Outlook translation is detecting the wrong language

Question

Outlook translation is detecting the wrong language

Ása Johannesen 20

Outlook is set to translate messages to Faroese. However, when I receive an email in Faroese, Outlook detects it as Icelandic and asks whether I would like to translate it to Faroese.

How can I get rid of the translation prompt for messages already in Faroese? Is there a way to inform the translator that this is in fact not Icelandic?

Viorel 127.3K Reputation points

2026-08-20T15:43:15.0066667+00:00

Maybe the message was too short to correctly identify one of these sister languages.
Ása Johannesen 20 Reputation points

2026-08-21T07:18:39.81+00:00

This happens with all Faroese messages, even fairly long ones. It's the same for google translate in Chrome where it will incorrectly identify websites in Faroese as Icelandic. The languages are similar, but not enough that I understand Icelandic, so I actually want Icelandic to be translated, so choosing "never translate Icelandic" doesn't really help me.

I actually think it's worse when it happens in the browser, because it could be avoided with a url check if the language is ambiguous (if it's .is, it's Icelandic and if it's .fo it's Faroese). However this post was specifically about Outlook as I've been using the old Outlook until now and the translate function has only just started bugging me.

Answer accepted by question author

Kai-H 26,045 Microsoft External Staff Moderator

Hi, Ása Johannesen

This appears to be a language-detection limitation rather than an Outlook setting problem. Because Faroese and Icelandic are closely related, the online Translator service may classify Faroese text incorrectly.

Here are some suggestions you can try:

In the affected message, select More actions (...) > Translate, then manually choose Faroese as the source language if that option appears. This will not permanently retrain detection, but it may let you read that message without accepting the incorrect Icelandic classification.

Report several examples through Help > Feedback in new Outlook. Include the original Faroese text, a screenshot showing “Icelandic,” and state that the expected detected language is Faroese. Leave diagnostic information enabled, if offered. This sends the example to the Outlook product team and is the most useful route for getting the detection model corrected.

For a work or school account, you can also use Help > Support and submit the same examples. Support availability may depend on your organization’s settings.

Unfortunately, reinstalling Outlook or changing Windows language settings is unlikely to help, since message translation is processed by the online Translator service.

Please be advised that this is a user-to-user support forum. Moderators and contributors, including external Microsoft employees, are not allowed to directly interfere with Microsoft product features or access back-end systems. Our role is limited solely to providing technical guidance on reported incidents, requests, or ideas.

Thank you for your patience in reading, I hope this information has been helpful to you.

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Kai-H 26,045 Reputation points Microsoft External Staff Moderator

2026-08-24T06:38:59.1666667+00:00

Hi, Ása Johannesen

It has been a while and I am writing to see how things are going with this issue.

Have you had a chance to check the replies provided?

Any update would be appreciated.
Ása Johannesen 20 Reputation points

2026-08-26T10:42:12.0333333+00:00

I will be sending feedback, so thank you for suggesting that.
Kai-H 26,045 Reputation points Microsoft External Staff Moderator

2026-08-27T06:19:48.1033333+00:00

Glad to hear that I can help.

Have a nice day!

1 additional answer

Your answer

Viorel 127.3K Reputation points

2026-08-20T15:43:15.0066667+00:00

Maybe the message was too short to correctly identify one of these sister languages.
Ása Johannesen 20 Reputation points

2026-08-21T07:18:39.81+00:00

This happens with all Faroese messages, even fairly long ones. It's the same for google translate in Chrome where it will incorrectly identify websites in Faroese as Icelandic. The languages are similar, but not enough that I understand Icelandic, so I actually want Icelandic to be translated, so choosing "never translate Icelandic" doesn't really help me.

I actually think it's worse when it happens in the browser, because it could be avoided with a url check if the language is ambiguous (if it's .is, it's Icelandic and if it's .fo it's Faroese). However this post was specifically about Outlook as I've been using the old Outlook until now and the translate function has only just started bugging me.
Kai-H 26,045 Reputation points Microsoft External Staff Moderator

2026-08-24T06:38:59.1666667+00:00

Hi, Ása Johannesen

It has been a while and I am writing to see how things are going with this issue.

Have you had a chance to check the replies provided?

Any update would be appreciated.
Ása Johannesen 20 Reputation points

2026-08-26T10:42:12.0333333+00:00

I will be sending feedback, so thank you for suggesting that.
Kai-H 26,045 Reputation points Microsoft External Staff Moderator

2026-08-27T06:19:48.1033333+00:00

Glad to hear that I can help.

Have a nice day!

Answer 1

Outlook does not provide a way to manually correct the detected source language for a specific message. The supported ways to stop the prompt are to change translation behavior for that language or disable automatic translation prompts.

Supported options:

For a message that Outlook identifies as Icelandic, select Never translate when the prompt appears. Outlook will stop asking to translate messages from that detected language in the future.
Change translation preferences:
- New Outlook / Outlook on the web: View > View settings > Mail > Message handling > Translation
- Classic Outlook: Home > Translate > Translation Preferences
In classic Outlook, under Set the Office Language Preferences > Translation > Choose how to handle messages received in other languages, set the preferred behavior and the Translate messages into language.

If the issue is incorrect language identification, the available Outlook guidance only notes that automatic language detection can be wrong for languages with similar words, and the workaround is to turn off Detect language automatically. The provided guidance does not include a way to teach Translator that Faroese is not Icelandic for incoming mail.