# Language switching

Language switching allows you to deploy an application in different languages. At design time, you can design an application with user-defined text strings in up to 40 languages. At run time, you can switch between up to 20 application languages dynamically using a language switch button for each language.

The user-defined text strings that support language switching are those that an operator sees in an application at run time, including:

- Text objects created in graphic displays and global object displays
- Graphic and global object display titles specified in the Display Settings dialog box
- Labels and captions on graphic displays, including alarm trigger labels
- Embedded time and date and numeric variables
- Alarm, local, and information messages
- Captions and shorter messages in the dialog boxes of User Management buttons and the Electronic Signature dialog box
- Text strings defined in the extended properties of controller tags

  Tip: | Make sure that you define the controller default language when multi-language is enabled. If the requested language is not available in the controller, the application shows the default language defined and enabled in the HMI. If the HMI default language is not defined in the controller, the application uses the controller default language or the single language that does not have an ID.

## See also

Prepare an application for language switching

Switch application languages at design time

Keywords: language switching