how to change back to English

mmb.dvm

I have just downloaded the standalone version but for some reason the interface is in Hebrew. How can I change it to English?

HuShifang

I think the problem is that Zotero uses whatever language is indicated in your Control Panel / Region and Language Options (for Windows 7) for non-UTF8 text. (This is actually a problem with the program - I need to use Chinese for a variety of dictionaries, etc, but don't want to have my Zotero interface in Chinese. Until the developers use UTF text in the standalone, there's no option...)

Simon

It's not that we use non-UTF-8 text; it's that XULRunner, the environment in which Zotero runs, has a strange way of picking the language on Windows. See here for instructions on how to switch to English and here for more discussion.

HuShifang

Simon - That worked like a charm. Thanks so much...

Jasmine1123

I am trying to change my Zotero so that it reads English because it is only in Chinese as of now. I, however, do not read Chinese and so I can't find the "preferences" option to even begin changing the language setting. Is there anything that I can do?

dstillman

If you can find the profile directory (which would be one level above the Zotero data directory), you can edit the prefs.js file manually in a text editor (after closing Zotero). The lines there are equivalent to lines in about:config. You want a general.useragent.locale pref set to "en-US" (with quotes) and "intl.locale.matchOS" set to "false" (without quotes). Note that if the prefs are currently at their defaults, they won't show up in that file, so you'll have to add them, following the format there.

Ivana Bojovic

You can change the language in win7 if you go to Control Panel, then choose language and region and you will find the option in the last tab of the dialog box (it should be Usage or something, I have the German OS so I'm not sure). Anyway, it switches Zotero to English.