How to Change the Keyboard Language in Windows

Are you looking for a way to change the keyboard language on Windows? There are times when you might need to do this, such as when you are buying a used computer and the keyboard is set to a different language, or if you need to enter something in a foreign language instead of English.

You can easily change the keyboard language from French to English, American to British, etc. by changing a few settings in the Windows Control Panel. You can do this by changing your language and keyboard settings.

It’s worth noting that when switching languages ??in Windows, the settings are configured for each application. You must change the input language depending on which program you are using. This is very easy to do with the language bar that appears automatically when you add another language to Windows. I will also explain how to use the language bar at the bottom of this article.

Change keyboard language in Windows 8 / Windows 10

In Windows 8 and Windows 10, open Control Panel and click Language.

Click the Add Language button above the list of installed languages.

Windows 8 and 10 have a much better language browsing experience compared to Windows 7 and earlier. Here you can view several symbols for each language.

Select your language and click the Add button below. You should now see it as the installed language. You can also receive messages from Windows as it installs all the necessary files for the language.

You can click Options to download a language pack for the newly installed language, which will allow you to change the Windows display language. You can also add additional input methods for the language.

Change the keyboard language in Windows 7

In Windows Vista and Windows 7, open Control Panel and click Region and Language.

Now go to the Keyboards & Languages ??tab and then click Change Keyboard.

You will see the current default input language and installed services. To add a language, click the Add button.

Now scroll down to the language you want to add and expand the keyboard section. Select the correct keyboard option depending on the physical keyboard you are using. You may have to play around with different options because sometimes one keyboard doesn’t work as it should.

You can also click the View button to see how your language characters appear on the keyboard you are using.

In my example, I chose Traditional Hindi as the keyboard language. Scroll down to the Using the Language Bar section to learn how to enter text in various applications using the new language.

Change keyboard language in XP

In Windows XP, you need to go to Control Panel and click Regional and Language Options.

Then click the Languages ??tab and click the Details button.

This will load the Text Services and Input Languages ??dialog box. Here you will see a list of services and keyboards installed on your computer. You can click Add to set a new keyboard layout and input language.

Select an input language and select the type of keyboard that you connected to your computer. If you want to type Spanish on an English keyboard, select Spanish as your input language and US-Dvorak.

Using the language bar

When you install a new language on Windows, it automatically turns on the language bar. This is really useful for quickly switching between languages ??on Windows. You are probably not going to enter text in the same language for each application, so the language bar makes it easy to switch.

You will see a language bar on the taskbar with letters representing the language you are currently using. If you click on it, a list will appear and you can simply click on another language to select it.

You can now open an application such as Word, select a language in the language bar, and start typing. You should see the characters in your language as you type.

That’s all! Therefore, if you want to enter text in a different language, for example a foreign one, or if you want to switch the keyboard language back to English, the steps above should solve your problem! Enjoy!

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