Changing the language of WordPress: the site, the dashboard and each user

The short answer: WordPress has two languages chosen separately: the site’s (under Settings > General) and each user’s dashboard (in their profile). Changing the language does not translate your text; it changes the texts of WordPress, the theme and the plugins, if they have a translation.

What changes and where

What you want to change Where
The site’s language (buttons, dates, theme texts) Settings > General > Site Language.
The dashboard language just for you Users > Your Profile > Language. Each user picks their own.
Date and time format, start of the week Settings > General, further down.
The text of your pages It does not change: you write it in the language you want. For several languages you need another solution: A multilingual WordPress site.
Plugins and themes without a translation They stay in English, even with the rest translated.

Step by step

1 Go to Settings > General and look for “Site Language”.
2 Choose the language from the list. WordPress downloads the translation files, which takes a moment. There are Portuguese variants; choose your audience’s.
3 Set the date and time in the settings below (format, time zone).
4 Each person can have the dashboard in another language, in their profile, without changing the site’s.
5 Update the themes and plugins to bring in the latest translations: Updating without breaking anything.
Changing the site language changes theme texts (the “Read more”, the “Leave a comment”), but not what you wrote. If the change left something odd, go back to the earlier language: nothing is lost. To translate pages with AI help, see Translating your website with AI.
For Google to understand the site’s languages, WordPress’s language is not enough: hreflang and duplicate versions.

Part of the site stayed in English and you do not know why? Open a ticket with the address and the theme’s name.

Open a support ticket

SEE ALSO

A multilingual WordPress site: plugin options, URLs and what Google needs

Translating your website with AI: what to review before you publish

Site in several languages or countries: hreflang and avoiding duplicate versions

Installing WordPress plugins: where, which ones, and how many

Adding a WordPress user, and which role to give them

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