> ## Documentation Index
> Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://openidea.sh/llms.txt
> Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further.

# Display language

> Change the language of OpenIDEA's menus and dialogs, and the date format it uses.

## Change the language

Open **Settings › Appearance & Behavior › System Settings › Language and Region** and choose a **Language**:

| Language | Setting value |
| - | - |
| English (default) | `en` |
| 简体中文 (Chinese, Simplified) | `zh` |
| 한국어 (Korean) | `ko` |
| Français (French) | `fr` |
| Polski (Polish) | `pl` |
| Português (Portuguese) | `pt` |
| Español (Spanish) | `es` |

The change applies as soon as you click **Apply** or **OK**, including the native menu bar; no restart needed. Text that hasn't been translated yet stays in English. English and Simplified Chinese are complete; the other languages may have gaps.

In `settings.toml` the option is `locale` under `[appearance]`:

```toml theme={null}
[appearance]
locale = "zh"
```

Plugins are told the display language and can show their own text in it when they ship a translation.

## Search in your language

The settings search, Find Action and Search Everywhere match both the English names and the translated ones, so you can search in either.

## Date and time format

By default, dates in the Git log, Local History and blame annotations follow your operating system's locale. To choose a format yourself, open **Settings › Appearance & Behavior › System Settings › Date Formats** and turn on **Override system date and time format**. The pattern uses `dd`, `MM`, `MMM`, `yy` and `yyyy`.

## Update source

When **Update source** is **Automatic** (the default), OpenIDEA downloads updates from the CNB mirror if the display language is Chinese, and from GitHub otherwise. See [Install](https://openidea.sh/en/guide/install.md#updates).

## Help translate

Translations live in the repository. See [Text and localization](https://openidea.sh/en/contribute/guidelines/i18n.md) to add or fix strings.


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