Sometimes it becomes necessary to change the language of the computer, perhaps because we share the PC with a foreign friend or because some configuration error has led to the unconscious language change.Windows supports language switching in almost every edition and version (except on home versions of Windows 7), it only takes a few mouse clicks to set one or more languages on the system.
Complications can arise from the fact that if you find a language with a different alphabet such as Chinese or Russian, it becomes difficult to find the buttons to reset in the country or in English.
In this guide we will show you the steps to take in order to change or add a language on PCs with Windows 10, Windows 8.1 and Windows 7.
If the language present on the operating system is incomprehensible, just know that the buttons and icons are the same so you just have to go by intuition and select the desired language at the appropriate time.
READ ALSO -> Download every Windows version for free legally
1) Change language on Windows 10 PC
If we use the latest version of the Windows operating system (10), to change the language simply open the menu Settings (the one with a gear icon, then click on the item Date / time and language (the icon in the shape of a clock and characters) and finally open the Language menu (third item on the left side, starting from the top).
In order to change the language we will first have to add it; to do this we click on the button Add a language (it is the only button with a + next to it) and, in the drop-down menu that will appear, we choose the language to add (we can also use the search engine at the top).
Once we have found the language to add, click Next and wait for the download of the necessary files to finish.
At the end we can change the language by taking us back to the menu Language and changing it on the drop-down menu under the item Windows display language.
If, on the other hand, you want to add a language to the one already present (to view instructions and pages in multiple languages, if necessary), just bring you to the same menu, click on Add a language and choose the language to complement the basic language (we recommend that you always have English at hand, given how important it is in computer science).
Windows may need to be restarted for the changes to take effect.
ALSO READ: Change language in Windows 10 (PC in your country or adding other languages)
2) Change language on Windows 8.1 PC
If instead we use Windows 8.1 as the operating system for our computer, to change the language simply open the right sidebar (moving the mouse to the edge of the screen) then click on the Settings button (with a gear icon) and then on the item Change PC settings (if the language is incomprehensible, just click on the last sentence at the bottom, just below the icons).
The Modern app will now open and manages all PC settings; to change language let's go to the menu Date / time and language (the third item on the left, starting from the bottom) and, in the menu that we will see appear, click on Geographical area and language (the second item on the left starting from the top).
As already seen for Windows 10 we add a language by clicking on the item Add a language (the only button with the + next to it) and choose the desired language in the window.
As soon as we have selected a language it will be downloaded to the PC; to make it effective let's go back to the menu Geographical area and language and, under the section Country or geographic area, please make sure to select the country corresponding to the downloaded language.
Also in this case we can add more than one language, just repeat the steps described to be able to have more languages active (better add English immediately, as we had already mentioned).
At the end of all the steps we restart Windows for the changes to take effect.
3) Change language on Windows 7 PC
To change the language on the oldest Microsoft operating system still supported (ie Windows 7) we will have to use the Control Panel.
The Control Panel is also present on Windows 10 and Windows 8.1 (with very slight differences) and allows you to change the language in a slightly more complex way than the menus we have shown you above; unless we have specific needs, we only use the Control Panel on Windows 7 (where it is the only way to change the language).
The procedure changes if we have Windows 7 Home / Professional or Windows 7 Ultimate, since the control panel has a different method to change the displayed language based on the version in use.
Once started Windows 7 Home or Professional, click on the Start menu icon at the bottom left and open the Control Panel (the fourth entry from the bottom, on the right side of the menu, ignoring the shutdown or restart button).
As soon as the Control Panel appears, click on the icon Clock and international options (world and clock icon).
In the new window we click on the item Change country (present just below the second section shown on the screen).
Now we choose, in the new screen, the country and the relative language to be used in the drop-down menu.
The language may not change right away, as the system will download the required language pack first; in any case we proceed to a restart and keep Windows Update active and ready to update automatically.
If, on the other hand, we have Windows Ultimate 7, we always open the Control Panel as seen in the first part of this section and click on the item Change display language, present as the second item under the section Clock and international options.
The same menu will open as seen with the other versions of Windows 7, but this time with an extra section: to add the desired language to the system, click on the button Install / Uninstall languages (if it is in an incomprehensible language, just see if there is a small shield on the button).
In the new window that will appear, click on Install display languages and subsequently on Launch Windows Update (in both cases it is the first entry starting from the top in both windows).
The search for available language packs will start immediately; download the one related to the language we intend to use.
At the end of the installation let's go to the menu Change country as seen in the initial part of this section and set the country of the downloaded language.
With this procedure we can also add more languages, so as to have a suitable multilingual system if the PC is also used by foreign users or if we want to learn more languages.
4) How to download language packs
Most of the language packs can be downloaded directly from Windows, using Windows Update (which will proceed automatically when a new language is requested).
If the internal procedure does not work, we can always download the language packs manually by visiting the site here -> Language Pack Windows.
We choose the version of Windows in our possession on the page, scroll the page until we find the desired language and finally click on Get it now to start the installer download.
At the end of the download, just double click on the installer to add the desired language and, to make it effective, just follow the steps that we have illustrated in this guide.
There is no limit to the number of languages we can download with Language Packs: we choose the languages to add and install them all, regardless of the operating system used.
