Some links on this page are affiliate links: if you buy through them we may earn a commission, at no extra cost to you.
Yes—SharePoint Server 2013 could support multilingual deployments, but it used different tools for the interface and for translated content. Language packs and the multilingual user interface (MUI) localized SharePoint controls; Variations created related publishing sites for language-specific content. Neither one automatically translated all pages, documents, or business data. In Microsoft 365, modern communication sites use a newer multilingual-pages approach rather than the old SharePoint 2013 setup.
There is also an important 2026 caveat: SharePoint Server 2013 support ended on April 11, 2023. Treat it as a legacy platform to assess and migrate—not as the foundation for a new production deployment.
First decide what “multilingual” means
Teams often use “multilingual site” to describe several distinct needs. Separating them prevents a common mistake: installing a language pack and expecting every piece of content to change languages.
- Interface localization: SharePoint menus, controls, settings, and other Microsoft-provided labels appear in a user’s preferred language.
- Content translation: Pages, news, list values, documents, forms, images, and other authored material are available in additional languages.
- Locale formatting: Dates, numbers, calendars, and similar conventions follow a regional format. A locale does not translate text.
- Regional localization: Content differs by market, such as local legal notices, product offerings, or contacts. This may require adapting content rather than translating it word for word.
Language is not the same as locale or region. Decide whether you need, for example, French-language content for all French speakers or a distinct version for France and another for Canada. That choice affects URLs, ownership, review, search, navigation, and fallback behavior.
#1 Best Overall
SharePoint 2013’s three separate capabilities
Language packs → make language-specific SharePoint resources available
MUI → localizes supported SharePoint interface elements
Variations → creates related source- and target-language publishing sitesThese capabilities fit together, but they solve different problems. MUI changes the SharePoint interface; it does not translate the text an organization adds. Variations propagate publishing content into target sites; they do not provide a complete translation, editorial, or regional-compliance operation by themselves.
MUI: a localized SharePoint interface
With the necessary language support available, MUI lets a user see supported SharePoint controls in an alternate language. Depending on the site and configuration, that can include menus, toolbars, list and library labels, settings, and some system-generated text.
MUI does not automatically translate a custom announcement, text entered in a page or web part, a list item’s business value, a PDF, an image containing text, or a third-party customization. Some system-generated text may also remain in another language if the supporting technology is not fully localized. MUI is useful for interface localization, but it is not a guarantee that every element will be translated.
The Tool Desk
Outbyte PC Repair FREEClear out junk files and repair common Windows errorsFree Scan →Outbyte Driver Updater FREEFix the driver behind crashes, sound loss and screen glitchesFind Drivers →Variations: related publishing sites for different languages
In SharePoint Server 2013, Variations provided a publishing-oriented way to maintain a source site and target sites for other languages. A simple URL plan might look like this:
/sites/intranet/en
/sites/intranet/fr
/sites/intranet/de
/sites/intranet/esThe exact hierarchy and language labels are architectural choices. Choose a base language, target languages or regional variants, URL pattern, and fallback before launch. For SharePoint Server 2013, Variations require a publishing site template or a site collection where SharePoint Server Publishing Infrastructure is activated; they are not a general multilingual feature for every team site. See Microsoft’s planning guidance.
Variations can help propagate source content and structure to target sites, where language versions can be translated, reviewed, and published. They do not guarantee that target content is current or published, resolve translation conflicts, translate every document or custom web part, or decide whether a regional version needs different content. They automate part of content propagation, not the full localization workflow.
Legacy Variations can use a browser’s language preference to direct a user to a variation. Treat that as a convenience, not a reliable way to infer a person’s preferred content: browser settings may be absent, wrong, or unrelated to the user’s region. Keep language-specific URLs stable, provide an explicit language selector, and define a clear fallback. Test redirection for both authenticated and anonymous users where applicable.
What’s actually slowing this PC down?
Pick the symptom - the matching free tool is one click away.
SharePoint Server 2013 and Microsoft 365 are different operating models
| Area | SharePoint Server 2013 | Modern SharePoint in Microsoft 365 |
|---|---|---|
| Interface localization | Customer-managed language packs and MUI | Underlying service is Microsoft-managed; customers do not install farm language packs |
| Multilingual content | Publishing sites and Variations were a legacy option | Modern multilingual pages and news are the recommended direction for modern communication sites where the feature fits |
| Administration | Customer manages servers, farm configuration, updates, backups, and dependencies | Microsoft operates the SharePoint Online service; tenant and site options depend on the site type and current feature set |
| New deployment in 2026 | Do not select this unsupported version for a new production deployment | Evaluate the modern approach against content, compliance, and workflow requirements |
Do not carry SharePoint Server language-pack installation steps over to SharePoint Online. Microsoft manages the service infrastructure, and the available multilingual experience depends on the site type and current Microsoft 365 features. Microsoft recommends modern multilingual sites and pages for modern communication sites instead of Variations; Variations are also described as deprecated in newer SharePoint Server releases. See Microsoft’s Variations overview for the current direction and qualifications.
