PnP PowerShell: Dependence on profile language

When working with PnP-PowerShell, unexpected problems can occur due to the language settings. In this article, you will learn why the profile language is crucial and how you can effectively avoid language-dependent difficulties.

The problem

During various customer projects, a problem occurred that was difficult to explain: „Sometimes“ PnP commands did not show the expected behaviour. For example, a developer could successfully update the description of a SharePoint page, but the changes were not visible to other users! In addition, when exporting a page template with Get-PnPSiteTemplate the names of document libraries, fields and views were saved in English, although the website was set to German.

The cause

Both problems share the same cause: PnP commands are dependent on the language of the user executing the PnP script.

Which language is meant? SharePoint, web browser or Delve?

The decisive language is that of the Microsoft 365 user profile, i.e. Delve.

The solution: Avoid problems

With this knowledge, many language-dependent problems can be avoided. Before you make an update to language-dependent fields or export a website template, ask yourself the following question:
Which language am I set to? Updates and exports are always based on the language set in your Delve profile. For example, if you want to use a page template for a German website, make sure that the user profile is set to German before you start the export. This way, names of document libraries and other objects are exported and imported in German. The same applies to column names and views.
Also pay attention to the language setting for page descriptions: In our example, the developer had an English profile and saw the website in English (browser also in English). Other users with a German profile and browser could not see the changes to the page description, as only the English version of the string was changed by the PnP updates.

Conclusion

When using PnP PowerShell commands, it is essential to take into account the language of the user profile of the executing user. Detailed instructions on changing the language can be found in the Delve FAQs under „How can I change the language in Delve“.