Skip to main content
acertik
Inspiring
March 12, 2019
Answered

Change language without reinstalling?

  • March 12, 2019
  • 6 replies
  • 130775 views

Hello:

Does anyone know if there's a way to change the default language of After Effects without uninstalling and reinstalling? I've found tons of articles on how to do it with older versions, but none of them are current.

Thank you.

Correct answer acertik

Hello:

Thank you. I tried that, but unfortunately that only affects MacOS/Finder, but not After Effects. I just re-installed after all. I tried searching everywhere for a different solution, but it seems that there's no way to change the language in CC like you used to be able to in CS. Oh well. Re-installing wasn't that bad. I was just trying to avoid the hassle, but it worked out okay.

Thank you for your help.

6 replies

New Participant
October 8, 2025

Wow! This is so simple and yet it worked! Thank you so much (Windows User)

New Participant
October 8, 2025

Sorry meant to reply to another comment

 

Roland Kahlenberg
Brainiac
July 29, 2025
Very Advanced After Effects Training | Adaptive & Responsive Toolkits | Intelligent Design Assets (IDAs) | MoGraph Design System DEV
New Participant
December 15, 2020

Hi,

 

There is another trick i ytry it in my computer and it work as well

  1. GO to C:\Program Files\Adobe\Adobe After Effects CC 2017\Support Files\AMT
  2. Edit the file application.xml with notepad++ 
  3. Replace the install languages to language you want (key="installedLanguages">en_EN)
  4. Restart your adobe effect CC

Don't forget to like 😉

New Participant
November 14, 2020

sorry for necroposting, but I think someone might find it useful in the future.

actually, there's another way to change AE language without reinstalling.

if you're on Windows, go to the installation folder of your AE (like C:/Program Files/Adobe/After Effects CC 2018)

- then navigate to Support Files---Dictionaries

- find the .DAT file with your current language (mine was like after_effects_ru_RU.dat). it may be inside the folder with your current language (mine was in the folder ru_RU)

- rename it to your desired language (like after_effects_en_US.dat)

- restart AE

- enjoy!

No reinstalling needed.

New Participant
December 2, 2020

WOW, perfect!!

ToolfarmJP
Community Expert
March 14, 2019

Hello,

You just change the order of the language to set it. You move Italian or German up to the top.

https://9to5mac.com/2018/08/09/mac-how-to-change-language-and-region/

acertik
acertikAuthorCorrect answer
Inspiring
March 14, 2019

Hello:

Thank you. I tried that, but unfortunately that only affects MacOS/Finder, but not After Effects. I just re-installed after all. I tried searching everywhere for a different solution, but it seems that there's no way to change the language in CC like you used to be able to in CS. Oh well. Re-installing wasn't that bad. I was just trying to avoid the hassle, but it worked out okay.

Thank you for your help.

thatsmauri
Community Expert
March 14, 2019

Indeed. The only way to change the language of an CC app (that is already installed on your computer) is by reinstalling it:
» Change the language setting of your Creative Cloud apps

ToolfarmJP's trick only works for 'Creative Suite' apps.

ToolfarmJP
Community Expert
March 13, 2019

Hello,

If you are a Windows user and want to switch any languages to English, you create an empty text file and save it named ae_force_english.txt into My Docuument folder.

If you are a Mac user, you switch the language in System preferences -> Language & Region.

acertik
acertikAuthor
Inspiring
March 13, 2019

Thank you. I'm on a Mac, and my After Effects is in English already. I'm trying to temporarily change it to either Italian or German.

Olivié Charbonneau
Participating Frequently
October 19, 2023

ae_force_italian.txt in Documents ? 

ae_force_german.txt in Documents ?