Title: Default language switch not working
Last modified: May 18, 2026

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# Default language switch not working

 *  Resolved [sotusattila](https://wordpress.org/support/users/sotusattila/)
 * (@sotusattila)
 * [3 weeks, 6 days ago](https://wordpress.org/support/topic/default-language-switch-not-working/)
 * Hi!
 * Our site is built in english, which is good, we want to use wp in english, BUT
   we would like to change the default frontend language to German. I’ve made the
   changes that the documentation supports:
   1. Turned on “Use a subdirectory for
   the default language”2. Reordered the list, so that German is in the first place
 * Now, if I open up our site as a logged in admin, then it is working, redirects
   me to German version, BUT if I open up the site in incognito window as a simple
   visitor, then our site still loads in English. How could we make this correct
   without any loss of translates?
 * ![](https://drive.google.com/file/d/1CJoHn99Ehj2xiPIJsxn9Ws4HLLDt-XVw/view?usp
   =sharing)
    -  This topic was modified 3 weeks, 6 days ago by [sotusattila](https://wordpress.org/support/users/sotusattila/).
    -  This topic was modified 3 weeks, 6 days ago by [sotusattila](https://wordpress.org/support/users/sotusattila/).
 * The page I need help with: _[[log in](https://login.wordpress.org/?redirect_to=https%3A%2F%2Fwordpress.org%2Fsupport%2Ftopic%2Fdefault-language-switch-not-working%2F%3Foutput_format%3Dmd&locale=en_US)
   to see the link]_

Viewing 4 replies - 1 through 4 (of 4 total)

 *  Plugin Support [Iarina](https://wordpress.org/support/users/iarinadasdi/)
 * (@iarinadasdi)
 * [3 weeks, 5 days ago](https://wordpress.org/support/topic/default-language-switch-not-working/#post-18911993)
 * Hi [@sotusattila](https://wordpress.org/support/users/sotusattila/),
 * Thank you for your message!
 * I checked your site on my end as well, both in a normal browser window and in
   an incognito window, and in both cases the site opens in English rather than 
   German.
 * To better understand what might be causing this, could you please send me a screenshot
   of your Settings → TranslatePress → General tab page, so I can review the current
   configuration? You can send screenshots using [https://snipboard.io/](https://snipboard.io/).
 * Looking forward to your reply.
 *  Thread Starter [sotusattila](https://wordpress.org/support/users/sotusattila/)
 * (@sotusattila)
 * [3 weeks, 5 days ago](https://wordpress.org/support/topic/default-language-switch-not-working/#post-18912103)
 * Hi!
 * Thank you for your reply, see attached image of seetings: [https://drive.google.com/file/d/1CJoHn99Ehj2xiPIJsxn9Ws4HLLDt-XVw/view](https://drive.google.com/file/d/1CJoHn99Ehj2xiPIJsxn9Ws4HLLDt-XVw/view)
 *  Plugin Support [Iarina](https://wordpress.org/support/users/iarinadasdi/)
 * (@iarinadasdi)
 * [3 weeks, 4 days ago](https://wordpress.org/support/topic/default-language-switch-not-working/#post-18913301)
 * Hi,
 * Thank you for the screenshot! The configuration looks correct on your end, so
   the settings themselves are not the cause of the issue.
 * After checking the site, I can see that the redirect to the German version works
   correctly on inner pages. For example `/about-company/` redirects properly to`/
   de/ueber-uns/`: [https://snipboard.io/eIthT3.jpg](https://snipboard.io/eIthT3.jpg)
   
   However the homepage does not seem to follow the same behavior, which suggests
   something specific to the homepage is interfering with how TranslatePress handles
   the language redirect there.
 * As the next steps, please verify these:
    1. Could you please clear all active cache layers and test again in an incognito
       window afterwards? This includes any caching coming from plugins (such as WP
       Rocket), server-side/hosting cache, CDN cache (if applicable), or browser cache.
       It’s possible that the homepage is still being served from an older cached version
       generated before the language settings were configured correctly.
    2. Could you also check whether you have any redirect rules set up specifically
       for the homepage, either in WP Rocket settings, in a .htaccess rule, or through
       any other plugin? A homepage-specific redirect rule could be intercepting the
       request before TranslatePress applies the language redirect.
 * Let me know how it goes.
 *  Thread Starter [sotusattila](https://wordpress.org/support/users/sotusattila/)
 * (@sotusattila)
 * [3 weeks, 4 days ago](https://wordpress.org/support/topic/default-language-switch-not-working/#post-18913344)
 * Hi!
   Thanks for help, it was a strange caching issue related to WP Rocket, clearing
   cache did not help, but when I turned off and on again the plugin the issue gone.
   🙂

Viewing 4 replies - 1 through 4 (of 4 total)

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 * 4 replies
 * 2 participants
 * Last reply from: [sotusattila](https://wordpress.org/support/users/sotusattila/)
 * Last activity: [3 weeks, 4 days ago](https://wordpress.org/support/topic/default-language-switch-not-working/#post-18913344)
 * Status: resolved