Step-by-step

1
Define supported locales in config

Create or update config/app.php to list the locales you support. Adding a custom supported_locales key keeps your route and middleware logic DRY — they read from config instead of hardcoding language codes.
php
```
// config/app.php
'locale' => 'en',
'fallback_locale' => 'en',
'supported_locales' => ['en', 'ar'],
```

Wrap routes in a locale prefix

In routes/web.php, wrap all your public routes in a route group that uses {locale} as a URL prefix. This gives you clean, SEO-friendly URLs like /en/about and /ar/about without any query-string hacks.

php

// routes/web.php
Route::prefix('{locale}')
    ->middleware(['setLocale'])
    ->group(function () {
        Route::get('/', [HomeController::class, 'index'])->name('home');
        Route::get('/about', [AboutController::class, 'index'])->name('about');
        // ... all other public routes
    });

3
Create the SetLocale middleware

This middleware reads the {locale} URL segment, validates it against your supported locales, and calls App::setLocale(). It also stores the locale in the session so the language switcher can read the current selection.
bash
```
php artisan make:middleware SetLocale
```

Write the middleware logic

Open app/Http/Middleware/SetLocale.php and add the locale-setting logic. If the locale in the URL is not in your supported list, fall back to the default rather than throwing a 404.

php

<?php

namespace App\Http\Middleware;

use Closure;
use Illuminate\Http\Request;
use Illuminate\Support\Facades\App;

class SetLocale
{
    public function handle(Request $request, Closure $next)
    {
        $locale = $request->route('locale');
        $supported = config('app.supported_locales', ['en']);

        if (in_array($locale, $supported)) {
            App::setLocale($locale);
            session(['locale' => $locale]);
        } else {
            App::setLocale(config('app.locale'));
        }

        return $next($request);
    }
}

Create translation files

Laravel loads translation strings from resources/lang/{locale}/. Create one PHP file per logical group — for example common.php for shared UI strings. Use the __('common.save') helper anywhere in your code or Blade templates.

php

// resources/lang/en/common.php
return [
    'save'       => 'Save',
    'cancel'     => 'Cancel',
    'welcome'    => 'Welcome, :name',
    'page_title' => 'My App',
];

// resources/lang/ar/common.php
return [
    'save'       => 'حفظ',
    'cancel'     => 'إلغاء',
    'welcome'    => 'مرحبًا، :name',
    'page_title' => 'تطبيقي',
];

6
Install spatie/laravel-translatable for database content

Static UI strings live in translation files, but content stored in the database — blog titles, product names, page content — needs a different approach. spatie/laravel-translatable stores each translatable column as a JSON object keyed by locale, and gives you a clean API to get and set values by locale.
bash
```
composer require spatie/laravel-translatable
```

Make an Eloquent model translatable

Add the HasTranslations trait to any model with multilingual columns, and list those columns in the $translatable array. The migration stores these as json columns. When you call $post->title, Spatie returns the value for the currently active locale automatically.

php

<?php

namespace App\Models;

use Illuminate\Database\Eloquent\Model;
use Spatie\Translatable\HasTranslations;

class Post extends Model
{
    use HasTranslations;

    public array $translatable = ['title', 'slug', 'content'];
}

// Migration
Schema::create('posts', function (Blueprint $table) {
    $table->id();
    $table->json('title');
    $table->json('slug');
    $table->json('content');
    $table->timestamps();
});

// Writing translations
$post->setTranslation('title', 'en', 'Hello World');
$post->setTranslation('title', 'ar', 'مرحبا بالعالم');
$post->save();

// Querying by a specific locale
Post::where('slug->en', 'hello-world')->first();

Add a language switcher component

Build a Blade component that generates locale-switching links by swapping the current URL's locale segment. The route() helper and the current route name make this clean.

html

{{-- resources/views/components/language-switcher.blade.php --}}
@foreach(config('app.supported_locales') as $lang)
    @php
        $params = array_merge(request()->route()->parameters(), ['locale' => $lang]);
        $url = route(request()->route()->getName(), $params);
    @endphp
    <a href="{{ $url }}" class="{{ App::getLocale() === $lang ? 'active' : '' }}">
        {{ strtoupper($lang) }}
    </a>
@endforeach

9
Handle RTL layout for Arabic

Arabic and other RTL languages need the HTML dir attribute flipped to rtl. Set this in your main Blade layout based on the active locale. You can then use CSS attribute selectors like [dir="rtl"] to apply mirrored styles without duplicating your entire stylesheet.
html
```
{{-- resources/views/layouts/app.blade.php --}}
@php
    $rtlLocales = ['ar'];
    $isRtl = in_array(App::getLocale(), $rtlLocales);
@endphp

<html lang="{{ App::getLocale() }}" dir="{{ $isRtl ? 'rtl' : 'ltr' }}">
```

Tips & gotchas

Always generate locale-aware URLs using the `route()` helper with the `locale` parameter — never hardcode `/en/` or `/ar/` in your Blade templates.
For the slug column specifically, query it with the JSON arrow syntax: `where("slug->{$locale}", $value)` — Spatie does not override `where()`, so you need the raw JSON path.
Use `App::getLocale()` in your controllers to conditionally load locale-specific data; never rely on `session('locale')` alone because the session may not be set on the first request.
Keep your translation files organised by feature, not by page — `auth.php`, `common.php`, `blog.php` — so they stay manageable as the app grows.

Wrapping up

Your Laravel app now supports multiple languages end-to-end: URL-based locale routing, UI strings via translation files, and database content via Spatie's translatable columns, with proper RTL handling for Arabic. From here, consider adding a locale redirect at / based on the user's Accept-Language header, or persisting the locale preference in the user's profile.

#Laravel #i18n #Spatie

Back to all guides

How to Add Multilingual Support to a Laravel App

Step-by-step

Define supported locales in config

Wrap routes in a locale prefix

Create the SetLocale middleware

Write the middleware logic

Create translation files

Install spatie/laravel-translatable for database content

Make an Eloquent model translatable

Add a language switcher component

Handle RTL layout for Arabic

Tips & gotchas

Wrapping up

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