Survey Language and Standard Labels

Updated October 14, 2026

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Survey language sets the language of the texts SurveyNinja adds to a survey: buttons such as Next and Skip, error messages, sign-in forms and default button labels. Your questions and answer options are never translated. With Standard labels, you can replace any of these system texts with your own wording.

What the survey language changes

Text	Example	What happens when you switch the language
System texts	"Next", "Skip", "Confirm the response", "Enter your email address correctly (example: [email protected])", "{{count}} required questions are not filled in", the password and SSO sign-in forms, "Continue where you left off?"	Switch to the new language. Texts replaced in Standard labels stay as you wrote them
Default texts in elements	"Start" on the Welcome Screen, "Send" on the submit button, "Continue" in a Message, "Enter your answer here...", scale labels, "Prefer not to answer", "None of the above", the thank-you text	Switch to the new language only if you didn't change them
Your own texts	Question titles, descriptions, answer options, screen texts you typed	Don't change
Dates in a Booking question	Month and weekday names in the calendar	Follow the survey language

The progress bar shows only a percentage, so it has no text to translate.

Choosing the survey language

Open the survey and go to the Settings tab.
In Interface, open the Survey language list (1) and choose English, Español or Português.
Click Preview in the top bar and go through the survey to check the buttons and messages.

The setting is saved right away, and the default texts in the Builder switch together with it. The survey language belongs to the survey itself, so the published survey also switches without clicking Publish.

The respondent's browser language isn't taken into account. Everyone who opens the link sees the survey in the language set in Survey language.

Which language a new survey gets

A survey created from scratch, with AI or imported from Google Forms gets your interface language at the moment you create it.
A survey created from a template gets the template's language.
A copy of a survey keeps the language of the original.

Replacing standard labels

Paid feature. Standard labels are available on the Premium plan and higher. Compare plans

Use Standard labels to change the default wording, for example to write "Next question" instead of "Next".

On the Settings tab, in Interface, click Replace next to Standard labels (2 in the screenshot above).
Find the text. Type a few words in Search, or scroll through the groups: Buttons, Messages, Hints, Errors, SSO sign-in, Password sign-in and General. Above each field is the default text in the survey language.
Type your text in the field (1). A changed field is highlighted.
Click Save (2).

The new labels apply only to this survey.

Some texts contain variables, such as {{n}} in "Enter at least {{n}} characters". The variables are listed under the field. Keep them in your text: SurveyNinja puts the number in their place.

To go back to the default texts, click Reset all, then Save.

Button labels that belong to an element, such as "Start" on the Welcome Screen, "Send" on the submit button or "Continue" in a Message, aren't in this list. Edit them right on the screen in Builder, see Welcome, Thank You and Other Survey Screens.

Running a survey in several languages

A survey has one language, and there's no language switch for respondents. To collect responses in several languages, make a copy of the survey for each language:

Finish the survey in the first language.
On the dashboard, click the three dots on the survey card and select Copy.
In the copy, choose the language in Survey language and translate the questions, answer options and screens.
If you replaced standard labels, enter them again in the copy. Standard labels aren't copied.
Publish each copy and share the link that matches the audience, for example the Spanish copy on the Spanish version of your website.

Each copy collects its own responses. To compare languages, download the responses of each survey, see Viewing and Downloading Survey Responses.

Tip. Keep the same order of questions in every copy, so the downloaded tables have the same columns.

Survey language and interface language

The interface language is your personal setting for the SurveyNinja account. To change it, click your profile icon in the top right corner, choose Profile and select the language in Interface language under Language and country.

	Interface language	Survey language
Where	Your profile	Settings tab of a survey
What changes	Menus, buttons and messages you see in your account	Buttons and system messages respondents see in one survey
Effect on surveys	New surveys get this language. Existing surveys don't change	Only this survey

Limits

Languages: English, Español and Português. One language per survey.
The respondent's browser language isn't used.
Standard labels: Premium plan and higher, up to 255 characters per label. HTML tags are removed.
Replaced labels apply in any survey language. If you switch the language later, they stay as you wrote them.
Standard labels aren't copied with the survey.