# Localization and language

Just like JupyterLab, JupyterLite provides the ability to set the
[display language](https://jupyterlab.readthedocs.io/en/stable/user/language.html) of
the user interface.

## Language Packs

To be able to provide a new display language, you will need to install a language pack.

Visit the [language packs repository](https://github.com/jupyterlab/language-packs) for
a list of available packs.

## Installing

JupyterLite follows the same installation procedure as in JupyterLab. Please refer to
the JupyterLab documentation to learn more on
[installing new language packs](https://jupyterlab.readthedocs.io/en/stable/user/language.html#installing).

If you already have a JupyterLite deployment, you can add the language packs as
dependencies.

For example to add support for French and Simplified Chinese in a `requirements.txt`:

```text
jupyterlab-language-pack-fr-FR
jupyterlab-language-pack-zh-CN
```

Also make sure you have the `jupyterlab_server` dependency installed in your build
environment. `jupyterlab_server` is used by the `jupyter-lite` CLI to find and install
language packs.

You can install it by adding it to your `requirements.txt` alongside other dependencies:

```text
jupyterlab-language-pack-fr-FR
jupyterlab-language-pack-zh-CN
jupyterlab_server
```

Or by installing `jupyterlite-core` with `translation` extras:

```
pip install jupyterlite-core[translation]
```

Then rebuild the website with `jupyter lite build`.

## Changing the display language

The steps to change the display language from the user interface are the same as for
JupyterLab:

[https://jupyterlab.readthedocs.io/en/stable/user/language.html#changing-the-display-language](https://jupyterlab.readthedocs.io/en/stable/user/language.html#changing-the-display-language)

All of the core JupyterLite [apps](../../quickstart/using.md#applications) support
localization:

![a screencast of selecting localization from the help menu](https://user-images.githubusercontent.com/591645/134638710-e99b9710-af61-43e0-856b-cb383b8e8181.gif 'JupyterLab and Jupyter Notebook localization')

## Ignoring language packs from the environment

It is also possible to ignore the language packs installed in an existing environment to
avoid side-effects when deploying the website.

In your `jupyter_lite_config.json` file, ignore the `translation` addon as follow:

```json
{
  "LiteBuildConfig": {
    "ignore_sys_prefix": ["translation"]
  }
}
```