How to install additional languages ​​in Windows 11 step by step

If you work with computers with Windows 11 and you need to add additional languages For your users, you'll find that simply going to Settings and tapping "Add a language" isn't always enough. Sometimes the language is only partially installed, other times the keyboard options don't appear, or the system ends up mixing languages ​​in a nonsensical way. In home environments, this might be a minor inconvenience, but in businesses, schools, or government agencies, it becomes a real problem.

The good news is that Windows 11 offers various methods for installing and managing languagesFrom the classic, simple graphical interface to advanced scenarios with DISM, custom images, SCCM, or PowerShell scripts, this article will guide you step-by-step through how to install additional languages ​​in Windows 11, how to apply them system-wide, how to integrate them into installation media, and how to activate extra features like speech, text-to-speech, and handwriting recognition.

Basic concepts: types of language packs in Windows 11

Before touching anything, it's important to understand that in Windows 11 we're not talking about a single "language," but rather several. language component sets which can be installed separately depending on your needs.

On one side are the interface language packs (Language Packs or LP), which are the ones that translate most of the Windows interface: menus, dialog boxes, Settings, File Explorer, login screen, etc.

In addition to those interface packages, there are the language feature packs (Language Features on Demand), which include components such as: text-to-speech, speech recognition, OCR and image to text conversionSpell check or handwriting recognition. These are downloaded separately, and it's important to keep this in mind if you want your users to be able to, for example, dictate in another language or have OneNote's immersive reader read texts to them in different languages.

Finally, it is important to keep in mind the difference between display languages (which change the system language) and input or keyboard languages (which control how you write). They are related concepts, but not exactly the same, and many problems arise precisely from mixing the two.

Simple method: Install languages ​​from Settings in Windows 11

The most common method for end users is to use the Settings app of Windows 11. It is the recommended way when you only want to add one or two languages ​​to a specific computer without complicating things too much.

To change the primary language To add a new system, you can follow this general guide:

1. Open Settings from the Start menu or with the shortcut Windows key + IIt's the fastest and most convenient way to access all language options.
2. In the left panel, go to the section “Time and language”This is where the time zone, region, and language options for Windows are grouped together.
3. Within “Time and Language”, access “Language and region”You'll see a globe icon with characters, which is where you configure display languages, regional preferences, and keyboards.
4. In the “Language” section, locate the block “Preferred languages” and press the button “Add a language”This is where you actually begin the process of installing the new language.
5. In the window that appears, search for the language you want to installYou can type the name of the language, country, or region (for example, "Spanish," "Mexico," "France") or scroll through the list. It's important to pay attention to the regional variations: Spanish (Spain) is not the same as Spanish (Mexico), for example.
6. Select the language and press on "Following"On the next screen, Windows will show you the features available for that language (text to speech, speech recognition, handwriting, etc.) and will tell you the approximate size of the downloads.
7. Check or uncheck the boxes as needed. If you want that language to be the system's primary language, enable the option. “Set as my Windows display language”Then, tap on "Install" so that Windows can download the packages from Microsoft's servers.
8. In many cases the system will warn you that It is necessary to log out To apply the new display language, click the sign out button and sign in again to check the changes.

Following this process, the The new language will appear in the "Preferred Languages" list. And if you set it as your display language, you'll see that Settings, Explorer, the lock screen, and the rest of the system have switched to the new language. Furthermore, from that same section, you can access the options for each language to download extra features or adjust keyboard layouts.

Manage voice, text-to-speech, and recognition in multiple languages

Installing the interface language is only half the battle. Many accessibility tools and Microsoft learning, such as OneNote Learning Tools, Out loud reading In Word or the Microsoft Edge reader, they depend on you having the correct installation of the text-to-speech engines and voices associated with each language.

In Windows 10 and 11, once a language has been installed from "Language and region", you can Check which voice features you have active and adjust its behavior from within the system itself. To do this:

1. Open the Start menu and go to Settings > Time and language > VoiceThis section focuses on the speech synthesis and recognition part of the system.
2. In “Voice”, check the list “Language of voice”Here you select which language the narration and dictation features will use. It must match one of the languages ​​for which you have an available voice package.
3. Optionally you can activate “Recognize non-native accents for this language”, which helps speech recognition work better with accents from different regions within the same language.
4. In the block of “Voices” You can choose which voice you want to use (for example, female or male voices), as well as the reading speed and a preview of how it sounds. This is key for educational or reading support applications.
5. If you're going to use voice recognition with a microphone (for example, with Cortana or dictation), it's highly recommended to tap on "Introduction" in the microphone section to guide calibration and improve recognition accuracy.

With regards to availability of native text-to-speech languagesWindows 10 and 11 include a good collection of built-in voices for various languages ​​and regions: Chinese (Hong Kong, Taiwan, mainland China), English (United States and United Kingdom), French (France), German (Germany), Italian (Italy), Japanese, Korean, Polish, Portuguese (Brazil), Russian, Spanish (Spain and Mexico), among others. Each voice is usually associated with a name (for example, Sabina for Mexican Spanish, Helena for Spanish from Spain, Zira or David for US English) and a gender.

