---
title: Override locale using cookies
description: You can use cookies to provide end users a way to temporarily override browser language preferences. For example, you could create a company web portal link for users to click instead of manually changing their browser options.
component: pingfederate
version: 13.1
page_id: pingfederate:administrators_reference_guide:pf_override_locale_cookies
canonical_url: https://docs.pingidentity.com/pingfederate/13.1/administrators_reference_guide/pf_override_locale_cookies.html
llms_txt: https://docs.pingidentity.com/pingfederate/llms.txt
docs_for_agents: https://developer.pingidentity.com/build-with-ai/docs-for-agents.md
revdate: July 7, 2025
---

# Override locale using cookies

You can use cookies to provide end users a way to temporarily override browser language preferences. For example, you could create a company web portal link for users to click instead of manually changing their browser options.

By default, the PingFederate localization framework supports overriding the locale using a cookie named `pf-accept-language`. The cookie value must conform to the guidelines defined under [IETF BCP 47](https://www.rfc-editor.org/info/bcp47). Learn more about the Java core method that PingFederate uses to parse the cookie in [Locale - forLanguageTag](https://docs.oracle.com/en/java/javase/11/docs/api/java.base/java/util/Locale.html#forLanguageTag\(java.lang.String\)) in the Java documentation.

This locale-override behavior is the default implementation of the Java interface, `LocaleOverrideService`, defined in the PingFederate SDK. Learn more in the Javadoc for that interface in the `<pf_install>/pingfederate/sdk/doc` directory.

PingFederate displays the language indicated in the cookie if the language is supported in the `language-packs` directory. If the matching localization file is not found, PingFederate defaults to the browser settings.