How to Install Safe Software’s Language Packs for FME Form and FME Flow Betas

Introduction

With the use of AI translations, starting with the FME 2025.1 beta, Safe Software has introduced a number of language packs to be able to work with the FME platform in either French, German, Dutch, or Hindi. These language packs will be available in the matching build versions of FME Form and FME Flow to be applied to the base software installation as an additional step.

This article will show you where to find the installers, perform the installation, and get started using FME in your language of choice.

The language translations were generated with AI and are still in beta. We would love feedback or suggestions on anything that is incorrect, offensive, or could be translated better. Please let us know how we can improve this.

Requirements

• FME Form 2025.1 or newer
• FME Flow 2025.1 Express Install 
• Access to FME Downloads
• Windows Operating System
• System language should be set to the target language

Step-by-Step Instructions 

Installing the Language Pack for FME Form

1. Download Installers

You’ll need a few installers from our Beta Downloads page.

Note that if you are navigating to the Downloads page by yourself, you'll need to select the dropdown to choose 2025.1 for access to the beta installer), and you’ll want to pick the matching build version for compatibility:

• FME Form 2025.1 or newer
• A matching build of the FME Form Language Pack 
• Offline Documentation (Optional)

From the 2025.1 Beta page, scroll down to FME Multi-Language Support and select the Language Pack you want to install.

2. Install FME Form 

If you don’t already have a build of FME Form installed that has an available matching language pack build, this is the first step.

Run the FME Form installer you downloaded in step 1 to completion and note the installation path for FME Form as you step through the installer wizard. For example, it might look like:

C:\Program Files\FME\2025.1\ 

3. Install the Language Pack

Run the installer for the language pack and set the same installation path to the target FME Form version you want to apply it to. In the screenshot below, I have chosen to install the French language pack. 

It is important that the language pack be installed in the exact same directory as FME. 

4. Open FME Workbench

Open FME Workbench and it should now display in the language you picked. All you need to do is add the offline help so that you can use it in your chosen language even if you don't have internet access.

If your current system locale doesn't match the target language you're installing FME's language pack for, you may need to change your Windows system settings to your target language as well. Please see Troubleshooting for more details on changing your system language.

Downloading Offline Help

This next section will run you through the steps to unzip the offline help and put it in the correct location for access in the language you picked. 

Offline help documentation that is shipped with FME has been removed from FME 2025.0+. See the deprecation article for more information. 

1. Download the Offline Documentation

Download the Offline Documentation from our Betas Downloads.

2. Extract the Zip File into Your FME Install Folder

Create a new folder called 'help' in your FME install folder.

Extract the zip file to your installer location under the new folder you created called ‘help’. The zip file contains a folder called fme_desktop and a file called fme_desktop.ini that points to the fme_desktop folder. For example, you could extract the French package to:

C:\Program Files\<FME Version>\help\

For French, this could look like:

 C:\Program Files\FME\2025.1\help\ 

3. Open FME Workbench

In FME Workbench, as a test, add a Creator or any other transformer and select the Help button at the bottom left. If your Help documentation is in the language you want, you’re done! 

Especially if you are working with FME in a locked-down environment where you don’t have access to an internet connection, you can enable FME to use offline help by going to Tools > FME Options > Default Paths and enabling 'Use Offline Help'. 

If at any point you want to switch to English online help, you can turn off the 'Use Offline Help' here and restart FME Workbench.

4. Apply Changes and Reopen FME Workbench 

Press ‘Apply’ and close FME. Open FME Workbench again. Add a Creator and check the Help again and it should be in your preferred language now.

Installing the Language Pack for FME Flow

Language packs for FME Flow are only available for the Express installation at this time. Similar to FME Form, you can download and install a Flow language pack to apply the language you want.

