How to add a language in Windows 10

You may sometimes need to add additional languages in Windows 10. It is not supported by all Windows 10 versions, some Windows 10 Home editions are restricted to a single language, but it is something very easy to do as the installation of additional languages is pretty straightforward.

In this tutorial we are going to see, step by step,  how to do it with Windows 10 Pro.

Hello in different languages
Hello in different languages

The first step is to access the Settings menu from the “Windows” button at the bottom left of the screen:

Windeos 10 Settings
Windeos 10 Settings

Then to select the “Time & Language” section of the settings:

Time and Language
Time and Language

And to choose the Language menu to access the list of installed languages in your system:

Language Settings
Language Settings

This will show the list of currently installed languages and will allow to add additional ones using the “+” button beside “Add a language”.

Settings Preferred Languages
Settings Preferred Languages

If you click the “+” button a list of languages will be displayed in a new window:

List of Languages
List of Languages

You can scroll down the list and search for the language you would like to add or you can type part of its name to filter the list:

Search for Spanish Spain
Search for Spanish Spain

The icons at the right represent the functionalities supported by Windows 10 for the language. Click the “Next” button at the bottom to install the selected language.

Install Spanish Spain Language
Install Spanish Spain Language

You can then select the optional features you would like to install with the language. Click the “Install” button to start the installation:

Select optional features
Select optional features

The installation will first appear as pending:

Pending Installation
Pending Installation

Then as installing:

Installing Language
Installing Language

Before appearing at the end of the installed languages:

Language Installed
Language Installed

You can now change the order in which the languages will be used by programs by using the up and down arrow buttons:

Change Application Language Order
Change Application Language Order

You may get a warning if you let a third language (Spanish in this example) appear between two related languages (US and European English in this example):

Warning about languages order
Warning about languages order

The language order will be modified automatically to regroup the related languages if you click the “Group related languages” button:

Related languages regrouped
Related languages regrouped

But you might simply want to move the new language to the top of the list:

Spanish at the top of the list
Spanish at the top of the list

We would now have a rather weird configuration: Windows would be displayed in English but most applications would be displayed in Spanish (if they support this language):

Windows displayed in English, Applications in Spanish
Windows displayed in English, Applications in Spanish

We could change the Windows display language to Spanish by selecting “Español (España)” for instance in the list:

Windows display language in spanish
Windows display language in spanish

And Windows would let us know that this change would only take effect after signing out and signing in:

Sign out warning message
Sign out warning message

You would be signed out if you click “Yes, sign out now”, and if not, you would be reminded that the display language would take effect after next sign-in.

Warning: new display language used after signing out
Warning: new display language used after signing out

To sign out and to use Windows with the new language you can use the “Windows” button at the bottom left, select your username (jp in this example) and click “sign out”:

Sign out
Sign out

And after signing in again you should be able to see Windows displayed in the new language:

Windows menu in Spanish
Windows menu in Spanish

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