Time and Language Add or Remove Keyboard Layout for Input Language in Windows 11


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Keyboard_layout_banner.png

This tutorial will show you how to add or remove a keyboard layout for input language for your account in Windows 11.

In Windows, you can change your keyboard layout to type in another language or input method you want to use..

The language of your keyboard layout controls the characters that appear on your screen when you type. By using the different layouts, you can type all the characters for the language, including diacritics such as the umlaut (ä) in German and the tilde (ñ) in Spanish.

When you add a language, the default keyboard layout for the language will be installed by default.

You can install additional keyboards for language-specific key layouts and input options. Adding an input language lets you set a language-preference order for websites and apps, as well as change your keyboard language.

When you have more than one language and/or keyboard layout installed, you can change your keyboard layout via the Language Bar or press the Win + Spacebar keys to cycle through all your installed keyboards.

References:

Starting with Windows 11 build 25247, Microsoft is including two new keyboard layouts. These keyboards implement the two new French keyboard layout standards (AZERTY and BÉPO). The new layouts are designed to allow the user to type all the required characters of the French language. They also include support for all the Latin-based languages of the European Union as well as Greek letters and a large variety of scientific, mathematical, and financial symbols. To enable one of these layouts, look for the new keyboard layouts “French (Standard, AZERTY)” or “French (Standard, BÉPO)”. The previous AZERTY layout now displays as (Legacy, AZERTY).


Contents



EXAMPLE: Language Bar on taskbar

Language_Bar.png





Option One

Add Keyboard Layout in Settings


1 Open Settings (Win+I).

2 Click/tap on Time & language on the left side, and click/tap on Language & region on the right side. (see screenshot below)


Keyboard_layout_Settings-1.png

3 Under Preferred languages, click/tap on the Options (3 dots) button for the language (ex: "English (United States") you want to add a keyboard for, and click/tap on Language options. (see screenshot below)

Keyboard_layout_Settings-2.png

4 Under Keyboards, click/tap on the Add a keyboard button to the right of Installed keyboards. (see screenshot below)

Keyboard_layout_Settings-3.png

5 Select the keyboard (ex: "United Kingdom") you want to add. (see screenshot below)

If you do not see the keyboard you want, you may have to add a new language to get additional options.


Keyboard_layout_Settings-4.png

6 You can now close Settings if you like.




Option Two

Remove Keyboard Layout in Settings


1 Open Settings (Win+I).

2 Click/tap on Time & language on the left side, and click/tap on Language & region on the right side. (see screenshot below)


Keyboard_layout_Settings-1.png

3 Under Preferred languages, click/tap on the Options (3 dots) button for the language (ex: "English (United States") you want to remove a keyboard for, and click/tap on Language options. (see screenshot below)

Keyboard_layout_Settings-2.png

4 Under Keyboards, click/tap on the Options (3 dots) button for the keyboard (ex: "United Kingdom") you want to uninstall, and click/tap on Remove. (see screenshot below)

Remove_keyboard_layout_Settings.png

5 You can now close Settings if you like.




Option Three

Remove Keyboard Layout in Registry Editor


This option can be handy when keyboard layout you want to remove is not listed in Option Two.

This option will not uninstall the keyboard layout. It will only remove it from the language bar.


1 Lookup the Keyboard identifier (ex: "0x00000809") for the keyboard (ex: "United Kingdom") you want to remove from the language bar at the link below from Microsoft.


2 Open Registry Editor (regedit.exe).

3 Navigate to the key below in the left pane of Registry Editor. (see screenshot below step 6)

HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Keyboard Layout\Substitutes

4 In the right pane of the Substitutes key, look in the Data column to see if the Keyboard identifier (ex: "00000809") from step 1 for the keyboard (ex: "United Kingdom") you want to remove is listed. (see screenshot below step 6)

5 If the Keyboard identifier (ex: "00000809") is not listed in the Data column, then skip step 6, and go to step 7. (see screenshot below step 6)

6 If the Keyboard identifier (ex: "00000809") is listed in the Data column, then follow the steps below: (see screenshots below)
  1. Make note of its substitute ID (ex: "d0010409") in the Name column.
  2. Right click on the substitute ID (ex: "d0010409") string value (REG_SZ) in the Name, and click/tap on Delete.
  3. Click/tap on Yes to confirm deleting the value.
Remove_keyboard_layout_regedit-1.png
Remove_keyboard_layout_regedit-3.png

