So your FACEBOOK SETTINGS are in English but your news feed is filled with posts, ads, and videos in Spanish, French, or other languages you don’t speak?? The interface is fine but the actual CONTENT is in the wrong language…
What the hell is this?!
And the annoying part? You didn’t change anything. Facebook just started showing you foreign language content out of nowhere. Your friends’ posts are in English but ads and suggested content are in languages you can’t read 🙁
I’m not gonna lie, Facebook’s algorithm goes haywire with language detection and starts showing you content from the wrong regions.
Why Facebook Shows Wrong Language Content
Your Facebook language setting controls the INTERFACE (menus, buttons). But the CONTENT you see (posts, ads, videos) is controlled by Facebook’s algorithm based on your location, browsing history, and engagement.
These are separate systems…
Common reasons you’re seeing foreign content:
- VPN makes Facebook think you’re in another country – Shows content for that region
- You traveled recently – Facebook detected new location, changed content targeting
- You engaged with foreign language content – Clicked/watched videos in other languages
- Facebook’s algorithm glitched – Misdetected your preferred content language
- Ad targeting gone wrong – Advertisers targeting wrong demographics
- Friends posting in multiple languages – Your actual friends’ posts in their language
Let’s fix these deadass.
Change Your Content Language Preference
Facebook has a SEPARATE setting for content language that’s different from interface language. Most people don’t know this exists.
On Desktop: Go to facebook.com/settings?tab=language → scroll down to “What languages do you want to see posts, photos and videos in?” → click Edit → select ONLY your preferred language(s) → click Save.
On Mobile App: Tap Menu (three lines) → Settings & Privacy → Settings → Language and Region → tap Languages you’d like to see content in → select your preferred languages → tap Done.
This is the key setting…
If this is set to “All languages” or includes languages you don’t speak, Facebook will show you content in those languages. Set it to ONLY English (or whatever you actually speak) and save no cap.
Turn Off VPN or Change VPN Location
VPNs make Facebook think you’re in a different country, which triggers region-specific content in that country’s language.
If you’re using a VPN connected to Spain, France, Germany, etc., Facebook will show you Spanish, French, or German content even if your settings are English.
Turn off your VPN temporarily and check if Facebook starts showing English content. If yes, your VPN was the problem.
If you need to keep VPN on, change your server location to USA, UK, Canada, or Australia (English-speaking countries). Your content should switch back to English.
VPN location = content language for real…
Tell Facebook Your Actual Location
If you recently traveled or Facebook thinks you’re somewhere else, update your location preference.
Go to Settings → Language and Region → look for Region or Current City → update it to where you actually are.
This tells Facebook’s algorithm to show you content relevant to your actual location, not where it THINKS you are based on IP address or GPS.
Stop Engaging with Foreign Language Content
Facebook’s algorithm learns from what you click, watch, and interact with. If you accidentally watched foreign language videos or clicked foreign ads, Facebook thinks you WANT that content.
Stop clicking anything in foreign languages. Don’t watch those videos, don’t click those ads, don’t engage with posts you can’t read. Scroll past them immediately.
Hide posts in foreign languages: Click the three dots on the post → Hide post → select “See fewer posts like this”.
Train the algorithm…
After a few days of ONLY engaging with English content and hiding foreign content, Facebook’s algorithm will adjust and show you less foreign language stuff bet.
Check Location Services/GPS
If Facebook has access to your location and detects you’re near a border or in a multilingual area, it might show content in multiple languages.
iPhone: Settings → Privacy & Security → Location Services → Facebook → set to While Using the App or Never.
Android: Settings → Apps → Facebook → Permissions → Location → set to Allow only while using the app or Don’t allow.
Disabling location prevents Facebook from using GPS to determine what regional content to show you. It’ll rely on your manual settings instead.
Clear Browsing Data and Cache
Facebook might be serving cached content from when you were in a different location or using different settings. Similar to clearing Facebook’s bloated cache.
