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sp-defaultlanguage-transact-sql.md

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title sp_defaultlanguage (Transact-SQL)
description sp_defaultlanguage changes the default language of for a SQL Server login.
author markingmyname
ms.author maghan
ms.reviewer randolphwest
ms.date 06/23/2025
ms.service sql
ms.subservice system-objects
ms.topic reference
f1_keywords
sp_defaultlanguage
sp_defaultlanguage_TSQL
helpviewer_keywords
sp_defaultlanguage
dev_langs
TSQL

sp_defaultlanguage (Transact-SQL)

[!INCLUDE SQL Server]

Changes the default language of for a [!INCLUDE ssNoVersion] login.

Important

[!INCLUDE ssNoteDepFutureAvoid] Use ALTER LOGIN instead.

:::image type="icon" source="../../includes/media/topic-link-icon.svg" border="false"::: Transact-SQL syntax conventions

Syntax

sp_defaultlanguage
    [ @loginame = ] N'loginame'
    [ , [ @language = ] N'language' ]
[ ; ]

Arguments

[ @loginame = ] N'loginame'

The login name. @loginame is sysname, with no default. @loginame can be an existing [!INCLUDE ssNoVersion] login, or a Windows user or group.

[ @language = ] N'language'

The default language of the login. @language is sysname, with a default of NULL. @language must be a valid language on the server. If @language isn't specified, @language is set to the server default language (defined by the default language server configuration option).

Changing the server default language doesn't change the default language for existing logins.

Return code values

0 (success) or 1 (failure).

Remarks

sp_defaultlanguage calls ALTER LOGIN, which supports extra options. For information about changing other login defaults, see ALTER LOGIN.

Use the SET LANGUAGE statement to change the language of the current session. Use the @@LANGUAGE function to show the current language setting.

If the default language of a login is dropped from the server, the login acquires the default language of the server. sp_defaultlanguage can't be executed within a user-defined transaction.

Information about languages installed on the server is visible in the sys.syslanguages catalog view.

Permissions

Requires ALTER ANY LOGIN permission.

Examples

The following example uses ALTER LOGIN to change the default language for login Fathima to Arabic. This is the preferred method.

ALTER LOGIN Fathima WITH DEFAULT_LANGUAGE = Arabic;
GO

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