lang 

LANG File Extension

Have a problem opening a .LANG file? We collect information about file formats and can explain what LANG files are. Additionally we recommend software suitable for opening or converting such files.

What is the .LANG file type?

The .lang extension stands for 'Language' and is used to denote multi-language support files. Most frequently, it can be found in Skype language files (.lang). Skype is an extremely popular VoIP (Voice-over-IP) audio/video communications software by Skype/Microsoft. Skype uses LANG files to support multiple languages in its GUI (Graphical User's Interface). Skype supports about 40 languages from the box and also offers an option to load/edit/save a custom .lang file, providing a simple built-in language file editor.

A Skype .lang file is a Unicode-encoded plaintext file around several hundred kilobytes in size. It contains only a list of assignment statements (one per line), assigning every GUI text item with a proper name (phrase) in a given language. Skype .lang files can be opened/edited in any text editor, including Skype's own.



With the same purpose, the .lang extension is also used in CDex International Support Files (LANG) in connection with CDex, an open-source CD audio extraction tool for MS Windows. CDex .lang files are plaintext files, with about a dozen included with CDex and located at the 'Program Files\CDex\lang' directory by default. Each .lang file contains a series of assignment statements, by which the correct codepage, language code and GUI phrases are set. CDex LANG files are self-documented through the use of comments.


LANG files are also used in connection with Mojang Minecraft, a massively popular Java-based online game that allows players to build their own virtual worlds based on elementary cubic shapes of different color/texture. With Minecraft, .lang files are plaintext files stored inside the game's main JAR (Java archive) file and can be extracted, edited and put back to support a different language.


In a broad sense, the .lang extension can be used with any files that are involved in language definition in a multi-language software environment. A number of applications on different platforms may use .lang files for their localization purposes. Most .lang files would be Unicode plaintext files.



Software to open or convert LANG files

You can open LANG files with the following programs: 

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