How to Localize the Navigation in SharePoint Online

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Localizing your navigation in SharePoint Online requires a lot of patience, because changing your language requires a lot of patience.  This is a scenario for one type of navigation, Quick Launch navigation.  It will also work for for things like Hub site navigation and Mega-menu navigation, but not for others, Managed Navigation for example.

1. Create your navigation by clicking on "Edit" next to the navigation menu, then changing the link address (if any) and the Display name of each item and click OK
2. Don't forget to click "Save"
3. For each language of the site,
   1. Change your language using the normal method of changing your SharePoint Language, or the instant language toggle trick
   2. Click on "Edit" next to the navigation menu
   3. For each navigation label that is not already translated,
      1. change the Display name to the one that is correct for that language.  It looks like it is overwriting the original in the original language, but it is not
      2. Do NOT change the URL.  That will overwrite the original.  You can change the text in other languages, but not the URL.
   4. Don't forget to click "Save"
4. Do this for every type of navigation
5. Try to change your language to check that it works correctly in all languages

Localizing your SharePoint Online navigation with PointFire 365 is much easier

1. Click on PointFire 365 then click on "Translate the Interface"
2. Click on "1" then click on "2" then click on "3"
3. No step 3, you have just translated all the types of navigation in all languages.  You have also translated list and library names, columns, content types, titles, descriptions, etc, whatever can be localized.
4. If you want, between clicking on "2" and "3" you can edit all the translations using Quick edit view.

This works on modern SharePoint sites and classic SharePoint sites, and you can easily build multilingual Communication sites.

With PointFire, all your users and content are on the same site. Two different users going to the same URL will each see it in their own language. It works with every version of SharePoint Online and of SharePoint on premise, with optional machine translation.

Find out why bilingual governments, multinational corporations, and international organizations use PointFire for their SharePoint sites, on premise and in Office 365. Download the unlimited trial.