Title: load_default_textdomain
Published: April 25, 2014
Last modified: August 20, 2026

---

# load_default_textdomain( string $locale = null ): bool

## In this article

 * [Description](https://developer.wordpress.org/reference/functions/load_default_textdomain/?output_format=md#description)
    - [See also](https://developer.wordpress.org/reference/functions/load_default_textdomain/?output_format=md#see-also)
 * [Parameters](https://developer.wordpress.org/reference/functions/load_default_textdomain/?output_format=md#parameters)
 * [Return](https://developer.wordpress.org/reference/functions/load_default_textdomain/?output_format=md#return)
 * [Source](https://developer.wordpress.org/reference/functions/load_default_textdomain/?output_format=md#source)
 * [Related](https://developer.wordpress.org/reference/functions/load_default_textdomain/?output_format=md#related)
 * [Changelog](https://developer.wordpress.org/reference/functions/load_default_textdomain/?output_format=md#changelog)

[ Back to top](https://developer.wordpress.org/reference/functions/load_default_textdomain/?output_format=md#wp--skip-link--target)

Loads default translated strings based on locale.

## 󠀁[Description](https://developer.wordpress.org/reference/functions/load_default_textdomain/?output_format=md#description)󠁿

Loads the .mo file in WP_LANG_DIR constant path from WordPress root.
The translated(.
mo) file is named based on the locale.

### 󠀁[See also](https://developer.wordpress.org/reference/functions/load_default_textdomain/?output_format=md#see-also)󠁿

 * [load_textdomain()](https://developer.wordpress.org/reference/functions/load_textdomain/)

## 󠀁[Parameters](https://developer.wordpress.org/reference/functions/load_default_textdomain/?output_format=md#parameters)󠁿

 `$locale`stringoptional

Locale to load. Default is the value of [get_locale()](https://developer.wordpress.org/reference/functions/get_locale/).

Default:`null`

## 󠀁[Return](https://developer.wordpress.org/reference/functions/load_default_textdomain/?output_format=md#return)󠁿

 bool Whether the textdomain was loaded.

## 󠀁[Source](https://developer.wordpress.org/reference/functions/load_default_textdomain/?output_format=md#source)󠁿

    ```php
    function load_default_textdomain( $locale = null ) {
    	if ( null === $locale ) {
    		$locale = determine_locale();
    	}

    	// Unload previously loaded strings so we can switch translations.
    	unload_textdomain( 'default', true );

    	$return = load_textdomain( 'default', WP_LANG_DIR . "/$locale.mo", $locale );

    	if ( ( is_multisite() || ( defined( 'WP_INSTALLING_NETWORK' ) && WP_INSTALLING_NETWORK ) ) && ! file_exists( WP_LANG_DIR . "/admin-$locale.mo" ) ) {
    		load_textdomain( 'default', WP_LANG_DIR . "/ms-$locale.mo", $locale );
    		return $return;
    	}

    	if ( is_admin() || wp_installing() || ( defined( 'WP_REPAIRING' ) && WP_REPAIRING ) || doing_action( 'wp_maybe_auto_update' ) ) {
    		load_textdomain( 'default', WP_LANG_DIR . "/admin-$locale.mo", $locale );
    	}

    	if ( is_network_admin() || ( defined( 'WP_INSTALLING_NETWORK' ) && WP_INSTALLING_NETWORK ) ) {
    		load_textdomain( 'default', WP_LANG_DIR . "/admin-network-$locale.mo", $locale );
    	}

    	return $return;
    }
    ```

[View all references](https://developer.wordpress.org/reference/files/wp-includes/l10n.php/)
[View on Trac](https://core.trac.wordpress.org/browser/tags/7.1/src/wp-includes/l10n.php#L952)
[View on GitHub](https://github.com/WordPress/wordpress-develop/blob/7.1/src/wp-includes/l10n.php#L952-L976)

## 󠀁[Related](https://developer.wordpress.org/reference/functions/load_default_textdomain/?output_format=md#related)󠁿

| Uses | Description | 
| [determine_locale()](https://developer.wordpress.org/reference/functions/determine_locale/)`wp-includes/l10n.php` |

Determines the current locale desired for the request.

  | 
| [wp_installing()](https://developer.wordpress.org/reference/functions/wp_installing/)`wp-includes/load.php` |

Checks or sets whether WordPress is in “installation” mode.

  | 
| [unload_textdomain()](https://developer.wordpress.org/reference/functions/unload_textdomain/)`wp-includes/l10n.php` |

Unloads translations for a text domain.

  | 
| [load_textdomain()](https://developer.wordpress.org/reference/functions/load_textdomain/)`wp-includes/l10n.php` |

Loads a .mo file into the text domain $domain.

  | 
| [is_network_admin()](https://developer.wordpress.org/reference/functions/is_network_admin/)`wp-includes/load.php` |

Determines whether the current request is for the network administrative interface.

  | 
| [doing_action()](https://developer.wordpress.org/reference/functions/doing_action/)`wp-includes/plugin.php` |

Returns whether or not an action hook is currently being processed.

  | 
| [is_multisite()](https://developer.wordpress.org/reference/functions/is_multisite/)`wp-includes/load.php` |

Determines whether Multisite is enabled.

  | 
| [is_admin()](https://developer.wordpress.org/reference/functions/is_admin/)`wp-includes/load.php` |

Determines whether the current request is for an administrative interface page.

  |

[Show 3 more](https://developer.wordpress.org/reference/functions/load_default_textdomain/?output_format=md#)
[Show less](https://developer.wordpress.org/reference/functions/load_default_textdomain/?output_format=md#)

| Used by | Description | 
| [WP_Fatal_Error_Handler::handle()](https://developer.wordpress.org/reference/classes/wp_fatal_error_handler/handle/)`wp-includes/class-wp-fatal-error-handler.php` |

Runs the shutdown handler.

  | 
| [WP_Locale_Switcher::load_translations()](https://developer.wordpress.org/reference/classes/wp_locale_switcher/load_translations/)`wp-includes/class-wp-locale-switcher.php` |

Load translations for a given locale.

  | 
| [_redirect_to_about_wordpress()](https://developer.wordpress.org/reference/functions/_redirect_to_about_wordpress/)`wp-admin/includes/update-core.php` |

Redirect to the About WordPress page after a successful upgrade.

  |

## 󠀁[Changelog](https://developer.wordpress.org/reference/functions/load_default_textdomain/?output_format=md#changelog)󠁿

| Version | Description | 
| [1.5.0](https://developer.wordpress.org/reference/since/1.5.0/) | Introduced. |

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