With the update to macOS Mojave, minor problems sometimes arise, which fortunately can be fixed just as easily. In this case it was a Mac that occasionally slipped into English. But read for yourself what my reader Gerald wrote to me:
Hello Sir, I'm quite happy with Mojave now. A trifle annoys me a little. When switching on and off I have to "enter" my password and switching off is called "shut down". A very nasty word. “user” and “restart” included. Otherwise we speak German with each other. I would be grateful for any help - if the opportunity arises! Kind regards from Gerald
If the Mac sometimes reverts to English despite the German language selection, there is a trick.
There is a command called "language setup" for the Port, with which you can set the language setting for the user again. This fixes such problems as the mixed English-German buttons and dialogs under macOS. I explain how it works in detail here:
Start Terminal (under Utilities)
Enter command: sudo language setup
Then confirm with the admin password
Enter the number 3 and press Enter
Restart your Mac
If you execute the command to change the language in the terminal, a long list of possible options appears, including "German".
One has sudo language setup entered, you have to confirm the command with administrator access. A long list of available languages then appears, with German being assigned the number 3. After restarting the Mac, all dialogs and buttons should appear in German.
Gerald also confirmed to me in an email that the measure was effective:
Hello Jens, it's done! After numerous attempts, I logged in as administrator with a password, then the sudo setup worked. You couldn't have known that we were two users. But you got the ball rolling. Thank you very much for that. […] Kind regards and wish you such a weekend, Squire Gerald
Jens has been running the blog since 2012. He appears as Sir Apfelot for his readers and helps them with problems of a technical nature. In his free time he drives electric unicycles, takes photos (preferably with his iPhone, of course), climbs around in the Hessian mountains or hikes with the family. His articles deal with Apple products, news from the world of drones or solutions for current bugs.
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14 comments on “Reader question: Mac displays some system dialogs in English”
Zenobite
Hopefully Gerald’s request only means that he will voluntarily start and switch off his Mac with a password, or is Mojave now forced to do it that way?
If so, then that would be a reason for me NOT to upgrade the system from High Sierra to Mojave. I don't want to have to log in or log out with a password every time I start or shut down the computer.
Hello Zenobite! Do not worry. Under System Preferences> Users> Login Options> Automatic Login you can still choose whether you want to start the Mac with or without entering the password. :)
Hello, the "sudo languagesetup" command didn't work for me. The system settings (eg) remain in English, but the login is now in German. I have Mojave 10.14.5 on MB Pro, 13 inch (Mid 2012). Is there another way?
I also had the problem with the English system dialogs.
I used the tip with Terminal and languagesetup. It basically worked, but unfortunately the changeover to German did not last and some system dialogs were in English again. Even after repeated use of the terminal method, the dialogs always switched to English after a while.
Then I remembered what I had already used successfully in the past when the macOS was confused. Here is a short description of my solution:
* Activate root user (= almost as much as God is on the system, see description below),
* Log off normal user, log in with root user,
* In the root user in the system settings under "Language & Region" move German to the first place in "Preferred languages", if necessary it must first be brought into the list via [+],
* Restart the Mac and log in again with the normal user,
* Then the problem should be resolved, if necessary move German to the first position in the system settings of the normal user,
* then deactivate the root user again.
The root user is enabled in System Preferences under Users & Groups > Login Options > Connect > Open Directory Services... > Edit menu > Root User.
macOS then requires the definition of a root password, which you can choose yourself at this point (please make a note to be on the safe side).
In the login options and in the directory service, you must click on the lock and open it with the admin user password.
Deactivating the root user works in the same way and then select "Deactivate root user" in the directory service under Edit.
The exact and better description of the root user is available from Apple directly: https://support.apple.com/de-de/HT204012
Incidentally, in the system settings for me in the root user, only English was available under "Preferred languages", but the region was Germany. I added German to the list by clicking on the small plus sign (+) under "Preferred languages" and moved it to the top with the mouse. Then I exited System Preferences and restarted the Mac and logged back in with my normal user and disabled the root user.
I hope my solution is also helpful for other readers, I would be very happy.
Hello Matthias! Wow, thanks for the exact description of your solution. I think that will help one or the other reader who still has the problem with the English language in the dialogues. Nice that you took the time to describe it. LG!
Mac trick: open an app multiple times to use it in multiple windows
Hopefully Gerald’s request only means that he will voluntarily start and switch off his Mac with a password, or is Mojave now forced to do it that way?
If so, then that would be a reason for me NOT to upgrade the system from High Sierra to Mojave. I don't want to have to log in or log out with a password every time I start or shut down the computer.
Hello Zenobite! Do not worry. Under System Preferences> Users> Login Options> Automatic Login you can still choose whether you want to start the Mac with or without entering the password. :)
Then I am reassured. :-)
Thanks for the info.
Great - thank you for the great tip! Had the same problem and was able to solve it immediately :-)
Hello, the "sudo languagesetup" command didn't work for me. The system settings (eg) remain in English, but the login is now in German. I have Mojave 10.14.5 on MB Pro, 13 inch (Mid 2012). Is there another way?
Hello Wolfram! Have you already tried restarting and installing the system over it? If so, I don't see what else could be done.
Since installing Catalina, I have been given a password for the
Guest user required. This has always logged in automatically under Mojave.
Hello Horst! It may be that this has changed. You would have to look under System Settings> User> Guest User to see if automatic login is activated.
I also had the problem with the English system dialogs.
I used the tip with Terminal and languagesetup. It basically worked, but unfortunately the changeover to German did not last and some system dialogs were in English again. Even after repeated use of the terminal method, the dialogs always switched to English after a while.
Then I remembered what I had already used successfully in the past when the macOS was confused. Here is a short description of my solution:
* Activate root user (= almost as much as God is on the system, see description below),
* Log off normal user, log in with root user,
* In the root user in the system settings under "Language & Region" move German to the first place in "Preferred languages", if necessary it must first be brought into the list via [+],
* Restart the Mac and log in again with the normal user,
* Then the problem should be resolved, if necessary move German to the first position in the system settings of the normal user,
* then deactivate the root user again.
The root user is enabled in System Preferences under Users & Groups > Login Options > Connect > Open Directory Services... > Edit menu > Root User.
macOS then requires the definition of a root password, which you can choose yourself at this point (please make a note to be on the safe side).
In the login options and in the directory service, you must click on the lock and open it with the admin user password.
Deactivating the root user works in the same way and then select "Deactivate root user" in the directory service under Edit.
The exact and better description of the root user is available from Apple directly: https://support.apple.com/de-de/HT204012
Incidentally, in the system settings for me in the root user, only English was available under "Preferred languages", but the region was Germany. I added German to the list by clicking on the small plus sign (+) under "Preferred languages" and moved it to the top with the mouse. Then I exited System Preferences and restarted the Mac and logged back in with my normal user and disabled the root user.
I hope my solution is also helpful for other readers, I would be very happy.
Hello Matthias! Wow, thanks for the exact description of your solution. I think that will help one or the other reader who still has the problem with the English language in the dialogues. Nice that you took the time to describe it. LG!
I am curious. I currently had the same problem with my iMac 2011 and the last HighSierra security update that came out a few days ago.
Since the update, all dialogs and the login screen are in English. Hmph ...
With the above terminal command everything is OK again. I hope it stays that way. Otherwise, I'll test Matthias' variant.
Thank you.
Hello iPat! I think if it works after a reboot, it should work later as well.
Great, thanks for the great answer. After scouring half the internet, your solution was the most effective.
Wonderful! : D