How to Change the Keyboard Language in Windows

Have you ever had to change the keyboard language from one language to another? Probably not! And most people really don’t, but there are the rare occasions when you buy a computer off eBay or get a computer from someone and the keyboard is set to another language.

You can easily change the keyboard language from French to English, US to UK, etc by modifying a few settings in Windows XP and Vista. You may also simply need to type in a foreign language and the only way you can do that is by changing the keyboard language settings.

Change keyboard language in XP

For Windows XP, you want to go to the Control Panel and click on Regional and Language Options.



Next click on the Languages tab and then click on the Details button.



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



Choose the input language and choose the type of keyboard that you have attached to your computer. If you want to type Spanish on an English keyboard, choose Spanish as the Input language and United States-Dvorak.



In Vista, you have to click on Regional and Language Options from the Control Panel. Then you need to click on Keyboards and Languages and then Change Keyboards.



Under Installed Services, click Add, and then choose the input language and keyboard layout. That’s about it! So if you want to type in another language, such as a foreign language, or if you want to switch the keyboard language back to English, the above steps should solve your problem! Enjoy!