How to change your Gmail language settings to read or compose in another language on a computer or mobile device

You can change Gmail's display language, and in some instances, the message composition language on the desktop site and the Gmail app for iPhone and Android.

You can change your display and composition language on the Gmail desktop site, or just the display language on the Gmail app.

• Gmail's desktop site allows you to type in different languages using special keyboards and input tools.
• To change your Gmail app display language on an Android or iPhone device, you'll need to update your phone's general language settings.

As one of the most used email clients in the world, it makes sense that Gmail would be equipped to handle non-English language or multilingual users.

In addition to reading your Gmail display in another language, Google offers several text input tools that allow users to type in their desired language (like Hindi, Arabic, Chinese) more easily. These can be accessed and updated with just a few tweaks in your email settings on the desktop site, but aren't available in the Gmail app.

The process of updating your Gmail inbox to read messages in your preferred language will differ depending on what device you're using.

Gmail lets you update directly from your inbox while on the desktop site. However, app users will have to go into their device's language settings menu and edit there. This will effectively change the language of all the apps on your phone, so make sure it's what you want.

Here's how to change languages using Gmail's desktop site and mobile apps.

How to change your Gmail display language on a computer

1. On your computer, go to your Gmail inbox.

2. In the top right corner, click the Settings icon

3. Click "See all settings."

A window for your Quick Settings will appear on the right of your Gmail inbox.

4. Navigate to the "General" tab.

5. In the "Language" section, choose your preferred display language by clicking the dropdown menu.

You can access the dropdown directly on the Gmail settings page under the General tab and Language section.

6. Once a language has been selected, scroll down, and click "Save Changes."

How to change your Gmail display language on an iPhone

1. Open the Settings app.

2. Tap "General."

You can find the General menu three sections down in your Settings app.

3. Select "Language & Region."

You can find this option among the fonts, keyboard, and date & time options.

4. Choose "iPhone Language" and select your preferred language from the menu.

5. Tap your preferred language on the list and drag it to the top.

You can search for a language or scroll through the list of available options.

How to change your Gmail display language on an Android

1. Open your phone's Settings app.

2. Tap "General Management."

3. Choose "Language & Input."

4. Select "Language."

5. Tap your preferred language on the list and drag it to the top.

How to type in another language in Gmail on a computer

1. On your computer, go to your Gmail inbox.

2. In the top right corner, click the Settings icon.

3. Select "See all settings."

4. Navigate to the "General" tab.

The General tab is the default option when you open Gmail's settings.

5. In the "Language" section, choose "Show all language options."

6. Click the box next to "Enable input tools."

If you don't click this box, you won't be able to compose in a Gmail in other languages.

7. Select the types of input tools and keyboards you want to use by clicking to select them, then clicking the arrow to move them to the "Selected input tools" box. Double-clicking on an input tool will also move it to the "Selected input tools" box.

You can select a tool and click the arrow or double-click on an input tool to move it to the "Selected input tools" box.

8. Choose "OK" when finished.

9. Scroll down and select "Save Changes."

10. To use the input tools and keyboards you selected, go back to your Gmail inbox.

11. At the top right of the screen near the Settings icon, click the language icon.

12. Click on the characters you wish to use when composing an email.

You can use the keyboard to compose Gmail messages in various languages.

Change your Gmail language settings

You can change the language you use to see Gmail, and use special keyboards to type in other languages.  

Change the language you use to see Gmail

1. Open Gmail.
2. In the top right, click Settings .
3. Click Settings.
4. In the "Language" section, pick a language from the drop-down menu.
5. At the bottom of the page, click Save Changes.

Type in another language

You can type in languages like Hindi, Arabic, or Chinese using input tools, including special keyboards. There are different types of input tools for different languages.

1. Open Gmail. You can only use input tools from a browser and not the Gmail app.
2. In the top right, click Settings .
3. Click Settings.
4. In the "Language" section, click Show all language options.
5. Check the box next to "Enable input tools."
6. Pick the languages with which you want to use input tools, and what kind of keyboard you want to use.
7. Click OK.
8. At the bottom of the page, click Save Changes.
9. Open your inbox.
10. In the top right next to Settings , click the language icon. If you have multiple input tools, use the down arrow to switch among them.

Change the direction of the text

1. Open Gmail. You can only use input tools from a browser and not the Gmail app.
2. In the top right, click Settings .
3. Click Settings.
4. In the "Language" section, click Right-to-left editing support on.
5. At the bottom of the page, click Save Changes.

When you start a new email, you'll need to change the direction again. In the bottom left of the compose window, click Formatting options  Right-to-left.

Fix garbled text in emails

If you’re seeing letters from the wrong language in your emails, you’ll need to change a setting.

1. Open your browser, like Internet Explorer or Firefox.
2. At the top of your browser, select View  Encoding (Internet Explorer) or Text Encoding (Safari, Firefox).
3. From the list, choose the language you want to use.