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Enable British English language in Firefox

TL;DR: To add a British English dictionary for spellchecking in Firefox, first install the British English Language Pack, then install a British English Dictionary such as this one. Finally, go to about:preferences and set the language to “English (GB)”; this sets both the default Language Pack and Dictionary.

Overview §

By default, Firefox provides the English (United States) dictionary:

Screenshot of Firefox.

These notes cover how to add the English (United Kingdom) dictionary and make it the default:

Screenshot of Firefox.

Language Packs vs Dictionaries §

Firefox has the concept of both Language Packs and Dictionaries:1

Language Packs
Language used by the browser interface (e.g. menu options and settings).
Dictionaries
Language used by the spell-checker.

Even if you only want to add a Dictionary, it’s worth adding the corresponding Language Pack, since it is the Language Pack which determines what language you can set in about:preferences, yet this also sets the default Dictionary.

Steps §

Install the British English Language Pack §

  1. Install the British English language pack.

Install a British English Dictionary §

  1. There are three British English dictionaries available. Choose one to install:2

Set Default Language §

  1. Go to about:preferences.
  2. Scroll down to Language.
  3. Choose “English (GB)”.

If the “English (GB)” option is not available, you likely need to install the British English Language Pack.3

  1. Firefox should now use British English for the browser interface (thanks to the Language Pack) and should default to English (United Kingdom) for spell-checking (thanks to the Dictionary).

  1. If you Right-click → Languages → Add Dictionaries… this takes you to Dictionaries and Language Packs, which helpfully explains the difference between Language Packs and Dictionaries: “Installing a dictionary add-on will add a new language option to your spell-checker, which checks your spelling as you type in Firefox. Language packs change your browser’s interface language, including menu options and settings.” ↩︎

  2. These three are listed here in the “English (British)” row of the table. You can also find them by searching the Firefox add-ons for “British”. ↩︎

  3. Alternatively, you can go to about:config, select Accept the Risk and Continue, then create a key called spellchecker.dictionary with a string value of en-GB. ↩︎