How to Update Language, Region & Date Format Settings in the Facebook App?

August 21, 2026

Last updated: August 2026 · By

Screens on a phone showing Facebook app Settings menu with Language, Region format, and Dates and times options highlighted, next to a globe and calendar icon

If your Facebook app suddenly opened in a language you don't recognize, or your notifications show dates in a format that doesn't match how you read dates at home, you're not stuck. Facebook lets you control the display language, the region format used for dates, times, and numbers, and — indirectly — the way your device shows date and time information inside the app. This guide walks through every current method for Android, iPhone, and desktop, plus the troubleshooting steps to try when a change doesn't stick.

Table of Contents

How Facebook decides your default language and region

When you first create a Facebook account, Facebook does not ask you to pick a language from scratch. Instead, it reads the language configured in your phone, tablet, or computer's operating system and uses that as your starting point. At the same time, it matches how dates, times, and numbers are displayed to the region typically associated with that language, according to Facebook's own Help Center guidance on language and region settings.

That means two people using the same phone model in different countries can see completely different date formats and menu wording, purely because their underlying device settings differ. Once your account is created, though, your Facebook language and region preferences become independent settings tied to your Facebook account — not your device — and you can change them at any time from inside the app or from Facebook.com.

Language settings vs. region format: what's the difference?

It's easy to assume "language" and "date format" are the same setting, but Facebook actually separates them into two distinct controls:

  • Facebook language (Account language): This changes the text Facebook itself generates — button labels, menu titles, notification wording, tooltips, and system messages. It does not translate what your friends post; that's handled separately by post-translation settings.
  • Region format (formats for dates, times, and numbers): This controls how numeric values are displayed — for example, whether a date appears as 08/21/2026 or 21/08/2026, whether times use a 12-hour or 24-hour clock, and how large numbers are separated with commas or periods.

According to Facebook's Help Center, when you change your account language, your region format automatically updates to match the typical formatting for that language/region pairing. If you only want to change how dates and numbers look — without changing the language of menus and buttons — you can adjust the region format on its own, and your interface language stays exactly as it was.

How to change your language in the Facebook app on Android

Facebook regularly tweaks the exact wording of its menus, but the current path on Android looks like this:

  1. Open the Facebook app and log in if needed.
  2. Tap the menu icon (three horizontal lines), usually in the top-right corner of the screen.
  3. Scroll down and tap Settings & privacy, then tap Settings.
  4. Look for Language and region (sometimes listed simply as Language) in the settings list and tap it.
  5. Tap Edit next to your current language, or tap the language field directly.
  6. A search box appears — type or scroll to find the language you want (for example, "English (US)," "Español," or "Français").
  7. Select the language, then tap Save or Save changes to apply it.

The app should refresh immediately and display menus, buttons, and notifications in your newly selected language. This change is tied to your Facebook account, so the interface language will follow you if you log in on another Android device — though, as covered below, some settings behave differently across devices.

How to change your language in the Facebook app on iPhone/iOS

On iOS, Facebook's app language is more closely linked to your iPhone's system language than it is on Android. Here's the current process:

  1. Open the Facebook app on your iPhone.
  2. Tap the three horizontal lines menu icon, typically in the bottom-right corner.
  3. Tap Settings & privacy, then Settings.
  4. Tap App Language (this may also appear inside a broader "Language and region" section, depending on your app version).
  5. If your iPhone doesn't yet have a preferred language set for Facebook, tap Open Phone Settings and add the language you want under iOS's own Settings > General > Language & Region > iPhone Language (or the per-app language list, depending on iOS version).
  6. Choose your desired language and confirm.
  7. Return to the Facebook app — it should reopen using the new language.

Because Facebook for iOS pulls from Apple's system-level per-app language controls, changing the language may briefly close and reopen the app, or ask you to confirm the change through the iOS Settings app rather than entirely inside Facebook itself.

