---
meta:
title: Localization
description: Discover how to localize Shoelace with minimal effort.
---
# Localization
Components can be localized by importing the appropriate translation file and setting the desired [`lang` attribute](https://developer.mozilla.org/en-US/docs/Web/HTML/Global_attributes/lang) and/or [`dir` attribute](https://developer.mozilla.org/en-US/docs/Web/HTML/Global_attributes/dir) on the `` element. Here's an example that renders Shoelace components in Spanish.
```html
...
```
Through the magic of a mutation observer, changing the `lang` attribute will automatically update all localized components to use the new locale.
## Available Translations
Shoelace ships with a number of translations. The default is English (US), which also serves as the fallback locale. As such, you do not need to import the English translation. To see a list of all available translations in the latest version, [refer to this directory](https://github.com/shoelace-style/shoelace/tree/current/src/translations).
The location of translations depends on how you're consuming Shoelace.
- If you're using the CDN, [import them from the CDN](https://www.jsdelivr.com/package/npm/@shoelace-style/shoelace?path=%CDNDIR%%2Ftranslations)
- If you're using a bundler, import them from `@shoelace-style/shoelace/%NPMDIR%/translations/[lang].js`
You do not need to load translations up front. You can import them dynamically even after updating the `lang` attribute. Once a translation is registered, localized components will update automatically.
```js
// Same as setting
document.documentElement.lang = 'de';
// Import the translation
import('/path/to/shoelace/dist/translations/de.js');
```
### Translation Resolution
The locale set by `` is the default locale for the document. If a country code is provided, e.g. `es-PE` for Peruvian Spanish, the localization library will resolve it like this:
1. Look for `es-PE`
2. Look for `es`
3. Fall back to `en`
Shoelace uses English as a fallback to provide a better experience than rendering nothing or throwing an error.
### Submitting New Translations or Improvements
To contribute new translations or improvements to existing translations, please submit a pull request on GitHub. Translations are located in [`src/translations`](https://github.com/shoelace-style/shoelace/blob/next/src/translations) and can be edited directly on GitHub if you don't want to clone the repo locally.
Regional translations are welcome! For example, if a German translation (`de`) exists it's perfectly acceptable to submit a German (Switzerland) (`de-CH`) translation.
If you have any questions, please start a [discussion](https://github.com/shoelace-style/shoelace/discussions) or ask in the [community chat](https://discord.gg/mg8f26C).
:::tip
Shoelace provides a localization mechanism for component internals. This is not designed to be used as localization tool for your entire application. You should use a more appropriate tool such as [i18next](https://www.i18next.com/) if you need to localize content in your app.
:::
## Multiple Locales Per Page
You can use a different locale for an individual component by setting its `lang` and/or `dir` attributes. Here's a contrived example to demonstrate.
```html
...
```
For performance reasons, the `lang` and `dir` attributes must be on the component itself, not on an ancestor element.
```html
...
```
This limitation exists because there's no efficient way to determine the current locale of a given element in a DOM tree. I consider this a gap in the platform and [I've proposed a couple properties](https://github.com/whatwg/html/issues/7039) to make this possible.
## Creating Your Own Translations
You can provide your own translations if you have specific needs or if you don't want to wait for a translation to land upstream. The easiest way to do this is to copy `src/translations/en.ts` into your own project and translate the terms inside. When your translation is done, you can import it and use it just like a built-in translation.
Let's create a Spanish translation as an example. The following assumes you're using TypeScript, but you can also create translations with regular JavaScript.
```js
import { registerTranslation } from '@shoelace-style/shoelace/dist/utilities/localize';
import type { Translation } from '@shoelace-style/shoelace/dist/utilities/localize';
const translation: Translation = {
$code: 'es',
$name: 'Español',
$dir: 'ltr',
term1: '...',
term2: '...',
...
};
registerTranslation(translation);
export default translation;
```
Once your translation has been compiled to JavaScript, import it and activate it like this.
```html
...
```
:::tip
If your translation isn't working, make sure you're using the same localize module when importing `registerTranslation`. If you're using a different module, your translation won't be recognized.
:::