Desktop Browser: Settings → Privacy → Clear browsing data → select Cached images and Cookies → Clear.
Android App: Settings → Apps → Facebook → Storage → Clear Cache.
iPhone App: Delete and reinstall Facebook (iOS doesn’t have cache clearing).
Fresh cache forces Facebook to re-detect your preferences and serve appropriate language content fr fr.
Block Foreign Language Advertisers
Sometimes the foreign content is mostly ADS not organic posts. Facebook’s ad targeting got confused and is showing you ads in the wrong language.
When you see a foreign language ad, click the three dots → Hide ad → select “It’s not relevant to me” or “I see it too often”.
Do this for EVERY foreign ad you see. After blocking enough of them, Facebook’s ad algorithm learns to stop showing you ads in that language.
Block them all…
Check Your Friends and Pages You Follow
If your actual FRIENDS are posting in other languages, that’s not a bug – that’s just what they’re posting. You can’t filter out your friends’ posts based on language (that would be weird).
But if you’re following PAGES or GROUPS in foreign languages, unfollow them.
Go through your Pages and Groups you’ve liked/joined and unfollow anything in languages you don’t speak. These contribute to Facebook thinking you want foreign language content.
What If It’s Sponsored/Suggested Content?
Facebook’s “Suggested for you” posts and ads are the WORST offenders for wrong-language content. The algorithm goes rogue showing you random stuff from foreign pages.
Hide every single suggested post in foreign languages. Click three dots → Hide post → “See fewer posts like this”.
You can’t completely turn off suggested content (Facebook forces it), but you CAN train the algorithm by hiding foreign ones and engaging with English ones.
If you’re also seeing old posts or your feed not updating, that might be related to algorithm issues too lowkey.
Report the Problem to Facebook
If you’ve tried everything and still getting flooded with wrong-language content, report it.
Go to Settings → Help & Support → Report a Problem → describe that you’re seeing content in the wrong language despite your settings being correct.
Will Facebook actually fix it? Probably not quickly lol. But reporting creates a record that might help if it’s a widespread bug affecting many users.
Why This Happens So Often
Real talk? Facebook’s content algorithm is aggressive and doesn’t respect language preferences properly. They prioritize “engagement” over user preference.
This is bullshit…
If foreign language content gets high engagement globally, Facebook shows it to EVERYONE including people who can’t read that language. They think “viral content = good content for everyone” which is obviously wrong.
And their location detection is overly sensitive. Use a VPN once? Foreign content forever. Travel for a week? Algorithm thinks you moved there permanently. It’s terrible for real.
Compare this to YouTube which respects language preferences way better. Facebook just doesn’t care if you can read the content or not, as long as you’re scrolling and seeing ads.
Alternative: Use Facebook in Browser with Translation
If you CAN’T fix the content language and need to read foreign posts, use browser translation.
Chrome: Right-click the Facebook page → Translate to English (or your language).
Firefox: Install “To Google Translate” extension for page translation.
Safari: Built-in translation – tap the AA button in address bar → Translate to English.
The translations aren’t perfect but at least you can understand what you’re reading. Not a solution but a workaround when Facebook’s algorithm is stubborn.
And if you’re having other Facebook issues like Facebook not loading properly or videos not playing, it might be worth checking if there are broader problems with your account.
Final Thoughts
Facebook showing content in the wrong language happens because the algorithm detects your location/VPN incorrectly, you engaged with foreign content, or the content language preference is set to “All languages.”
It’s so annoying…
Fix it by setting content language to ONLY your language, turning off VPN or changing location, hiding all foreign posts/ads, and clearing cache. The algorithm takes a few days to adjust but it will eventually show more appropriate content.
And honestly, Facebook needs to give users BETTER control over content language. Having a setting that half-works is worse than not having it at all. Let people completely block languages they don’t speak no cap.
If this helped you get Facebook to show content in your actual language, share it with anyone else drowning in foreign language posts they can’t read… because this problem is super common and Facebook’s help docs don’t address it properly!!