If you need even more options, there are Third-party providers of voices and text-to-speech engines which you can install on Windows. Furthermore, it's an open-source project. eSpeak It offers a multitude of additional text-to-speech languages ​​for free. To use them, you need to download the Windows installer from its website, choose the language codes you want (for example, for English, Spanish, Polish, Swedish, or Czech), and complete the wizard. It's an interesting solution in environments where minority languages ​​not covered by Microsoft's standard voices are required.

Installing a language pack on a Windows 11 server or VDS

On dedicated servers or VDSs with Windows 11, especially those deployed by hosting providers, it is very common that The system comes installed in English by default.If the end user prefers to work in another language, it is not necessary to reinstall the entire system: an additional language pack can be added and the interface changed without too much trouble.

Un typical procedure could be the following:

1. Open the Settings window and type “language” in the internal search box. Then access the menu of language settingsSince this is an original English installation, you will see that only "English" appears in the display language drop-down menu.
2. Instead of just using the standard language assistant, open the Microsoft Store Then, in the search bar, type the name of the language pack you need in the current system language. For example, if you want to install the Russian language pack on an English system, you can search for “Russian language pack”.
3. Locate the correct package and click on "Get" (Get). Windows will download and install the language pack and necessary components. This step may take some time depending on your connection and server load.
4. When the installation is complete, close both Microsoft Store such as the Language Settings window to ensure that the new parameters are reloaded correctly.
5. Reopen the language settings as you did in the first step. This time, the new language—for example, Russian—should appear in the display language dropdown menuSelect it so that Windows can suggest applying the change.
6. The system will ask you to session closes To complete the language application, after logging back in, you'll see that the labels, menus, and text in the environment appear in your chosen language.

With this method, especially useful on servers, you achieve that Switch the entire interface to the desired language without reformatting or reinstalling the operating system, something very valuable when managing machines in production.

Advanced scenarios: Adding languages ​​to Windows installation images

In professional environments (companies, educational centers, administrations, etc.) it is common to deploy Windows to dozens or hundreds of computers starting from custom imagesIn those cases, it makes perfect sense for the installation medium (ISO, USB, network boot) to already include the languages ​​needed from the beginning, both for the installation program interface and for the system itself that will be installed.

To achieve this, you have to work with the files. boot.wim (installation startup image) e install.wim (the Windows image itself), as well as with the file lang.ini, which describes which languages ​​are available during the Setup process.

Prerequisites and copy of installation files

Before you begin, you need a technical team with implementation tools (for example, the ADK Imaging and Deployment Environment) and a copy of the original Windows media corresponding to the edition you are customizing.

The first step is copy the contents of the installation media from Windows to a local working folder. For example, if your mounted DVD or ISO drive is D:, you can use something similar to this:

md C:\my_distribution
xcopy /E D: C:\my_distribution

In this context, D: This corresponds to the physical or virtual location of the Windows installation media, and C:\my_distribution This will be the folder where you will add language packs, localized files, and later generate the final media.

Add languages ​​to the Setup boot image (boot.wim, index 2)

The file boot.wim It contains the pre-installation environment (Windows PE and SDI filesThis is displayed when you boot from the Windows USB or DVD. Index 2 of that file usually corresponds to the Setup environment that the user sees. If you want technicians or users to be able to Choose the language within the installation program itself.Language support needs to be added to that image.

1. Open the Image creation and deployment tool environment with administrator privileges. You can search for “deployment” in the Start menu, right-click on the tool, and select “Run as administrator.”
2. Create a folder to mount the image and mount index 2 of boot.wim with DISM. For example:

   md C:\mount\boot
Dism /mount-image /imagefile:C:\my_distribution\sources\boot.wim /index:2 /mountdir:C:\mount\boot

3. Add the Windows PE language packs corresponding to the languages ​​you want to support. These packages are located in the Windows ADK, in the WinPE_OCs path. You must add at least the file lp.cab and the client and server Setup installation packages as applicable.

   Example for a desktop environment with French (fr-FR):

   Dism /image:C:\mount\boot /add-package /packagepath:"C:\Program Files (x86)\Windows Kits\10\Assessment and Deployment Kit\Windows Preinstallation Environment\amd64\WinPE_OCs\fr-fr\lp.cab"
Dism /image:C:\mount\boot /add-package /packagepath:"C:\Program Files (x86)\Windows Kits\10\Assessment and Deployment Kit\Windows Preinstallation Environment\amd64\WinPE_OCs\fr-fr\WinPE-Setup_fr-fr.cab"
Dism /image:C:\mount\boot /add-package /packagepath:"C:\Program Files (x86)\Windows Kits\10\Assessment and Deployment Kit\Windows Preinstallation Environment\amd64\WinPE_OCs\fr-fr\WinPE-Setup-Client_fr-fr.cab"

   If you are preparing media Windows ServerYou will need to use the corresponding package for server setup:

