How to change the language of a single app on Mac without changing the system language
Maybe you write emails in two languages, or you want to practice Spanish in one app while keeping everything else in English. Switching your Mac’s entire system language for that is overkill — and confusing. The good news: macOS lets you assign a different language to a single app, leaving the rest of the system exactly as it is.
This per-app language setting takes less than a minute to configure, works on modern macOS versions, and is easy to undo. Here’s how it works.
Set a language for one app (macOS Ventura and later)
- Open System Settings, then go to General → Language & Region.
- Scroll down to the Applications section.
- Click the + button.
- Pick the app from the dropdown, choose the language you want it to use, and click Add.
- If the app is currently open, quit and reopen it for the change to take effect.
That’s all there is to it — the app now runs in your chosen language while the rest of macOS stays untouched. Apple documents this in its Mac User Guide on changing your Mac’s language settings.
Change the language on older macOS versions
On macOS Monterey and earlier, the setting lives in a slightly different place:
- Open System Preferences and go to Language & Region.
- Switch to the Apps tab.
- Click +, select the app and the language, then click Add.
Switch an app back to the default language
Changed your mind? Undoing it is just as quick:
- Go back to Language & Region → Applications.
- Select the app in the list and click the – (minus) button.
- Reopen the app — it returns to your Mac’s default language.
For more ways to bend macOS apps to your will, see how to quickly open the installed apps list in macOS 26 and how to change folder colors and add emoji in macOS 26.
What to know before you start
- It only works if the app includes the language. Apps ship with a fixed set of translations — if your chosen language isn’t among them, the app won’t appear or won’t change.
- Options vary by macOS version. The exact layout of Language & Region differs between Ventura, Sonoma, Sequoia, and newer releases.
- iPhone and iPad have this too. Since iOS/iPadOS 13, you can set a preferred language per app under each app’s own row in Settings.
If it still doesn’t work
- App missing from the chooser? It probably doesn’t support per-app language selection — many smaller utilities only follow the system language.
- Language didn’t apply? Make sure you fully quit the app (not just closed its window) and reopened it.
- Menus look half-translated? Some apps translate incompletely; a full Mac restart can help the app pick up all resources. MakeUseOf’s guide covers extra quirks for specific apps.
Frequently asked questions
Does this change the language for other users on the Mac?
No — the per-app language is a per-user setting. Other accounts on the same Mac keep their own preferences.
Can I give different apps different languages?
Yes. Each app gets its own entry in the Applications list, so you can run your browser in French, your editor in German, and everything else in English.
Conclusion
There’s no need to flip your whole Mac into another language just for one app. A quick visit to Language & Region gives any supported app its own language in under a minute — and removing it is just one click away. If you also juggle video calls, check how to enable face lighting during video calls on Mac.
[…] in one specific app, check there too. And if you type in multiple languages, macOS lets you change the language for a single app without affecting the rest of the […]