/9218c6328d1f9499287aae1d4082c3bacea299996385c00fa44ff3b08e29f4f8? s=60&d=retro&r=g) ### 󠀁[nice](https://wordpress.org/support/topic/nice-5017/)󠁿 [henryx11011](https://profiles.wordpress.org/henryx11011/) May 26, 2026 nice plugin for my website ![](https://secure.gravatar.com/avatar/62378cdfa286ccf2f565c5a1fb7593d118aaa923923823ce3347e87b2f9162df? s=60&d=retro&r=g) ### 󠀁[Great!](https://wordpress.org/support/topic/great-17134/)󠁿 [aelbo](https://profiles.wordpress.org/aelbo/) May 25, 2026 This is an excellent and very useful plugin. Must have! ![](https://secure.gravatar.com/avatar/7b1bd96fda82c97c7113e31c49015cca9de6f013c396c1ba161f73e94995f578? s=60&d=retro&r=g) ### 󠀁[deja de usar solo Es_es y Es_mx, ES_ar…](https://wordpress.org/support/topic/deja-de-usar-solo-es_es-y-es_mx-es_ar/)󠁿 [evZek](https://profiles.wordpress.org/evzek/) March 21, 2023 Es un plugin, imprescindible en cualquier instalación fuera del inglés. ![](https://secure.gravatar.com/avatar/a556f0c812162ab6f10fc8748912889c4b1135aafaa4452badcf5b733bb1f91d? s=60&d=retro&r=g) ### 󠀁[Should be in the core!](https://wordpress.org/support/topic/should-be-in-the-core-7/)󠁿 [David Perez](https://profiles.wordpress.org/davidperez/) February 20, 2023 Awesome plugin! ![](https://secure.gravatar.com/avatar/ea5cf1a9df9bcd651321908528303a454c328977ac49b83465c61e850f4132b4? s=60&d=retro&r=g) ### 󠀁[Make this a core feature](https://wordpress.org/support/topic/make-this-a-core-feature/)󠁿 [Pieterjan Deneys](https://profiles.wordpress.org/nekojonez/) January 18, 2023 1 reply I honestly think that this should be a core feature of WP. The only thing wrong I notice is that when you are looking at the front end… The language of the admin bar changes into the site language but that’s the only issue I have with this plugin at the time of writing. For the rest, it’s a dream plugin. [ Read all 20 reviews ](https://wordpress.org/support/plugin/preferred-languages/reviews/) ## Contributors & Developers “Preferred Languages” is open source software. The following people have contributed to this plugin. Contributors * [ Pascal Birchler ](https://profiles.wordpress.org/swissspidy/) “Preferred Languages” has been translated into 34 locales. Thank you to [the translators](https://translate.wordpress.org/projects/wp-plugins/preferred-languages/contributors) for their contributions. [Translate “Preferred Languages” into your language.](https://translate.wordpress.org/projects/wp-plugins/preferred-languages) ### Interested in development? [Browse the code](https://plugins.trac.wordpress.org/browser/preferred-languages/), check out the [SVN repository](https://plugins.svn.wordpress.org/preferred-languages/), or subscribe to the [development log](https://plugins.trac.wordpress.org/log/preferred-languages/) by [RSS](https://plugins.trac.wordpress.org/log/preferred-languages/?limit=100&mode=stop_on_copy&format=rss). ## Changelog For the plugin’s changelog, please head over to [the GitHub repository](https://github.com/swissspidy/preferred-languages). ## Meta * Version **2.4.2** * Last updated **1 month ago** * Active installations **2,000+** * WordPress version ** 6.6 or higher ** * Tested up to **7.0** * PHP version ** 7.2.24 or higher ** * Languages * [Arabic](https://ar.wordpress.org/plugins/preferred-languages/), [Catalan](https://ca.wordpress.org/plugins/preferred-languages/), [Chinese (Taiwan)](https://tw.wordpress.org/plugins/preferred-languages/), [Czech](https://cs.wordpress.org/plugins/preferred-languages/), [Dutch](https://nl.wordpress.org/plugins/preferred-languages/), [Dutch (Belgium)](https://nl-be.wordpress.org/plugins/preferred-languages/), [English (Australia)](https://en-au.wordpress.org/plugins/preferred-languages/), [English (Canada)](https://en-ca.wordpress.org/plugins/preferred-languages/), [English (New Zealand)](https://en-nz.wordpress.org/plugins/preferred-languages/), [English (South Africa)](https://en-za.wordpress.org/plugins/preferred-languages/), [English (UK)](https://en-gb.wordpress.org/plugins/preferred-languages/), [English (US)](https://wordpress.org/plugins/preferred-languages/), [French (Belgium)](https://fr-be.wordpress.org/plugins/preferred-languages/), [French (Canada)](https://fr-ca.wordpress.org/plugins/preferred-languages/), [French (France)](https://fr.wordpress.org/plugins/preferred-languages/), [German](https://de.wordpress.org/plugins/preferred-languages/), [German (Switzerland)](https://de-ch.wordpress.org/plugins/preferred-languages/), [Italian](https://it.wordpress.org/plugins/preferred-languages/), [Japanese](https://ja.wordpress.org/plugins/preferred-languages/), [Nepali](https://ne.wordpress.org/plugins/preferred-languages/), [Persian](https://fa.wordpress.org/plugins/preferred-languages/), [Portuguese (Brazil)](https://br.wordpress.org/plugins/preferred-languages/), [Portuguese (Portugal)](https://pt.wordpress.org/plugins/preferred-languages/), [Romanian](https://ro.wordpress.org/plugins/preferred-languages/), [Russian](https://ru.wordpress.org/plugins/preferred-languages/), [Spanish (Argentina)](https://es-ar.wordpress.org/plugins/preferred-languages/), [Spanish (Chile)](https://cl.wordpress.org/plugins/preferred-languages/), [Spanish (Colombia)](https://es-co.wordpress.org/plugins/preferred-languages/), [Spanish (Ecuador)](https://es-ec.wordpress.org/plugins/preferred-languages/), [Spanish (Spain)](https://es.wordpress.org/plugins/preferred-languages/), [Spanish (Venezuela)](https://ve.wordpress.org/plugins/preferred-languages/), [Swedish](https://sv.wordpress.org/plugins/preferred-languages/), [Turkish](https://tr.wordpress.org/plugins/preferred-languages/), [Ukrainian](https://uk.wordpress.org/plugins/preferred-languages/), and [Upper Sorbian](https://hsb.wordpress.org/plugins/preferred-languages/). * [Translate into your language](https://translate.wordpress.org/projects/wp-plugins/preferred-languages) * Tags * [i18n](https://test.wordpress.org/plugins/tags/i18n/)[internationalization](https://test.wordpress.org/plugins/tags/internationalization/) [language](https://test.wordpress.org/plugins/tags/language/)[localization](https://test.wordpress.org/plugins/tags/localization/) [translation](https://test.wordpress.org/plugins/tags/translation/) * [Advanced View](https://test.wordpress.org/plugins/preferred-languages/advanced/) ## Ratings 5 out of 5 stars. * [ 20 5-star reviews ](https://wordpress.org/support/plugin/preferred-languages/reviews/?filter=5) * [ 0 4-star reviews ](https://wordpress.org/support/plugin/preferred-languages/reviews/?filter=4) * [ 0 3-star reviews ](https://wordpress.org/support/plugin/preferred-languages/reviews/?filter=3) * [ 0 2-star reviews ](https://wordpress.org/support/plugin/preferred-languages/reviews/?filter=2) * [ 0 1-star reviews ](https://wordpress.org/support/plugin/preferred-languages/reviews/?filter=1) [Your review](https://wordpress.org/support/plugin/preferred-languages/reviews/#new-post) [See all reviews](https://wordpress.org/support/plugin/preferred-languages/reviews/) ## Contributors * [ Pascal Birchler ](https://profiles.wordpress.org/swissspidy/) ## Support Got something to say? Need help? [View support forum](https://wordpress.org/support/plugin/preferred-languages/)