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OWA Language Issues

The introduction of Outlook Web Access  (OWA) for Exchange 2003 gave rise to several important questions con the use of different languages with the programme. This page to try to clarify the programme's behaviour in this respect and inform users about what they can do to get the language settings they want.

There are two distinct cases to be considered.

 

1. Names of the default folders on the mailserver are in the wrong language

The language in which the names of the Inbox, Sent Items, Deleted Items and other default folders in the Exchange mailbox appear depends on the language set as default on the computer where the mailbox is accessed for the very first time.

Therefore, if you were working on a PC with the language set to French when you looked at your EUI e-mail for the first time, you now see your "Inbox" showing as "Boîte de réception", "Deleted Items" as "Eléments supprimés", and all the rest of the subfolders likewise indicated in French.

These names, having been generated on the server itself, remain unchanged from that time on, no matter what e-mail client programme you use (OWA, Microsoft Outlook, Outlook Express, etc.) and no matter what language or regional settings are in effect on any PC from which you thereafter access your mailbox.

If this causes you problems, where you see your mailbox folders in a language you don't understand or which may not even be displayed in the proper character set, we have a means of fixing it for you. Contact your Site Office.

 

2. Menus, icons and shortcuts in the Outlook Web Access are in a language other than the one you want

This only affects the OWA and the printed text in the OWA programme, excluding the names of the standard folders. It depends on the browser settings of whatever PC you are using if, for instance, instead of "Folders" and "Shortcuts" you see "Carpetas" and "Accesos directos", or "Neu" instead of "New" and "Antworten" instead of "Reply", etc. If you want to change the language, change language options of the browser.

In Internet Explorer, under the Tools menu, select Internet Options, and then click Languages.

 

 

If you don't see the language you want under Language Preference,

 

 

click Add and select from the list of available languages.

 

 

Click OK to confirm your selection and return to the Language Preference window.

To move a language to the top of the list, select the language, and then click Move Up.

 

 

Click OK until you get back to the OWA window. To make the new language setting take effect, pull down the View menu and click Refresh.

Page last updated on 20 August 2017

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