How to restrict a Google search to results of a specific language? – Web Applications Stack Exchange
Posted by jpluimers on 2025/06/13
Note that below:
- the two-letter language code can be either lowercase or uppercase
- the two-letter country code needs to be UPPERCASE
[Wayback/Archive] How to restrict a Google search to results of a specific language? – Web Applications Stack Exchange (thanks [Wayback/Archive] ZygD):
There are 4 language-related options.1. Web interface language:
hl=Example:www.google.com/search?q=vilnius&hl=lt2. Pages in specified language:
lr=lang_Example:www.google.com/search?q=vilnius&lr=lang_lt3. Pages originating from specified country:
cr=countryExample:www.google.com/search?q=vilnius&cr=countryLT
Note that the two country code characters have to be in UPPERCASE ! Otherwise Google ignores the parameter (as of 2017-01-03) (even though lower case works fine forhl=andlr=lang_).4. There is another parameter –
gl=for search results as they would appear in specified country. I tried testing it, but for me results were not differing for different parameter values. Maybe that’s obsolete or overwritten by some other paremeters/settings of browser or my Google account.
I needed this when writing Exporting your Twitter content, converting to Markdown and getting the image alt-texts (thanks @isotopp/@HBeckPDX/@weiglemc for the info and @kcgreenn/@dreamjar for the comic!).
–jeroen
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