Translating to an unsupported language

  • Release version: Yokohama
  • Updated March 18, 2026
  • 1 minute to read

    • Translate the interface of an instance to a language for which ServiceNow does not provide an internationalization (I18N) plugin.

    Before you begin

    You can download a file containing translatable strings from the Translate an unsupported language - File Containing strings in the English Language [KB0860203] article in the Now Support Knowledge Base.

    Role required: admin

    About this task

    All interface items are stored as translatable strings in the translation tables. By default, these translation tables contain only English strings. To populate these tables with translated strings in an unsupported language, use the following workflow.

    There is a very large number of translatable strings on the platform. Exporting all of them and translating them manually is probably not a realistic possibility. Consider exporting filtered subsets of the strings from each table and then translating them. To download a file of translatable strings, see KB0860203.

    You can use the Localization Framework application to translate to an unsupported language or to translate large amounts of custom UI string content in a supported language. For more information, see Localization Framework.

    Procedure

    1. Create a language record for the unsupported language.
    2. Export and translate the strings that you want to translate, as described in Export and edit translation records.
    3. Import the translated document back into the instance as an import set, as described in Import a translation from an Excel spreadsheet.
    4. Create a language choice for users to select the new language.