How to enable Keyboard Layouts for different Languages

The keyboard layout controls which characters appear on the screen when you press the keys on your keyboard. These layouts also enable you to directly type all the characters for the language, including diacritical marks such as the umlaut (ä) in German and the tilde (ñ) in Spanish.

Note : After you change the layout, the characters on your screen might not correspond to the characters on your keyboard keys.

Enable system support for East Asian, Southeast Asian, Indic, and right-to-left languages

When working with East Asian, Southeast Asian, Indic, and right-to-left languages, some additional set up might be required depending on your operating system.

Windows Vista

Windows Vista includes all the necessary files to support East Asian, Southeast Asian, Indic, and right-to-left languages. Just enable the keyboard or Input Method Editor (IME) [IME: A program that enters East Asian text (Traditional Chinese, Simplified Chinese, Japanese, or Korean) into programs by converting keystrokes into complex East Asian characters. The IME is treated as an alternate type of keyboard layout.]

Windows XP

1. Follow the instructions in Set up Windows XP for multiple languages to install the support files for your language on your computer.
2. Complete the steps in the below section, Enable a keyboard layout in Windows XP.

Enable a keyboard layout

Windows Vista

Important : Changing the keyboard language only enables you to type in that language. To check for spelling, grammar, or hyphenation errors, the proofing tools for the language that you are typing in must be enabled and a Language Pack or Language Interface Pack may be required. For more information, see Check spelling and grammar in another language.

1. Click Start, and then click Control Panel. Under Clock, Language and Region, click Change keyboards or other input methods.

   Note : In Classic view , double-click Regional and Language Options.

2. In the Regional and Language Options dialog box, under the Keyboards and Language tab, click Change keyboards.
3. In the Text Services and Input Languages dialog box, on the General tab, click the Default input language down arrow, and then select the default language that you want to use.

   Note : If the language that you want to use as a secondary language is not listed in the Installed services box, click Add to open the Add Input Languages dialog box, click the language that you want to expand the list, click Keyboard to expand the Keyboard list, click the check box next to the keyboard. click OK, and then click Apply.

   If there is more than one keyboard available for that language, you can see the keyboard by clicking Preview.

Windows XP

Prerequisite : To enable keyboards for languages such as Chinese, Japanese, and Korean, you must first install the East Asian language files. For languages that are read from right to left or that require contextual shaping to appear, you must install the complex scripts to support these languages.Click Start, click Control Panel, and then click Date, Time, Language, and Regional Options. Note : In Classic view , double-click Regional and Language Options.

1. In the Date, Time, Language, and Regional Options dialog box, under Pick a task, click Add other languages.
2. In the Regional and Language Options dialog box, on the Languages tab, click Details.
3. In the Text Services and Input Languages dialog box, on the Settings tab, click the Default input language down arrow, and then select the default language that you want to use.
4. In the Installed services box, select the language that you want to add to the Language bar.

   Note : If the language that you want to use as a secondary language is not listed in the Installed services box, click Add to open the Add Input Languages dialog box, click the language that you want to expand the list, click Keyboard to expand the Keyboard list, click the check box next to the keyboard layout/IME that you want, click OK, and then click Apply.

5. If you want to be able to switch keyboard layouts by using the Language bar, under Preferences, click Language Bar, and then select the Show the Language bar on the desktop check box.

Change the keyboard language with the Language bar

If you have added the languages that you must have and enabled the Language bar so that it displays on your desktop or in your taskbar, you can change languages by clicking the Language bar in the taskbar and select the language that you want to change the keyboard to. For example, German (Germany).

If you don't see the Language bar on your desktop or in your taskbar, you need to display the Language bar.