7 Navigate to the key below in the left pane of Registry Editor. (see screenshot below step 9)

HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Keyboard Layout\Preload

8 In the right pane of the Preload key, look in the Data column for the Keyboard identifier (ex: "00000809") from step 1 or step 6 for the keyboard (ex: "United Kingdom") you want to remove. (see screenshot below step 9)

9 Follow the steps below: (see screenshots below)
  1. Right click on the string value (REG_SZ) for the Keyboard identifier (ex: "00000809" or "d0010409") from step 1 or step 6, and click/tap on Delete.
  2. Click/tap on Yes to confirm deleting the value.
Remove_keyboard_layout_regedit-2.png
Remove_keyboard_layout_regedit-3.png

10 Either sign out and sign in or restart the computer to apply.

11 If the keyboard layout is still not removed, then navigate to the key below in the left pane of Registry Editor. (see screenshot below step 13)

You must be signed in as an administrator to do steps 11 to 13.


HKEY_USERS\.DEFAULT\Keyboard Layout\Preload

12 In the right pane of the Preload key, look in the Data column for the Keyboard identifier (ex: "00000809") from step 1 or step 6 for the keyboard (ex: "United Kingdom") you want to remove. (see screenshot below step 9)

13 Follow the steps below: (see screenshots below)
  1. Right click on the string value (REG_SZ) for the Keyboard identifier (ex: "00000809" or "d0010409") from step 1 or step 6, and click/tap on Delete.
  2. Click/tap on Yes to confirm deleting the value.
Remove_keyboard_layout_regedit-4.png
Remove_keyboard_layout_regedit-3.png

14 Either sign out and sign in or restart the computer to apply.


That's it,
Shawn Brink

 

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Sometimes the keyboard layouts may be added by software, even silently and against user consent.

One of most prominent (and infamous, from my point) example is the MMO game Guild Wars 2. Unlike many other video games, its keyboard commands may work only basing on standard QWERTY US keyboard; if the user doesn't have such (I, for example, prefer United States-International keyboard, where input the accented character is easier than in US; but the same is for any other layout), then the game adds US layout forcefully, uses it for keyboard commands, and it remains active after exit, being visible in the keyboard switcher. I tried to understand the origin of this and found out that developers use Win32 API function LoadKeyboardLayoutA to add US keyboard, but forget to call API UnloadKeyboardLayout to remove it before exit, if it didn't present in the system initially. It's a result of poor qualification of system-level programmers in ArenaNet... Removing excessive keyboard in Settings or Control Panel is possible, but tedious, better to use a script.

I used this script initially in Windows 8.1, it still works in Windows 11. Need two files, command and XML (location doesn't matter):
Remove_en-US.cmd
Code:
control intl.cpl,, /f:"%CD%\Remove_en-US.xml"
Remove_en-US.xml
XML:
<gs:GlobalizationServices xmlns:gs="urn:longhornGlobalizationUnattend">
    <!--User List-->
    <gs:UserList>
        <gs:User UserID="Current"/>
    </gs:UserList>
    <!--input preferences-->
    <gs:InputPreferences>
        <!--add en-US keyboard input-->
        <gs:InputLanguageID Action="add" ID="0409:00000409"/>
        <!--remove en-US keyboard input-->
        <gs:InputLanguageID Action="remove" ID="0409:00000409"/>
    </gs:InputPreferences>
</gs:GlobalizationServices>
It adds and then removes the particular layout: without adding the layout first it will not be properly removed. ID 0409:00000409 is the input profile with language code and keyboard code; for example, United States-International will be 0409:00020409. Other combinations can be found here: Default Input Profiles (Input Locales) in Windows.
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows 11 Pro; Windows 8.1 Pro
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
    CPU
    i7-12700K (Alder Lake)
    Motherboard
    Asus PRIME Z690-M Plus D4
    Memory
    16 GB (2x8 Corsair DDR4-2132)
    Graphics Card(s)
    Asus GeForce 1050 Ti, 4 GB
    Monitor(s) Displays
    Philips 235PQ
    Screen Resolution
    1920x1080
    Hard Drives
    Windows 11: Samsung SSD 870 EVO, 500 GB (SATA), MBR
    Windows 8.1: Samsung SSD 980 PRO, 500 GB (M.2), MBR
    PSU
    Platimax D.F. 1050 W (80 Plus Platinum)
    Internet Speed
    Local link 1 Gbps, provider's line 500 Mbps
    Browser
    Google Chrome
    Other Info
    Realtek PCIe GbE Family Controller (for Windows 8.1 compatibility)
    Microsoft Office H&S 2013 x64

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