How to change the operating system language.

The Windows® 10 operating system has several languages already pre-installed allowing you to read and type in those languages. If the language you want is not pre-installed, you can easily download and install that language pack.

Follow these steps to change the operating system language.

1. Click the Start  button, and then click Settings.
2. In the Settings window, click Time & language.
3. In the Time & language screen, on the left column, click Region & language.
4. On the right side of the screen, under Languages, click Add a language.
5. In the ADD A LANGUAGE window, click to select the language you wish to add.  

   NOTES:

   • If a language is not installed, you will need to download a language pack in the language you want.
   • For this demonstration we will choose the Español (Spanish) language, but any listed language will perform in a similar way.
   • If the selected language has regional variations, as is the case with our example, then a regional variants screen will appear and you will need to click to select the desired language variation.
6. Once you have selected the desired language, in the Time & language screen, under Languages, click the language you just added, and then click Set as Default.  

   NOTES:

   • Click the Options button next to a particular language and then follow the on-screen instructions to modify any of the options available for that language.
   • In the Time & language screen, under Languages, the language at the top of the list will be the primary language.
7. With the desired language in the primary position, click the X in the upper right corner to close the window and then restart the computer .
8. Once the computer restarts, the operating system will be displayed in language you just set as primary.

IMPORTANT: If you have a password that was set using the standard keyboard setting (US/QWERTY), you have changed to a language that uses a different keyboard layout with a different character set, or your password contains a letter that is different based on that different character set, the operating system will think you are typing an incorrect password and you will not be able to log in after the computer restarts. If this occurs, follow these steps to get into the operating system and correct this condition.

1. At the login screen, in the lower-right corner, click the three letter language designation.

   NOTE: For our example, the three letter language designation that would appear for the Español (Spanish) language is ESP.

2. From the language menu that appears, click to select ENG English (United States) US Keyboard.

   NOTES: At this point there you have three options to allow you to log into the operating system with the new language:

   • Use the Touch Keyboard to enter your password, making sure not to use any special character letters.
   • Change your login password to use letters that will not be changed by the new language character set.
   • Repeat steps 1-3 above and in the Time & language screen, under Languages, next to a the language you want to use, click Options, click Add a keyboard, and click to select US QWERTY.