TikTok’s Default Language: Is There A Way To Change It?

When you sign up for a TikTok account, the system uses a combination of factors to decide which language you’ll see on the social media platform.

Your phone’s existing settings, where your SIM card was purchased, and the IP address you’re connecting from will generally give the app a very good idea of where you’re located and the language you speak.

That will determine more than the language you’ll see during the signup process. It will be reflected in the icons and prompts you see on your screen, and it will even shape the type of TikTok content the algorithms display on your For You page (FYP).

What if the system guessed wrong, though, and you’re being shown material in a language you don’t speak? For that matter, what if you’re visiting a different country and prefer to surf TikTok in your native language rather than the one spoken where you’re temporarily staying? What if you’re trying to learn a new language and want to immerse yourself in it?

No problem. TikTok supports 75 languages, and it’s simple to change to any of them in the app.

How To Change Language on TikTok

This process should take less than 30 seconds to complete.

1. Tap the “Profile” icon on your home screen to open your TikTok profile.
2. Click on the “Menu” icon (three horizontal lines) at the top right of the profile screen.
3. Choose “Settings and privacy” on the popup window that appears.
4. Scroll down the “Settings” menu and click on “Language.”
5. At the top of the next screen, tap “App language.” You’ll be able to choose the default language you’ll see when using TikTok.

There are other intriguing language options you can choose, too. We’ll start with the “Language” page.

If you always want to see TikTok post descriptions, captions, and text in the language the creator originally used (rather than being translated into your default language), move the “Always translate posts” toggle switch to the left. You can also have text automatically translated into a different language by clicking “Translate into” and choosing your preferred language.

Finally, content creators who enable captions for their TikTok videos can select the language for the app to use. Tapping “Captions” in the Edit screen and then choosing “Detect language” brings up a list of languages the captions can be displayed in.

There are all sorts of “hidden” settings and options in TikTok. These may be some of the most useful for those who travel regularly or are fluent in multiple languages.