The NavigatorLanguage.language read-only property returns a string representing the preferred language of the user, usually the language of the browser UI.
Syntax
lang = navigator.language
Values
A string representing the language version as defined in BCP 47. Examples of valid language codes include "en", "en-US", "fr", "fr-FR", "es-ES", etc.
Note that in Safari on macOS and iOS prior to 10.2, the country code returned is lowercase: "en-us", "fr-fr" etc.
Example
if (window.navigator.language != 'en') {
doLangSelect(window.navigator.language);
}
Specifications
| Specification | Status | Comment |
|---|---|---|
| HTML 5.1 The definition of 'NavigatorLanguage.language' in that specification. |
Recommendation | Initial definition |
Browser compatibility
| Feature | Chrome | Edge | Firefox (Gecko) | Internet Explorer | Opera | Safari |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Basic support | (Yes)[1] | (Yes) | 1.0 (1.7 or earlier)[2] 5.0 (5.0)[3] |
11.0[4] | (Yes) | (Yes) |
on WorkerNavigator |
? | ? | 35 (35) | ? | ? | ? |
| Feature | Android | Edge | Firefox Mobile (Gecko) | IE Mobile | Opera Mobile | Safari Mobile |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Basic support | (Yes) | (Yes) | 1.0 (1.0) | No support[4] | (Yes) | (Yes) |
on WorkerNavigator |
? | ? | 35 (35) | No support | ? | ? |
[1] Returns the browser UI language, not the value of the Accept-Language HTTP header.
[2] Prior to Gecko 2.0 (Firefox 4 / Thunderbird 3.3 / SeaMonkey 2.1), this property's value was also part of the user agent string, as reported by navigator.userAgent.
[3] Starting in Gecko 5.0 (Firefox 5.0 / Thunderbird 5.0 / SeaMonkey 2.2), this property's value is based on the value of the Accept-Language HTTP header.
[4] Closest available (non-standard) properties are userLanguage and browserLanguage.