Multilingual forms
Offer your form in more languages: set the language you write in, translate questions, text, and emails by hand or with AI, then publish each language.
The form's language
Set it under Form language in Settings, General. It is the language you write the form in, and it sets the language of Formstep's own buttons, error messages, default emails, and date and number formats. Changing it does not translate your questions or text: for that, add a language below.
Formstep supports 65 languages, from Afrikaans to Vietnamese, including regional ones such as British English, Mexican Spanish, Canadian French, and Brazilian Portuguese. Type a name or code in the picker to find one.
Forms and PDFs read right to left in Arabic, Hebrew, Persian, Urdu, and other right-to-left languages.
Translate your form
The translation editor is on every plan. In the editor, click Translate in the top bar. Each row shows the Original and its Translation, with a status. The Form content and Emails tabs keep form text and email text apart. Changes save as you type.
Click Add language and pick a language.
- Type each translation, or let AI suggest one.
- Publish the form. Respondents see a language only after you publish.
What you can translate
- Headings, paragraphs, lists, and tables
- Question titles, placeholders, options, and scale and matrix labels
- Image captions and the thank-you page
- Your own text for the confirmation, reminder, and request invitation emails
Answers, files, and Cal.com event names are not translated. Keep @ mentions in the translation, and translate only the text
around them.
AI translation
Use AI for a first draft, then review it. Each row has a Suggest button, and the buttons above the rows act on many rows at once, such as Translate everything, Refresh outdated, or Polish translations. AI suggestions use AI credits.
AI fills the rows as suggestions. Accept or decline each one, or use Accept all. Have a native speaker check legal and payment text before you publish.
Translation statuses
| Status | What it means | What to do |
|---|---|---|
| Up to date | The translation matches the current text. | Nothing. |
| Not translated | No translation yet. | Translate it, or ask AI. |
| Outdated | You changed the original after translating it. | Click "Show previous version" to compare, then update it. |
| AI suggested — review | AI drafted it, and you have not accepted it yet. | Accept or decline it. |
| Invalid reference | The text mentions a question that no longer exists. | Fix the mention, or click "Mark as valid". |
Each language shows how many rows are complete, missing, and outdated.
Publish a language
Rows you have not translated show in the original language, so you can publish before everything is done, but the form will mix languages. The issue indicator warns about missing and outdated rows.
If a translation mentions a question that no longer exists, the row shows a warning and publishing stops until you fix it.
Which language respondents see
Once a translation is published, respondents first see “Pick your language to start”. They skip it when their link sets the language, or when they picked one on this form before in the same browser. They can switch to another published language at any time.
To choose the language for them, send a link ending in ?lang= and the language code, such as ?lang=fr for
French, or set a default language on a share link. A request opens in the
request's language. A language you have not published is ignored.
Check a language before you share it
Open the form with ?lang= and the language code, and send a test response.
Emails and PDFs
Emails to respondents use your translated text in their language. Without a translation, Formstep sends its own default email in that language instead of your original text.
- PDFs show the form in the language the respondent used, as it was when they submitted.
For a guide to the whole process, from translating a form to reading the answers in your language, see how to make a multilingual form.