42. Change Keyboard Language

Normally your Keyboard language is set when Windows is first installed; however, Windows may not always get the keyboard language correct, resulting in the language having to be changed manually.

The problem may not immediately be noticeable until you perhaps come to use the traditional quotes (") or the ampersand (@) keys and suddenly notice that, when pressing the key, an alternative character is being typed. An example is a UK keyboard with a US keyboard language. Press Shift+2 and you end up with the (@) character instead of the (") character.

You may also have installed additional Windows language packs which require a change of keyboard language to enable the user to make use of specific language symbols.

Whatever the reason you may have for changing the keyboard language the procedure to do so is relatively straightforward, as you can see from the instructions below.

Click the Start button.
From the Start Menu, click the Control Panel option.
In Control Panel, click the Region and Language icon.
In the Region and Language window, click the Keyboards and Languages tab.

Fig: 42-1 Region and Language Screen
On the Keyboards and Languages tab, click the Change Keyboards button.

Fig: 42-2 General tab showing default input language
If the language you require has been previously installed by yourself then simply select it from the Input field in the Default Input Language section. You do this by clicking the Down arrow to the right of the Input field and then clicking on the relevant installed language. Once you have selected the language, click OK followed by OK again in the next window.
If the language you require hasn't been installed by you previously then follow the steps below to install a new language.
In the Text Services and Input Languages window, click the Add button. You will now see a list of available Languages.

Fig: 42-3 Select new language from input language list
Click on the Language you want to add and then click on the Plus sign (+) next to the Keyboard option.
From the list, Select the option you require and place a Check Mark (Tick) in the box to the left of the option by hovering your Mouse Cursor over the box and clicking your Left mouse button.
Next move up the window to the Default Input Language section and click on the Down Arrow next to the Input field.

Fig: 42-4 Click the down arrow to select the default language option
From this list, Select the language you wish to make Default and then press OK.
You will now be taken back to the Text Services and Input Languages window. In this window, click the OK button to make your selection permanent.
You have now changed your Keyboard language.