1. Download FME Flow and the Matching Build of the FME Flow Language Pack

To install a language pack on FME Flow, you’ll need two installers from our Downloads page and you’ll want to match the build versions for compatibility between the major version of FME Form you have installed, the build of FME Flow you have, and the build of the FME Flow language pack:

• FME Flow 2025.1 or newer (Express Install only)
• A matching build of the FME Flow language pack 

2. Backup Your Instance of FME Flow

See our documentation on FME Flow’s Backup and Restore for details on backing up your Flow instance to a file. This is always a good practice in case you decide you may want to uninstall a language pack in the future.

3. Install FME Flow as an Express Install

Run the installer for FME Flow for the Express Install option. For step-by-step instructions, see Install FME Flow: Express Install for Windows.

4. Install the FME Flow Language Pack

Run the installer for the FME Flow Language Pack to completion. 

5. Open FME Flow’s Web Interface and Sign in

FME should now be displayed in the language you’ve installed. If your language is not displaying correctly, follow method 1 or 2 for the FME Form installation in Troubleshooting. 

FAQ

What version of FME does the language pack apply to?
You should match the build of the language pack to the build of your FME installation. So if you install build 25557 of the language pack for FME Form build 25557, you’ll need the new matching language pack build for another FME install. For now, language packs are available in FME 2025.1 betas. 

Can I have more than one language supported on my FME Form install?

Yes, you can install more than one language such as French and German to the same build of your FME Form installation. You can toggle between languages by going to your Windows > Settings > Time & Language > Language & Region > and changing your ‘Preferred languages’ to your target language. Next, sign out and back into your Windows profile, and open FME.

Providing Feedback - What kind of feedback does Safe Software welcome on language packs?

As we don’t fluently speak all of the languages we’ve added Language Packs for at Safe, the most valuable feedback focuses on incorrect translations such as:

• A term is wrong in many places throughout the product
• A term is translated in a way that could be misleading and make the software difficult to understand
• A wrong word or phrase is used that could be offensive

If you would like to help us improve our language packs, please send your feedback through the ‘Submit a case’ form for the topic, ‘Language Packs’.

Troubleshooting

I've installed the language pack for FME Form but FME Workbench is still displaying text in English, what should I do next?

FME Form’s language pack is tied to your Windows system locale or preferred language settings. You can check your system locale through FME Workbench, by going to Help > About FME Workbench and selecting 'More info...'.

If the OS Locale Name doesn't cover the region that speaks your target language, follow the steps below to change your Windows Display Language.

There are two different methods of changing your system language, and both steps may need to be completed.

Method 1: Change Windows Display Language 

The instructions and screenshot below are performed in Windows 11, so you might search in Windows for “Region” and do the same as the steps below for other supported Windows versions:

1. Go to Windows > Settings

2. Select Time & Language

3. In Preferred Languages, click Add a language, such as French, Dutch, German, or Hindi

4. Change the Windows Display Language to your chosen language

5. Windows 11 will ask you to sign out from your session for the language change to take effect. Sign out and sign back into your profile.

6. Close and reopen FME Workbench.

7. If FME does not display your language, also complete method 2. 

Method 2: Change Windows Region

The instructions and screenshots below are performed in Windows Server 2019, so you might search in Windows for “Region” and do the same as the steps below for other supported Windows versions:

1. In the Windows Control Panel, click on Clock and Region

2. Click Region

3. In the Region dialog, change the Format to your preferred language that matches the downloaded language pack. Click Apply. 

4. Close and restart FME. 

5. If FME does not display your language, also complete method 1. 

For further information on managing languages on Windows, please see Microsoft's article: Manage the language and keyboard input layout settings in Windows.

For the Hindi language pack, my Terms and Conditions look incorrect when I first open FME Workbench. What am I missing?

If your Terms and Conditions are displaying incorrectly the first time you open FME Workbench, it may be that the font needs to be installed on Windows. You can go to your Windows Settings > Personalization > Fonts > and select the ‘Download fonts for all languages’ option.