When SharePoint Server language packs mattered
In SharePoint Server 2013, language packs supplied language-specific site templates and resources. Microsoft required installing the relevant packs on every web and application server in the farm, then running the SharePoint Products Configuration Wizard. An incomplete farm installation could lead to inconsistent behavior depending on which server handled a request. The language-pack installation instructions are legacy server-administration guidance, not Microsoft 365 steps.
| Requirement | SharePoint Server 2013 language pack? |
|---|---|
| Create a site in another language | Yes, for the relevant language |
| Enable MUI for another language | Yes, for the relevant language |
| Manually translate content in an existing site | Not necessarily; translation itself is a content workflow |
| Use Variations with target sites in other languages | Yes, for the target site’s language and interface resources |
| Use modern multilingual pages in SharePoint Online | No customer-managed farm language-pack deployment |
For an existing 2013 farm, the historical sequence was: inventory languages and locales; install each required language pack on every applicable server; run the configuration wizard; verify parity across the farm; configure site language settings; set up publishing and Variations as needed; and test navigation, search, workflows, and custom solutions in each language. Because the product is unsupported, do not interpret this outline as a recommendation to establish a new farm.
What to use now in Microsoft 365
For a modern communication site where multilingual pages and news meet the requirement, use the modern multilingual experience rather than building a new Variations hierarchy. The general workflow is to create and publish source-language content, configure the supported alternate languages, create language copies of pages or news, translate and review each copy, then publish and test the results. Exact controls and availability can change, so confirm the current Microsoft documentation and the capabilities of the specific site type before rollout.
Validate more than the page body: check navigation, news and highlighted content, links between language versions, permissions, audience targeting, search, and the language-switching experience. Keep an explicit default or fallback language for content that has not yet been translated. A translated page should not be assumed to be equivalent to the source: a regional team may need distinct legal text, contacts, or offers.
Best Value
For an existing classic publishing portal, Variations may remain relevant during maintenance or migration if the architecture depends on them. Do not automatically select them for a new modern site. For large programs with many languages, frequent updates, translation memory, terminology controls, vendor handoffs, or audit requirements, consider a translation-management system and human localization workflow alongside SharePoint.
Independent reader supportYour contribution helps us test, update, and keep practical guides available for everyone.Translation quality and machine translation
Human translation and review are especially important for legal, regulated, safety-critical, contractual, customer-facing, and brand-sensitive content. Reviewers can resolve ambiguity, apply approved terminology, and adapt content for a locale rather than produce a literal rendering. The trade-off is additional time, ownership, and coordination.
SharePoint 2013 included Machine Translation Services, but it is a historical dependency, not a current Microsoft 365 plan. Microsoft says Machine Translation Services for the Variations feature was no longer supported after the end of July 2022, and relevant existing Microsoft 365 instances lost multilingual functionality. Do not assume the old service or APIs remain available. Machine translation may still be useful as a draft or internal aid, but it should not be published automatically for consequential content. A separate translation API or service requires its own integration, security, cost, and human-review design; it is not a drop-in continuation of SharePoint 2013’s workflow.
Recommended Free Tools
Plan the content operation, not just the settings
- Assign owners: Name a source-content owner, a translator or vendor, a language reviewer, and a publisher for each language or region.
- Set translation rules: Define what must be translated, what can remain in the source language, what needs regional adaptation, and what should be retired.
- Control publication: Decide whether translated content can publish independently, how updates are flagged, and what happens while a translation is pending.
- Manage terminology: Maintain approved names, product terms, legal language, and locale-specific style guidance.
- Inventory assets: Include PDFs, Office files, forms, captions, image text, metadata, and videos—not only pages.
- Design navigation and URLs: Keep language paths understandable and shareable; determine whether navigation is shared or region-specific.
- Test search: Validate representative queries in each language. A localized interface does not guarantee that translated content is published, indexed, or returned as expected.
Migration checklist for an existing SharePoint 2013 deployment
- Inventory the language model: Record the base language, variation labels, target sites, locales, browser-redirection behavior, and fallback rules.
- Catalog content and dependencies: Identify translated pages, documents, list data, custom web parts, workflows, branding, and any machine-translation integrations.
- Decide what to preserve: For each language version, mark content to translate, adapt, reuse, replace, or retire. Do not migrate obsolete copies just because they exist.
- Map destinations: Decide whether the target is modern Microsoft 365 multilingual pages, another supported SharePoint architecture, or a translation-management workflow paired with SharePoint.
- Plan URLs and redirects: Preserve important language-specific links where possible and test redirects; do not assume the old Variations hierarchy maps directly to a modern site.
- Rebuild and validate workflows: Reconfirm ownership, approvals, permissions, navigation, search, and publication timing in the destination.
- Test every audience and language: Check links, mobile rendering, documents, search, language switching, and fallback behavior before cutover.
SharePoint Server 2013 support ended on April 11, 2023. Microsoft states that an out-of-support product no longer receives security updates, bug fixes, technical support, or online technical-content updates; see the lifecycle page. Organizations should treat migration planning as a security and support priority, while evaluating destination requirements such as customization, compliance, data residency, and localization governance.
Quick Recap
Quick decision guide
| If your main need is… | Consider… |
|---|---|
| Users need SharePoint controls in different languages, but content is shared | MUI in a supported deployment; it does not translate authored content |
| A classic publishing portal already relies on source-to-target site propagation | Existing Variations architecture may be maintained as a legacy dependency, with a migration plan |
| A modern Microsoft 365 communication site needs translated pages or news | Modern multilingual pages and news, after confirming current site-type availability |
| Many languages, frequent updates, terminology controls, or auditable approvals | A translation-management system and human review integrated with the publishing process |
| A new deployment is being considered on SharePoint Server 2013 | Choose a supported platform instead; SharePoint Server 2013 is out of support |
Product prices and availability are accurate as of the date/time indicated and are subject to change. Any price and availability information displayed on Amazon at the time of purchase will apply.
