There are lots of language options on Mastodon to help you understand other people, and help other people understand you. At the time of writing there are 95 different languages and dialects to choose from.
Interface language
The interface language is the language used on menus, buttons, labels, forms etc when you are logged in. To choose your Mastodon interface language:
- Log in through your server’s website
- Go to Preferences > Interface language, pick the language you want and click Save changes
Filtering timelines by language
You can filter Mastodon timelines by language:
- Log in through your server’s website
- Go to Preferences > Other > Filter languages
- Tick the boxes for languages you want to see and click Save changes
- To switch the language filter off (so that you see all languages), make sure all the boxes are UN-ticked and click Save changes
When the language filter is on, posts in other languages will no longer appear in your timelines. However, if you follow someone this will override the language filter and show you all their posts regardless of language used.
Posting language
It’s important to set your posting language, because it means people using language filters to show your language will see your posts. Setting this also allows other people to automatically translate your posts using Mastodon’s built-in translation system.
To set which language you post in:
- Log in through your server’s website
- Go to Preferences > Other > Posting language
- Choose which language you use most often and click Save changes
If you post in multiple languages, you can change which language you’re using each time you’re writing a post:
- Write the post but don’t publish it yet
- Select the language you are writing from the language button. The language button is a two letter country code in the bottom row of icons, for example EN for English.
By default the button will be your selected posting language, unless you are replying to a post marked in another language in which case it will be set to that language.
The language button should remember your most recently chosen languages at the top of the menu.
Contributing translations
If you want to add or correct translations on Mastodon, click here to go to the Mastodon translation website ⧉.