Two parts of a Joomla site
Joomla is a program for building websites. It has two sides. The front end is the public site that visitors see. The back end, or admin panel, is where you log in to manage the site. Each side has its own language. So you can keep your site in English and use an admin panel in another language, or the other way round.
Note: Menu names are for Joomla 3 and Joomla 4. Where they differ, both are shown.
Step 1: Install the new language
- Log in to your Joomla admin panel.
- In Joomla 3, click Extensions, then Language(s), then Install Languages. In Joomla 4, click System, then Install, then Languages.
- A list of languages loads. Joomla needs to reach the internet to fetch it.
- Tick the language you want, for example Spanish.
- Click Install.
- Wait for the green success message.
Step 2: Switch the admin language for everyone
- In Joomla 3, go to Extensions, then Language(s), then Installed, then Administrator. In Joomla 4, go to System, then Manage, then Administrator Languages.
- Find your new language in the list.
- Click the star icon next to it, or select it and click Default.
The star turns gold. The admin panel is now in that language for everyone who has no personal choice.
Step 3: Or change it for just yourself
- Go to Users, then Manage.
- Click your user name.
- Open the tab Basic Settings.
- Find Backend Language.
- Choose your language from the list.
- Click Save & Close.
Log out and log back in. The panel appears in your language.
If you picked the wrong language
You may not be able to read the menus. Use the same steps and follow the icons. The Users menu keeps its place, and the star icon is the same in every language. Set the language back to English (en-GB) to recover.
Quick recap
- Joomla has a front end for visitors and a back end for admins.
- Install the language first.
- Set it as the default for the back end, or set Backend Language in your own user profile.
- Log out and in again to see the change.