On one hand, there is a strong desire to keep the French language āpureā and a rejection of too many anglicisms but on the other hand adoption of English computer and tech terms is inevitable since we operate in a globally connected world where English (like it or not) is the standard.
The MinistĆØre de la Culture et de la Communication even puts out the official French tech terms glossary to make sure that the official French terms are used (Get the 488 pages long PDF document here). As an interesting note, this guide is from 2017 and is an update of the prior guide fromā¦ 2009! Not exactly keeping up with the tech times!
French computer terms can be broken down into 2 different categories:
15 Literal French Translations of English Computer Terms
Most of the time, the French equivalent is just a literal translation of the English term. For example:
- File = āle fichierā
- Bookmark = āLe marque-pageā (but also āsignetā or āfavoriā depending on the browsers)
- Software = āUn logicielā
- Software library = āUne logithĆØqueā
- An (email) attachment = āUne piĆØce jointeā
- A browser = āun navigateurā
- Word processor = āun traitement de texteā
- Hard drive = āun disque durā
- Password = āun mot de passeā
- Mouse = āune sourisā
- Mouse pad = āun tapis de sourisā
- Database = āune base de donnĆ©esā
- Button = āun boutonā
- Search engine = āun moteur de rechercheā
- Scroll bar = āune barre de defilementā
5 Tech words that stay in English because thereās no (official) equivalent in French:
Sometimes even the hardcore French language conservatives will get stomped and so terms like these become common:
- Web = āLe webā
- Blog = āun blogā
- Wifi = āle or la WiFiā (pronounce it wee fee)
- Modem = āle modemā
- Driver = āle driverā (youāll sometimes see āle piloteā on this one)

How To Say To Surf The Web in French?
Internet is a strange one because people use it either with an article in front or not.
To surf the web can be said as ānaviguer SUR lāinternetā but you also sometimes hear ānaviguer internetā on TV.
Personally, I donāt use āInternetā but ālāinternetā.
Youāll sometimes hear āla toileā, a literal translation of āthe webā, but itās mostly used in newspapers, and if you ask me, is a bit snobbish.
How To Say Email in French?
Email is probably one of the most contentious ones, most people say āun emailā or āun mailā.
However, lā Academy FranƧaise has actually pushed a brand new word that originated in Quebec and has made it the official term: āun courrielā (a combo of ācourrierā (a classic paper letter) and āĆ©lectroniqueā)
Honestly, except for the French administration, I have not heard the term ācourrielā used in France very much. (Another one I sometimes run into when interacting with French government web sites is āmĆØlāā¦ but thatās just wrong nāest-ce-pas?)
How To Say A Blog in French?
A blog is mostly calledā¦ a blog! However, a blog post is often referred to as āun billetā (that one threw me for a loop at first!)
How To Say to Download in French?
To ādownloadā is ātĆ©lĆ©chargerā but ātĆ©lĆ©chargerā is also used to mean āto uploadā (the official translation) ā¦
So what do we end up doing? We conjugate āUploaderā as if it was a French verb: āJāuploade, tu uploades, ils ont uploadĆ©ā¦ā :-) (note: some people also say āmettre en ligneā (to put online) to mean upload but itās not often used by techies).

9 Weird French Computer Vocabulary
- A font = āune police de caractĆØreā
- A laptop = āun portableā. It can be confusing though because many French people use the word āun portableā for their smartphone as well. It should be āun mobileā for the phone, but we use āun portableā as well.
- A bug = āUn bugā, ou āun bogueā, and the verb ābeuguerā (mon ordi beugue/beug/bugā¦) = to crash, to bug.
- To crash = āplanterā (yes, as in to plantā¦). French people sometimes use ācrashā but it sounds a lot like ācracherā which is to spit on the ground !!!
āMon ordi plante tout le tempsā = My computer crashes all the time. - To be hanging, painfully slow: āramerā (yes, as in rowing a boatā¦)
āMon portable rame quand je joue Ć Minecraftā = my laptop is way too slow way I play Minecraft. - RAM = āmĆ©moire viveā vs. ROM = āmĆ©moire morteā (or dead memory :-)
- Shareware = āun partagicielā (literal), or āun logiciel Ć contributionā
- Une arobase = the @ key
- Un indentifiant = user name
And of course, many French people use their āeeee-phoneā not āeye-phoneā (although Iāve heard both :-)
Did you know? Ā The French Keyboard
One thing that some of you might not be aware of is that the French keyboard (āle clavier franƧaisā) has a different key layout than what you are used to.
The key sequence more closely matches the frequency of specific letters in French so whereas the English keyboards are QWERTY keyboards, the French keyboards are AZERTY (see the first picture of this article).
Most of the letters share the same position between the 2 keyboards which makes you feel overconfident when you switch from one to the other and mistype just 1 out of every 10 letters :-)
If you liked this article, you may enjoy Camilleās articles on Social Media French Vocabulary.
French Vocabulary for Facebook
French Vocabulary for Pinterest
Camille posts new articles every week, so make sure you subscribe to the French Today newsletter ā or follow us on Facebook, Twitter, and Pinterest.
Comments