Changing language and keyboard settings in Windows 2022

Modified on Wed, 31 Jan at 2:33 PM

Changing the keyboard and language locale for a Windows 2022 machine can be done using the standard Windows settings option. However, by default, Windows Remote Desktop will reset these settings to default values each time a new RDP session is started. So, after the language settings have been changed, the Remote Desktop registry settings must also be updated to force RDP to use the custom language settings for new sessions.

Step 1: Change the Windows language settings

To change the default language and keyboard settings in Windows 2022:

Open Windows Settings and select the Time & Language options.
At the bottom of the Language settings, select Add a Language to install the language pack for the desired language. OrasiLabs only installs the US English language pack by default.
Select the appropriate language and locale from the list and select Install to add the language.
From the options list, be sure to select Set as my Windows display language if you want the Windows controls to automatically adjust as well. Select Install to download and install the new language set.
Once the new language pack finishes installing, it will be shown as an available option in the list at the bottom of the Language settings.
1. After installing the new language pack, select Yes, Sign Out Now to apply the changes.
Reopen Windows Settings and, if necessary, update additional language settings.
1. If you selected Set as my Windows display language (above), all of the primary language settings should already reflect the new language selection.

Step 2: Update the Windows Registry for Remote Desktop

To force an RDP session to use the custom keyboard layout stored in the user profile instead of the layout provided by the Terminal Server client, set the IgnoreRemoteKeyboardLayout registry value to 1. Future user logons will then use the keyboard layout and language specified in the user profile rather than the RDP default.

In the OrasiLabs lab, select the Windows Search button and enter "regedit". Select the Registry Editor option. Confirm the UAC security dialog, if presented.
Navigate to HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Control\Keyboard Layout.
From the Edit menu, select New...DWORD (32-bit) to create a new registry key entry.
Add a new registry key with a name of "IgnoreRemoteKeyboardLayout" and a data value of 1.
Exit the Registry Editor and restart the lab.

For more detail about this customizing this Windows feature, please see the Microsoft Answers Library at the following link.