How to change region format (dates, times, and numbers)

This is the setting most people are actually looking for when they say their "date format" looks wrong. Facebook's own Help Center currently notes an important limitation: region format options are only available through a computer (desktop browser) — not inside the mobile app itself. If you're on your phone, the practical workaround is to open a mobile browser (Chrome, Safari) and request the "Desktop site" version of Facebook, or use a laptop/desktop computer.

  1. Go to Facebook.com on a desktop browser and log in.
  2. Click the down arrow in the top-right corner and choose Settings & privacy, then Settings.
  3. In the left-hand menu, click Language and region.
  4. Find the section labeled Formats for dates, times and numbers and click Choose or Edit next to it.
  5. Select the region whose date, time, and number formatting matches what you're used to (for example, choosing a region that uses DD/MM/YYYY instead of MM/DD/YYYY).
  6. Click Save changes.

Remember: changing this setting only affects how dates, times, and numbers are displayed. It does not change the language of menus, buttons, or notification text — that's controlled separately by the account language setting described above.

Adjusting automatic translation of posts and comments

While you're in Language and region settings, you'll also see a section called Posts from friends and Pages (or similar wording). This is unrelated to your interface language, but it's commonly confused with it, so it's worth covering here:

  • Translate into: Pick the language Facebook should automatically translate foreign-language posts and comments into.
  • Don't translate: List languages you're fluent in so Facebook skips auto-translating posts written in them.
  • Don't translate from: Prevent specific source languages from being auto-translated at all.

These options don't affect your app's menus or date formatting — they only control what happens to content other people post.

Why you may need to repeat this on every device

A detail that surprises a lot of users: Facebook's Help Center is explicit that changing your language settings on one device does not automatically change it on another. If you update your language on your phone, your laptop's Facebook.com session (or a tablet you also use) will keep showing whatever language it was previously set to until you repeat the process there. If you regularly switch between a phone, tablet, and computer, plan to update the language setting on each device individually.

Troubleshooting: language or date format not updating

If you've followed the steps above and Facebook still isn't showing the language or format you selected, work through these checks:

  1. Force-close and reopen the app. Some interface elements only refresh after a full app restart rather than a simple screen change.
  2. Check for a pending app update. Older app versions sometimes have bugs around language switching that later updates fix. Visit the Google Play Store or Apple App Store to confirm you're on the latest version.
  3. Clear the app's cache (Android only). Go to your phone's Settings > Apps > Facebook > Storage > Clear cache. This won't delete your account data, only temporarily stored files that can sometimes cause display glitches.
  4. Confirm you saved the change. It's easy to select a new language and back out of the menu without tapping the final Save/Save changes button.
  5. Check your device-level language, especially on iPhone. Because iOS ties app language to system-level per-app language preferences, a mismatch between your iPhone's language settings and what you selected inside Facebook can cause the app to revert.
  6. Log out and back in. This forces Facebook to re-sync your account preferences with the app.
  7. Try the desktop site for region format changes. If you're only trying to change date/number formatting and can't find the option, remember it's currently limited to desktop browsers.
  8. Give it a few minutes. Occasionally, settings changes take a short time to propagate across Facebook's servers, especially right after the change is saved.

Frequently asked questions

Does changing my Facebook language change my friends' posts too?

No. Your account language setting only changes Facebook's own interface text — buttons, menus, and notifications. What your friends write stays in whatever language they wrote it in, unless you separately enable translation for their posts.

Can I set a different date format without changing my language?

Yes. The "Formats for dates, times and numbers" option under Language and Region on desktop Facebook is separate from the account language setting, so you can keep your interface in English while displaying dates in a DD/MM/YYYY format, for example, or vice versa.

Why can't I find the region format option in the mobile app?

Facebook's Help Center currently states that region format settings are only accessible from a computer. To adjust this from your phone, open a mobile browser, request the desktop version of the site, and navigate to Settings > Language and region from there.

