How to change automatic post translation language on Facebook

Facebook is an international platform where we can communicate with people from all over the world and find people speaking different languages. As a result, if you have friends from all over the world, you will frequently encounter posts or captions on photos and videos that are not written in a language you understand. However, depending on the post and if it is trending, you may find it interesting to learn what the user is talking about. You have a number of options in that situation. You can use Google Translate to translate the post to your language if you are willing to do some extra manual work, but this will require you to open a new tab, which may not always be convenient for you.

Alternatively, you can select the ‘See Translation’ option, which will translate the text within the post to a language you understand or that has been added to your Facebook account. Even if you add multiple languages to your Facebook account, you may only feel comfortable in one. Facebook may mistakenly translate the post into a language in which you are not fluent, which is where the problems arise. Fortunately, you can change the default language on Facebook for translation purposes, so that posts in a different language will automatically be translated to a language in which you are comfortable, without your intervention. If you need to, you can always go back and read the original post. I’ll explain how to change the default translation language on Facebook.

So, without further ado, let’s get started on how to set the default translation language on Facebook using both the web version and the official Facebook app.

Using the web version of Facebook

If you are using the new web version of Facebook, open it and select ‘Settings & Privacy’ from the dropdown menu just beside the notification icon. Click on ‘Language’ under ‘Settings & Privacy.’

You will be automatically directed to ‘Language and region,’ where you must make all necessary changes. There is a setting that says ‘Posts from friends and pages.’

You can change the preference for automatic language translation in this section, which means that posts in most other languages that you don’t understand will be translated to the language you choose. Simply select the most appropriate language that you find comfortable in this location. Click the ‘Edit’ button next to the first option, select the language for automatic translation from the dropdown menu, and then click the ‘Save Changes’ button.

I’ve chosen English in this case. As a result, all posts in other languages will be automatically translated into English.

You can also specify which languages will not have the option of being translated. You should only include languages in this list that you fully understand and have a good command of. To do so, click the ‘Edit’ button next to the second option and enter the languages one by one. When you’re finished, click ‘Save Changes.’

For example, in this case, I’ve chosen English and Bengali. As a result, if I come across posts in English or Bengali, there will be no options for translation.

Finally, you can specify which languages will not be automatically translated, but you can choose whether or not to translate the posts. To do so, select ‘Edit’ from the third menu option, enter the languages side by side, and then select ‘Save Changes’.

For example, I’ve only selected Hindi here. So I can choose whether to translate the posts from Hindi to English.

You can continue to use Facebook normally, and translations will occur when you come across certain posts on different pages and from your friends if you don’t understand the languages the posts are written in.

Using the Facebook official app

If you access Facebook through the Facebook official app, you can change the same settings directly from the Facebook official app. To do so, launch Facebook and log in using the app’s credentials. Tap on the hamburger icon now, scroll down to expand ‘Settings & Privacy,’ and then tap on ‘Settings.’

Tap on ‘Translation for posts’ under account settings, which should be the second option under ‘Account settings.’

Now, select the first option to set the default language for automatic text translation within posts. Now, select the language for which you want automatic translation and press the ‘Save’ button.

Similarly, in the second option, select the languages for which you do not want a translation option, and in the third option, select the languages that will not be automatically translated but will provide a translation option to the language you are proficient in. In both cases, you must enter the languages one at a time and then tap the save button when finished.

You can now use Facebook normally. You do not need to make the changes on both the Facebook official app and the web. All of the settings you change will be saved on Facebook servers, and the settings will be applied automatically regardless of which device you use to access Facebook.

Having automatic translations for different posts that are not written in your language is a fantastic way to improve your Facebook experience, and you should make the necessary changes to make Facebook more effective based on your content consumption on the platform. This is a neat setting that most Facebook users are unaware of that can eventually make Facebook more interesting for all users.

So that’s how you can change the default translation options on Facebook, both on the web and in the official Facebook app. Do you have any further questions? Please leave your thoughts in the comments section below.