Translation Language Settings
Translation Language Settings is a Setup page where administrators choose which languages the Translation Workbench can work in, and assign the translators who produce localized text.
Definition
Translation Language Settings is a Setup page where administrators choose which languages the Translation Workbench can work in, and assign the translators who produce localized text. From Setup, you enter "Translation Language Settings" in Quick Find, open the page, and add a supported language. Each language you add grows the Workbench a new column for translating custom labels, picklist values, field labels, help text, and other customizations.
The page sits behind the Translation Workbench feature, so you enable the Workbench first. It does two jobs in one screen. It controls language availability for translation, and it manages the people allowed to translate. A language stays hidden from translators until you add it here, and a translator cannot edit a language until you assign them to it.
How the page controls translation in your org
Where it lives and what it gates
The page is reachable from Setup by typing "Translation Language Settings" in the Quick Find box. It only appears once the Translation Workbench feature is turned on, which you do from the same area under the customization menu. Think of the Workbench as the editing surface and this page as the switchboard that decides which languages reach that surface. Add French, and translators see a French column for every translatable component. Skip French, and there is no place to enter French text at all, so the localized version of that metadata cannot exist in your org. The page lists each language you have added, its active state, and the translators tied to it. From the same list you click Add to bring in a new language, or Edit to change the translators or the active flag on a language already in play. This separation keeps two concerns apart. Choosing which languages your org can translate into is a one-time strategic call, while assigning translators changes as people join and leave the project. The page handles both without forcing you to touch unrelated settings.
Active versus added, and why the difference matters
Adding a language and activating it are two separate actions, and the gap between them is deliberate. When you add a language, translators can start entering values, but those values are not yet shown to end users. Selecting the Active checkbox is what makes the finished translations visible to users running Salesforce in that language. Salesforce recommends you keep a language inactive until translators have covered all the values you care about. The reason is fallback behavior. Any label a translator has not yet filled in falls back to the default language, usually English, when a user views it. If you activate too early, users in that language see a mix of their language and English, which looks unfinished and erodes trust in the rollout. The safer pattern is to add the language, let translators work through the backlog, spot check a few records, then flip Active. Because the Active flag is per language, you can stagger go-lives. Spanish can be live while German is still being translated in the background, with no impact on either audience.
Assigning translators and the permission they need
A language with no translator produces nothing, so the second half of this page is people. When you add or edit a language, you pick translators from an available list and move them onto the language. Each assigned translator can then edit values for that language inside the Workbench, and only that language unless you assign them to more. The hard requirement is the View Setup and Configuration permission. Translators must have it, because the Workbench lives in Setup and editing translations means reaching Setup pages. Without that permission the assignment will not stick and the person cannot translate. This catches teams who hand the work to contractors or marketing staff who normally never see Setup. Plan the permission grant as part of onboarding a translator, not as an afterthought. You can assign several translators to one language to split the load, and one person can own several languages if they are multilingual. Keep the roster current, since a former contractor who keeps the permission still holds an open door into your configuration metadata.
Language support levels shape what you can translate
Not every language gives you the same starting point, because Salesforce ships three support levels. Fully supported languages have the entire product UI and Help already translated by Salesforce, so your work is limited to your own customizations. End user languages cover standard objects and pages but not admin, Setup, or Help, which stay in English. Platform only languages translate nothing by default, so even standard labels appear in English until you supply text, but they let you localize custom objects, custom labels, and field names for niche markets. The level you are adding here determines how much English a user will still see after you finish. A platform only language for a regional market means more of the screen depends on your translators than a fully supported language does. This matters for scoping. Adding a platform only language can imply far more translation work than the same effort for a fully supported one. Check the level before you promise a stakeholder a fully localized experience, since the gap between levels is large and not something the Workbench can close on its own.
The relationship with Language Settings
Translation Language Settings is easy to confuse with the separate Language Settings page, and the two answer different questions. Language Settings decides which languages a user can pick for their own interface. When a user selects French there, the standard Salesforce UI switches to the translation Salesforce already provides for fully supported and end user languages. Translation Language Settings decides which languages your translators can produce custom content in. The distinction lets you enable a UI language before any internal team is ready to localize your customizations. You might switch on Spanish in Language Settings so a market gets the standard Spanish product, while leaving Spanish off here because no one has translated your custom labels yet. The two should be coordinated with whoever owns the localization effort. A common mismatch is a user who has French as their display language but sees your custom fields in English, because French was never added to the Workbench. Knowing which page governs which behavior saves a lot of confused support tickets during a multi-language rollout.
From this page to the actual translation work
Once a language is added and translators are assigned, the work happens in the Workbench itself, and this page keeps feeding it. Translators can edit values one at a time through the Translate view, picking a component type and a language, then filling the localized column. For larger jobs, Salesforce supports exporting bilingual files, translating them outside the platform, and importing them back, which suits agencies that work in their own tools. There is also an Override path for adjusting translations that arrived inside a managed package, so you can tune a vendor label to your wording without losing it on upgrade. Every one of these flows depends on the language being present here first. The translatable surface is broad. It includes custom labels, picklist values, field and object labels, field level help, validation rule error messages, custom button and link labels, record type names, web tab labels, and layout section headings. That breadth is why getting the language list and translator roster right on this page is the foundation step. Everything downstream, manual or bulk, reads from the choices you make here.
Add a translation language and assign translators
Add a language to the Translation Workbench and assign the people who will translate into it. Enable the Translation Workbench first, since this page only appears once that feature is on. Keep the language inactive until translation is done so users do not see half-English screens.
- Open the page
From Setup, enter "Translation Language Settings" in the Quick Find box and select it. If you do not see it, enable the Translation Workbench from the customization menu, then return here.
- Add a language
Click Add to bring in a new language, or Edit to change one already listed. Pick the language you want translators to work in from the supported list.
- Assign translators
Select users from the available list and move them onto the language. Confirm each one has the View Setup and Configuration permission, or the assignment will not work.
- Decide the active state
Leave Active unchecked while translation is in progress. Once translators have covered the values you care about, edit the language and select Active to show the results to users.
Makes finished translations visible to users in that language. Untranslated values fall back to the default language, so keep this off until coverage is complete.
The users allowed to edit values for the language. Each needs View Setup and Configuration. Assign several to split a large language, or one person to several languages.
Add introduces a new language to the Workbench. Edit changes the translator roster or the active flag on a language you have already added.
- The page is hidden until the Translation Workbench is enabled, so a missing menu item usually means the feature is off, not a permission gap.
- Translators without View Setup and Configuration cannot translate, which surprises teams using contractors who normally never touch Setup.
- Activating a language before translation finishes shows users a mix of their language and English fallback, which looks unpolished.
- This page is not Language Settings. Adding a language here does not let users pick it for their UI, and enabling a UI language there does not feed the Workbench.
Trust & references
Cross-checked against the following references.
- Add Translated Languages and TranslatorsSalesforce
- Enable or Disable Translation WorkbenchSalesforce
Straight from the source - Salesforce's reference material on Translation Language Settings.
- Translation WorkbenchSalesforce
- What Languages Does Salesforce Support?Salesforce
Hands-on resources to go deeper on Translation Language Settings.
About the Author
Dipojjal Chakrabarti is a B2C Solution Architect with 29 Salesforce certifications and over 13 years in the Salesforce ecosystem. He runs salesforcedictionary.com to help admins, developers, architects, and cert/interview candidates sharpen their fundamentals. More about Dipojjal.
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