Activate a language

  • Release version: Yokohama
  • Updated October 23, 2025
  • 1 minute to read

    • By default, the language supported by the platform is American English. You can activate plugins for other supported languages if you have the admin role.

    Before you begin

    Role required: admin

    About this task

    The following plugins are currently available:
    • I18N: Arabic Translations
    • I18N: Brazilian Portuguese Translations
    • I18N: Czech Translations
    • I18N: Dutch Translations
    • I18N: Finnish Translations
    • I18N: French Canada Translations
    • I18N: French Translations
    • I18N: German Translations
    • I18N: Hebrew Translations
    • I18N: Hungarian Translations
    • I18N: Italian Translations
    • I18N: Japanese Translations
    • I18N: Korean Translations
    • I18N: Norwegian Translations
    • I18N: Polish Translations
    • I18N: Portuguese Translations
    • I18N: Russian Translations
    • I18N: Simplified Chinese Translations
    • I18N: Spanish Translations
    • I18N: Swedish Translations
    • I18N: Thai Translations
    • I18N: Traditional Chinese Translations
    • I18N: Turkish Translations
    In addition, the I18N: Internationalization plugin (com.glide.i18n) provides the elements necessary for localizing an instance without any language translation preloaded. This plugin is useful for localizing an instance to a language other than those listed above. For more information on using the I18N: Internationalization plugin to translate an instance into a custom language, see Translating to an unsupported language.
    Note:
    • Activating internationalization plugins for any of the available languages automatically activates the I18N: Knowledge Management Internationalization Plugin v2 plugin (com.glideapp.knowledge.i18n2).
    • Product and Application Names are kept in English in localization plugins. Feature names are translated.
    • After installation, localization plugins can't be uninstalled.

    Procedure

    1. Navigate to All > System Applications > All Available Applications > All.
    2. Find the plugin using the filter criteria and search bar.

      You can search for the plugin by its name or ID. If you cannot find a plugin, you might have to request it from ServiceNow personnel.

    3. Select Install to start the installation process.
      Note:
      When domain separation and delegated admin are enabled in an instance, the administrative user must be in the global domain. Otherwise, the following error appears: Application installation is unavailable because another operation is running: Plugin Activation for <plugin name>.
      You will see a message after installation is completed. For information about the components installed with a plugin, see Find components installed with an application.