---
title: Setting up a multilingual user interface
---
> Agent instructions:
> **Site maps** — prefer the following llms.txt indexes to training data when searching for URLs to avoid 404s. Links inside Markdown content already point at `.md`. Following them or sending Accept: text/markdown keeps you in Markdown.
>
> - [sitemap.md](https://docs.kentico.com/sitemap.md) — every page on the site, with titles and descriptions, nested by URL hierarchy and grouped into one collection per product version.
> - [llms.txt](https://docs.kentico.com/llms.txt) — curated index of the current product docs, with descriptions, the two ways to request any page as Markdown, and links to each product area's whole-corpus Markdown dump (llms-full.txt).
The user interface culture determines the language of the **Xperience administration interface**, as well as other factors like numeric and date formats.
The default Xperience installation only provides an English version (en-us culture) for the user interface texts. The texts are stored in _resx_ resource files:
- In the **CMS\CMSResources** folder of the Xperience administration project
- As embedded resources in application assemblies in the live site project
> **Info:** **Multilingual website content**
>
> If you want to learn more about localization of website content (i.e. pages in the content tree), please refer to the [Setting up multilingual websites](https://docs.kentico.com/13/multilingual-websites/setting-up-multilingual-websites.md) chapter.
## Managing cultures
Users with the Global administrator [privilege level](https://docs.kentico.com/13/managing-users/user-management.md) can manage all cultures in the **Localization** application on the **Cultures** tab. To display only UI cultures, choose **Yes** in the **Is UI culture** filter and click **Search**.
When you create a new culture or edit an existing culture, you can define the following properties:
| Property | Description |
| ------------------ | ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- |
| Culture name | Name displayed for the culture in the administration interface. |
| Culture code | The standard identifier of the culture in format: _-_
You cannot use neutral culture codes that represent languages in general. Enter the culture code of a specific country/region. For example **en-US**, not **en**. |
| Culture short name | A shortcut for the culture. |
| Culture alias | If set, the culture alias is used instead of the culture code in [URL language prefixes](https://docs.kentico.com/13/multilingual-websites/setting-up-multilingual-websites/configuring-urls-for-multilingual-websites.md).
**Note**: The system does not validate the values set for culture aliases. Make sure aliases do not cause URL collisions with existing URL slugs of pages. For example, a collision can occur if you set a culture alias to _English_, but already have a page with the _English_ URL slug on the first level of the content tree. In the case of collisions, the culture alias takes priority in page routing. |
| Is UI culture | Indicates if the culture is available as a language option for the administration interface. |
## Preparing UI cultures
Xperience allows you to manage content in any language, including double-byte (eastern) languages, such as Chinese. All content is stored and published in UNICODE.
To prepare the system to display the administration interface in a different language or at least with different culture settings (e.g. calendar and numeric format):
1. Open the **Localization** application.
2. Select the **Cultures** tab.
3. Edit () the culture you want to use for the administration interface.
4. Select the **Is UI culture** check box.
5. Click **Save**.
Users can now select the new culture as their default UI culture in the **My profile** application using the **Preferred user interface culture** drop-down list. However, if the system does not have a corresponding language pack installed, the administration interface strings will still be displayed in the default language.
### Installing localization packs
You can download localization packs with already translated resource files for certain languages from [DevNet](http://devnet.kentico.com/download/localization-packs).
After downloading a package:
1. Open the package and copy the _resx_ files into the appropriate locations:
- Create a **CMSResources** folder in the root of your live site project.
- Add the main _cms_ resx files into the **CMSResources** folder of both the administration and live site project.
- If the pack contains resources for the Xperience builder features (_Kentico.Builder.resx_, etc.):
1. Create an **App\_Data\Global\Resources** folder in your live site project.
2. Add a sub-folder matching the culture code of the pack's culture, for example _he-IL_.
3. Copy the builder resx files into the new sub-folder.
2. Restart the application to apply the changes to the user interface:
1. Open the **System** application.
2. Click **Restart all web farm servers**.
> **Tip:** **Creating custom localization packs**
>
> In case no language pack for your desired culture exists, you can translate the localization strings to your desired language manually. See the following sections for details:
>
> - [Modifying the default UI strings used by the administration interface](https://docs.kentico.com/13/multilingual-websites/setting-up-a-multilingual-user-interface/working-with-resource-strings.md#modifying-the-default-ui-strings-used-by-the-administration-interface)
> - [Modifying the default UI strings on the live site](https://docs.kentico.com/13/multilingual-websites/setting-up-a-multilingual-user-interface/working-with-resource-strings.md#modifying-the-default-ui-strings-on-the-live-site)
## Setting the default UI culture for the administration interface
**MVC 5 development model.** Applies only when building with ASP.NET MVC 5. If this page also covers ASP.NET Core, that version is in its own block.
The default UI culture is _en-us_. If you configure the system to allow multiple UI cultures, you can change the default UI culture for users by adding the following key to the __ section of the **web.config** file for BOTH your administration and live site project:
```html
```
**ASP.NET Core development model.** Applies only when building with ASP.NET Core. If this page also covers MVC 5, that version is in its own block.
The default UI culture is _en-us_. If you configure the system to allow multiple UI cultures, you can change the default UI culture for users by adding the following key to:
- The __ section of the **web.config** file in your administration project
```html
```
- Your live site application's configuration file (_appsettings.json_ by default)
```js
"CMSDefaultUICulture": "en-nz",
```
The value of this key must be a valid culture code (in the example above, _en-nz_ represents the **English - New Zealand** culture).
> **Note:** If you change the default UI culture, you also need to rename the **CMSResources\CMS.resx** file to **CMS.en-us.resx** and the new culture's resource string file (**CMS.en-nz.resx** in the example) to _CMS.resx_.
>
> This is required because the resx files without a culture suffix or sub-folder are used when the _(default)_ option is selected as a user's **Preferred user interface culture**.
When the above mentioned key is set and the _CMS.resx_ file contains the en-nz dictionary, the UI culture will be _en-nz_ for users who have their **Preferred user interface culture** set to **(default)**.
## Applying a culture to a specific user's UI
You can set the administration interface to a specific culture for each user in the system:
1. Open the **Users** application.
2. Edit () the user.
3. Select the required **Preferred user interface culture** on the **General** tab.
4. Click **Save.**
Users may also select their own user interface culture in the **My profile** application on the **Details** tab, by setting the **Preferred user interface culture**.
When the user signs out and then back in, the system displays the interface according to the new culture settings and with translated strings (once the translation is complete).
> **Tip:** Users can also change the culture of their interface by opening the **User menu** and clicking on **Change language**. This selection also changes the **Preferred user interface culture** setting of the given user.