Set a contact’s preferred language in a few steps
If you just need the essentials, follow this:
- Open the contact profile and edit the Language field
- Select a language that exists in your workspace language settings
- Confirm your flow is translated into that language for delivery
- Optionally set language automatically in a flow with Update Contact → Language
- Optionally bulk update via import using ISO language codes in a Language column
You’re done. Contacts can now receive translated messages in the most appropriate language when translations exist.
Step-by-Step Process
You can set a preferred language for each contact in RapidPro.app. Once set, the contact will receive messages in that language when using translated flows.
This is useful for multilingual audiences and programs managed in a single workspace.
- Go to Contacts.
- Click the contact whose language you want to update.
- Click the ☰ menu and select Edit.
- In the Edit Contact dialog, open the Language dropdown.
- Select a language from the primary or secondary languages configured in your workspace.
- Click Save.
[CAPTURE: Contact profile page with the ☰ menu open and “Edit” selected.]
[CAPTURE: Edit Contact dialog showing the Language dropdown with multiple languages.]
- The Language field is a default contact field.
- It represents the contact’s preferred language.
- The value is stored using an ISO 639-3 language code (example: Spanish → spa).
- You can reference the contact’s language in flows using @contact.language.
You can update a contact’s language automatically using a flow, for example when a contact selects a language during onboarding.
- Open or create a flow.
- Add an Update Contact action.
- Select Language as the field to update.
- Set the value to a language code (for example: spa).
- Save and test the flow.
[CAPTURE: Flow editor showing an Update Contact action setting Language.]
You can set or update contact languages in bulk using a contact import.
- Add a column named Language to your spreadsheet.
- Populate it with ISO 639-3 language codes (for example: spa, fra, eng).
- Import the file as usual.
[CAPTURE: Import spreadsheet showing a “Language” column with ISO codes.]
Common Issues & Quick Fixes
Problem: The contact still receives messages in the wrong language.
Fix: Confirm the flow is translated into the contact’s language and that the selected language code matches a language enabled in your workspace.
Problem: I can’t select a language in the dropdown.
Fix: Add the language under Account settings (workspace languages), then return to the contact and try again.
Problem: Language set in import didn’t apply.
Fix: Verify the ISO 639-3 code is valid (for example, spa not es) and ensure the language exists in workspace settings before importing.