Will changing my language on my phone also change it on my laptop?

No. Facebook language and format settings are applied per device/session in practice — you'll need to repeat the change on each device where you use Facebook.

I set my language to English but it keeps reverting. What's going on?

This is most often related to iPhone's per-app language system overriding your in-app choice, an outdated app version, or a cached settings glitch. Work through the troubleshooting checklist above, starting with confirming your device's own language settings and updating the app.

Does Facebook support regional dialects, like English (UK) vs. English (US)?

Yes. Facebook offers multiple English variants along with dozens of other languages and regional dialects, so you can choose the specific version that matches your spelling and phrasing preferences, not just a broad language category.

Facebook language options at a glance

Facebook supports a wide range of languages and regional variants, and the list keeps expanding as new dialects are added. While the exact catalog varies slightly by app version, common choices you'll typically find in the language search box include:

  • English (US), English (UK), and English (Upside Down) — a novelty option Facebook has kept as an Easter egg
  • Spanish (Spain) and Spanish (Latin America) as separate dialects
  • Portuguese (Brazil) and Portuguese (Portugal) as separate dialects
  • French (France) and French (Canada)
  • Arabic, Hindi, Mandarin (Simplified and Traditional), Japanese, Korean, German, Italian, Dutch, Turkish, Vietnamese, Thai, Indonesian, Swahili, and dozens more

If a language you select hasn't been fully translated across every part of Facebook, the app may ask you to choose a secondary "fallback" language. Any text that hasn't yet been localized into your first choice will display in that fallback language instead of showing untranslated placeholder text.

How region format changes actually appear in the app

Once you update your region format, the difference shows up in small but frequent ways throughout the app rather than in one obvious place. Here's where you're likely to notice it:

  • Timestamps on posts and comments — for example, "3 hours ago" style relative timestamps generally stay the same, but full timestamps (visible when you hover on desktop or tap on mobile) switch between formats like "August 21, 2026" and "21 August 2026."
  • Event details — start and end times for Facebook Events switch between 12-hour (AM/PM) and 24-hour clock display depending on your selected region.
  • Birthdays and reminders — the order in which day, month, and year appear on birthday notifications follows your region format.
  • Marketplace and payments — prices and large numbers may show different thousand-separator characters (commas vs. periods) depending on the region you choose.

Keep in mind that Facebook Events use a slightly different mechanism for time zones: an event's displayed time is driven by the location attached to the event itself, and each viewer sees that time converted into their own device's time zone — this is separate from the region format setting covered in this guide.

Language and region settings vs. your phone's system settings

It helps to remember that three separate "language" settings can influence what you see:

  1. Your device's operating system language (set in Android or iOS Settings) — this affects every app on your phone, not just Facebook, and is what Facebook initially copies when you first sign up.
  2. Your Facebook account language — the setting covered in this guide, stored with your Facebook account and adjustable independently of your device.
  3. Per-post translation preferences — which only affect how other people's content gets machine-translated for you, not Facebook's own interface.

Understanding which of these three you're actually trying to change is the fastest way to avoid frustration. If your entire phone is in the wrong language, that's an operating-system-level fix, not a Facebook setting. If only Facebook's menus are wrong, that's the account language setting. If it's specifically about how a friend's post is translated, that's the third category.

Final thoughts

Facebook's language and region controls are more flexible than most people realize — you can mix and match an interface language with a completely different date and number format, adjust translation behavior for other people's posts, and fine-tune everything down to regional English dialects. The trade-off is that these settings live in slightly different places depending on whether you're on Android, iPhone, or a desktop browser, and Facebook doesn't automatically sync them across every device you own. Once you know where to look, though, updating your language, region, and date format settings takes only a couple of minutes.

This guide is based on Facebook's official Help Center documentation and current app behavior as of August 2026. Facebook periodically redesigns its settings menus, so exact menu labels and positions may shift slightly over time.

Post a Comment

0 Comments