Changing language of Visual Basic Editor to English

Question

After Microsoft Office updated to the 2016 version I found the VBA interface is in German. How can I restore it to English?

My Windows 10 settings are set to English and the local setting preferences are all for English UK as well (dates, decimals etc.).

I set the Office Preference Language to English.

Solution 1

I tried above solutions and didn't works for me. This one works and not need administrator rights.

Close all Office apps. Open any Office app I.E. Excel

Choose: Options, Language

Select default language for edition: English (this option probably isnt neccessary but I did this when i looked for solution) Set English from order list as top of language for display Set English from order list as top of language for help

Looks like VBA language is based on these two options and is selected in order. My primary language is Polish, and my VBA editor was in Italian. To change VBA language to English i set order from these lists so English is choosed as first language if something can't be displayed in Polish. (previously Italian was as number 3 an this list)

Solution 2

This worked for me (Windows 10 user).

All settings> Time & Language> Region & Language.

Under "Preferred Languages", add the language that you want to use. If that language is already on the list, make sure it's at the top (you can move it by single-clicking on it and using the up/down arrows on the left).

You'll notice a comment under the heading that says: "Apps and languages will appear in the first language that they support." In my case, the top language was Norwegian and the next on the list was Chinese. VBA for some reason wouldn't recognize Norwegian, and assumed Chinese would be the next best thing. I installed English (US), moved it to the top of the list, and restarted my computer. Boom.

Solution 3

Change Sort Order to Language

Check the order, windows default first, your language so English. This solved the problem for me.

Solution 4

Have a look at the setting at Control Panel > Region and Language > Administrative. If it's showing "Germany/German" for non-unicode programs, you might be able to change it there.

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This thread at answers.microsoft.com suggests to have a look at the folder C:\Program Files\Common Files\microsoft shared\VBA\VBA7.1.

Hello, I've had the same problem and finally found the solution. The language file for VBA editor interface is stored in the following folder with different subfolders:

C:\Program Files\Common Files\microsoft shared\VBA\VBA7.1

(you may need to search for VBEUIINTL.dll if you can't find this folder on your computer)

in this folder the 1033 subfolder and its contents are for English interface. The other ones are for different languages. Somehow VBA chooses the wrong subfolder. So you basically need to copy the contents of 1033 folder ( as a workaround ):

"C:\Program Files\Common Files\microsoft shared\VBA\VBA7.1\1033\APC71ITL.DLL"
"C:\Program Files\Common Files\microsoft shared\VBA\VBA7.1\1033\VBE7INTL.DLL"
"C:\Program Files\Common Files\microsoft shared\VBA\VBA7.1\1033\VBEUIINTL.DLL"

to the 2052 folder (for chinese for example, may be you have different), for changing the language.

Before doing this , restart and don't start any office products. Then copy the files; overwrite if asked. I also suggest you to take a backup of VBA7.1 folder in case something goes wrong.

The suggestion to restart seems a bit unneeded to me - just make sure all office programs that support VBA (Excel, Word, Access, PowerPoint, Outlook) are closed.

Also this latter method seems more like treating the symptoms - to me it doesn't appear to be the correct way of changing the language of your VBE (merely one suboptimal way).

Solution 5

I had the same issue except my VBA's interface was French.
Windows 8.1 and Office 2013 were installed with Hungarian language, Regional and "non-unicode" settings are also set to Hungarian.

I have 3 folders in C:\Program Files (x86)\Common Files\Microsoft Shared\VBA\VBA7.1\:
- 1033 - English (US)
- 1036 - French
- 1038 - Hungarian
Source of Language Codes: renenyffenegger.ch

Unfortunately I don't have administrator rights, so I couldn't modify files or folders inside Program Files (x86).
I don't understand how but I can modify HKEY_CURRENT_USER in Registry (regedit.exe).

I'm not sure which one was the solution so I share two things.

First of all, you have to close all Office applications.

#1
In HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Office\15.0\Common\LanguageResources there are more REG_MULTI_SZ Values with data like 0;1038;1033;1036.

Delete the unwanted language code from everywhere. (1031 - German, 1036 - French, etc. see link above)
I deleted 1036 which resulted: 0;1038;1033

They will be automatically restored after you start Excel, but don't worry about it.

#2
In HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Office\15.0\Common\LanguageResources\EnabledLanguages set unwanted language code from ExplicitOn to Off or On.

It doesn't matter what you set because after next start of Excel it will be set to On automatically.

In my case one or both of these was the solution and VBA's interface language is finally English.

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Comments

[Mathieu Guindon]

Is Office itself in German?

[KySoto]

Have you tried reinstalling office/having IT reinstall office?

[Cezary Domański]

Of course not - it's in English alongside with Windows. I would like to avoid reinstallation of office, but it seems that is the last available option.

[Cezary Domański]

I doesn't have VBA folder on path "C:\Program Files\Common Files\Microsoft Shared\" so I cannot applied your solutions. Any other ideas?

[Cezary Domański]

It doesn't work. I don't have VBA folder under C:\Program Files\Common Files\microsoft shared\ path. What can I do to change the VBA language? Any other options?

[Inarion]

@CezaryDomański You'll need to have a look around your C: drive. It may be in C:\Program Files (x86)\Common Files\.... Have you tried to locate VBEUIINTL.dll as advised in the linked/quoted post? Also, did you check the settings mentioned in the first paragraph of my answer?

[Inarion]

This looks pretty similar to what I found. Would you mind adding a reference/link to you original source?

[Cezary Domański]

yea, i've chcekd your first proposal and my regional setup are English UK, not Germany as you suggest. I've tried to found the VBEUIINTL.dll file in disc C but nothing found..

[Inarion]

@CezaryDomański, well... Sounds strange, but possible nonetheless. Go into your VBE and select the "Extras" menu and then "Verweise". At the top of this references list there should be an entry Visual Basic For Applications. Select it and its full path should be displayed at the bottom in the line prefixed with "Pfad:". This happens to be the path we are looking for.

[Cezary Domański]

I found VBEUIINTL.dll file in C:\Program Files (x86)\Microsoft Office\root\vfs\ProgramFilesCommonX86\Microsoft Shared\VBA, copied files as you suggest but it doesn't work. Still VBA is in german

[Inarion]

@CezaryDomański It seems I am out of ideas on this issue, but the guys commenting on your question might be able to help you some more.

[Cezary Domański]

Nonetheless I really appreciate your effort to resolve my case. Take care bro

[Børge Aune]

In Windows go to -> Start menu -> Microsoft office tools -> Office Language Preferences.