Switching the app language

Purpose

The content language (English/German) is chosen before the first installation (Language, project type and required entries). Switching later is possible — it renames the existing objects without losing data. It is meant as a one-off correction, not as a toggle for daily use.

Who can do this

Jira administrators only. While an installation job is running, the switch is blocked.

Steps

1. Open Setup & Configuration → Language block.
2. Click the other language (English / Deutsch; the active one is marked ✓).
3. Confirm the prompt: “Really switch the language? All Jira objects (types, fields, statuses, filters) are renamed immediately; Confluence page contents keep the install language.”
4. Leave the window open: the banner “🌐 Switching language · x/9 · …” shows the progress across nine phases — statuses, issue types, link types, fields, project, workflows, schemes, filters and Confluence page titles.

Expected result

All app objects carry the new display names; your data stays fully intact (issues hang off stable internal ids). The language chip at the bottom of the sidebar switches (DE/EN).

What does not follow

• Page contents in Confluence stay in the language they were created in — only the page titles are renamed.
• The permission and notification schemes and the project role names (Bearbeiter, Beobachter) deliberately stay single-language.
• Missing pages are not added: if you installed in English and later switch to German, you do not retroactively get the German-only policy templates of the “Controlled Documents” branch.

Related pages

• Language, project type and required entries
• Ongoing configuration and maintenance