If you’ve ever booted up Honkai Star Rail only to find the default menus and dialogue are in a language you don’t understand, you’re not alone. Plenty of players download the game from regional servers, borrow a friend’s install file, or accidentally select the wrong option during setup, and end up stuck navigating unreadable menus. Figuring out how to change language in Honkai Star Rail doesn’t have to be a frustrating guessing game, even if you’re playing on a less common platform. I’ve walked dozens of my guildmates through this process over the past couple years, so I’ve rounded up all the step-by-step instructions, common pitfalls, and quick fixes you need to get your settings right in minutes.
Step-by-Step How to Change Language in Honkai Star Rail for Every Platform
The process is slightly different depending on what device you’re playing on, but all versions follow the same core logic. Before you start any steps, make sure you’re on the game’s main home screen, not in a mission, cutscene, or Simulated Universe run — the game locks non-gameplay settings during active content to prevent crashes, so you’ll only see greyed-out options if you try to make changes mid-run. I once spent 20 minutes clicking random icons on my PS5 because I forgot this rule, so trust me when I say this first step saves you a lot of hassle.
For PC players: Click the gear icon in the top right corner of the main screen, then select the “Language” tab from the left sidebar. You’ll see two separate dropdown menus: one for interface, subtitle, and quest text, another for voiceover. Select your preferred options, then click “Confirm”. The game will prompt you to restart, and your new settings will be applied when you boot back up. You don’t have to match your text language to your voiceover language if you prefer, say, English text with Japanese voice lines — the game lets you mix and match freely.
For iOS and Android mobile players: Tap the phone icon in the top right corner of the main screen, then tap the small gear icon to open the settings menu. Scroll down until you see the “Language” option, tap it, then make your selections for text and voiceover. Tap confirm, then restart the app when prompted. If you’re downloading a new voice pack, make sure you’re on a stable Wi-Fi connection to avoid corrupted files that can cause settings to glitch later.
For PlayStation 4 and 5 players: From the main screen, press the Options button on your controller to open the side menu, then select Settings. Navigate to the Language tab, make your selections, then confirm. The game will close automatically after you save your changes, so just restart it to see your new settings applied. Note that PlayStation versions share the same language options as the global server, so you’ll have access to all supported languages unless you’re playing on a region-locked account.
Common Mistakes That Break Language Setting Changes
Even if you follow the steps perfectly, there are a few common errors that can stop your new language settings from sticking. The first and most frequent is skipping the restart prompt. The game can’t apply language changes while it’s running, so if you click “Restart Later” to keep playing, your settings will revert back to the original as soon as you close the game manually. It’s always better to take the 30 seconds to restart right away, rather than having to redo the process later.
Another common mistake is forgetting to download the associated voice pack when you change your voiceover language. Most voice packs are between 1 and 2 GB, so the game won’t download them automatically unless you confirm. If you skip this step, the game will default back to your original voice language the next time you start it, which can be really frustrating if you spent time picking out your preferred dub.
Some regional servers only support a limited set of languages, which is a point a lot of new players miss. For example, the Chinese mainland server only supports Simplified Chinese, English, Japanese, and Korean, so if you’re looking for Spanish, French, German, or another supported language, you’ll need to switch to the global server instead. There’s no way to unlock extra languages on region-locked servers, so this is a hard limit you can’t fix with setting adjustments.
How to Customize Voice Language Separately From Text
One of the best quality of life features in Honkai Star Rail is that it lets you set your text and voiceover languages independently, so you don’t have to settle for a one-size-fits-all setting. This is perfect for players who prefer the original cast performances but want text in their native language, or vice versa. I’ve used English text with Japanese voiceover since the game launched, and it’s the perfect balance for me, since I can follow all quest details without missing the original tone of the characters.
There are tons of popular combinations players use, depending on their preferences:
- English text + Japanese voiceover for fans of the original cast performances and iconic line deliveries
- Local native language text + Chinese voiceover for players who want to experience the game as it was first written and recorded
- English text + Korean voiceover for players who prefer the softer, more expressive tone of the Korean dub cast
- Local language text + English voiceover for players who want full immersion without having to read subtitles during fast-paced cutscenes
Fixes for When Your Language Settings Won’t Save
If you’ve followed all the steps correctly but your language settings keep resetting every time you restart the game, there are a few simple fixes you can try before contacting support. First, log out of your HoYoverse account completely, then log back in. Most of the time, the issue is just that the cloud sync didn’t update your new settings properly, so logging out forces the system to refresh your account data and pull the new settings. This fixes the issue for about 70% of the players I’ve helped with this problem.
Second, if you’re on mobile, clear the game’s cache from your device settings. Old cached menu data can sometimes override new settings, and clearing it won’t delete any of your game progress or saved data, so it’s a completely safe first step. If you’re on PC or PlayStation, you can verify the game files to make sure none of the language files are corrupted — this is another quick fix that resolves most remaining cases of settings not saving.
Third, check if you have any pending game updates. A few patches ago, there was a widespread bug that caused language settings to reset after every restart, and the only fix was to install the latest official update. If you’re running an older version of the game, this is almost certainly the cause of your issue. If you share an account with another player, make sure you both agree on language settings before making changes, since cloud sync will apply the change to all devices logged into the account, and you don’t want to mess up a friend’s preferred settings without warning.
If none of these steps work, you can submit a ticket to HoYoverse support with your server ID, account UID, and a screenshot of your language settings menu, and they’ll usually resolve the issue within 24 hours.
Tweaking your game settings to fit your preferences should be the first thing you do before diving into new story chapters or limited-time events, and language settings are one of the most impactful changes you can make. Knowing how to change language in Honkai Star Rail lets you enjoy every line of dialogue, every character backstory, and every quest description without missing key details that make the game’s story so fun. Don’t let a language barrier keep you from enjoying all the weird, wonderful moments the game has to offer.