   Dism /image:C:\mount\boot /add-package /packagepath:"...\fr-fr\lp.cab"
Dism /image:C:\mount\boot /add-package /packagepath:"...\fr-fr\WinPE-Setup_fr-fr.cab"
Dism /image:C:\mount\boot /add-package /packagepath:"...\fr-fr\WinPE-Setup-Server_fr-fr.cab"

4. In some East Asian languages ​​such as Japanese (ja-JP), Korean (ko-KR) or various variants of Chinese (zh-HK, zh-CN, zh-TW), it is essential to also add the font compatibility packs to the startup image so that the characters are displayed correctly. For example, for Japanese:

   Dism /image:C:\mount\boot /add-package /packagepath:"...\WinPE-FontSupport-JA-JP.cab"

5. In the case of Thai (th-TH)A different font support package is used, such as WinPE-FontSupport-WinRE:

   Dism /image:C:\mount\boot /add-package /packagepath:"...\WinPE-FontSupport-WinRE.cab"

With this, the Setup environment will have localized resources and appropriate sources so that the Windows installer can work in those languages ​​from the first boot.

Copy localized installation resources to the Windows distribution

The next step is to ensure that the Windows distribution also has the language-specific installation resourcesTo do this, the original installation media is usually mounted in that language and the localized language folder is imported.

For example, if you mount a French (fr-FR) Windows installation media as drive E:, you can copy its folder sources\fr-fr to your main distribution:

xcopy E:\sources\fr-fr C:\my_distribution\sources\fr-fr /cherkyi

In this command, E: It represents the unit with the installation media that contain the located resources, and C:\my_distribution\sources\fr-fr This will be the path in your custom distribution where those files are stored.

Add language packs to the Windows image (install.wim) and update lang.ini

In addition to integrating languages ​​into the boot environment, you'll typically want the Windows image itself (install.wim) to support them. the same languages ​​or a subset of themTo do this, language packs are added to the image using DISM, and the list of available languages ​​is updated using the file. lang.ini.

El proceedings It can be summarized as follows:

1. First, the language packs necessary for the Windows image. To do this, the install.wim image is mounted in another folder (for example, C:\mount\windows) and commands are used Dism /add-package targeting the lp.cab files for each language. The detailed procedure is explained in the "Adding language packs to Windows" documentation.
2. Once the languages ​​are integrated, it is important regenerate the lang.ini file to reflect the full set of languages ​​available in the distribution. This is done with a command similar to:

   Dism /image:C:\mount\windows /gen-langINI /distribution:C:\my_distribution

3. It is also convenient set the installer's default interface language using DISM. For example, to set French (fr-FR) as the installer interface language:

   Dism /image:C:\mount\boot /Set-SetupUILang:fr-FR /distribution:C:\my_distribution

4. Finally, the file is copied. lang.ini newly generated to the corresponding boot folder of the distribution:

   Xcopy C:\my_distribution\sources\lang.ini C:\mount\boot\sources\lang.ini

This way, when a user boots from your custom ISO or USB, the Windows installation program will display the languages ​​available consistently and will allow you to choose which one will be installed as the system's default language.

Confirm and save the changes to the images.

Once the packages are integrated and the language lists are updated, it is essential disassemble the images correctly so that the changes made can be applied.

With DISM, this is done with the parameter /commit When unmounting the mounted boot and Windows images:

Dism /unmount-image /mountdir:C:\mount\boot /commit
Dism /unmount-image /mountdir:C:\mount\windows /commit

If you forget this step or disassemble without confirming, You will lose the modifications. And you'll have to repeat a good part of the process, so it's a good idea to carefully check the paths before running the commands.

Create installation media on USB, DVD or ISO with multiple languages

With the distribution now customized, the next step is to generate the installation media that you will use to deploy Windows on the computers.

Bootable USB flash drive

To create a Bootable USB drive with Windows PE and multilingual Setup The tool can be used MakeWinPEMedia with the option /UFDAn example of a command would be:

MakeWinPEMedia /UFD C:\my_distribution F:

In this case, C:\my_distribution It's your already customized distribution folder and F: the letter assigned to the USB drive. The tool will format the drive and install the necessary boot files.

DVD or ISO image

If you prefer create a DVD or an ISO fileThe methodology is somewhat different, especially when the content exceeds 4,5 GB. In these cases, it is recommended to define a boot command file to ensure that essential files are at the beginning of the image.

1. Generate a text file with the name BootOrder.txt (for example, in C:\Temp) that contains the list of critical files in the desired order, starting with the boot files and boot.wim sources.
2. Next, create the ISO using the tool. Oscdimgpassing it as parameters the path to your distribution, the boot command file, and the corresponding EFI boot file. An example command could be:

   Oscdimg -m -n -yo C:\temp\BootOrder.txt -bC:\winpe_amd64\Efisys.bin C:\winpe_amd64\winpeamd64.iso

3. Finally, you can burn the ISO to a DVD directly from File Explorer using the option "Burn disc image"or use it as is as a bootable installation medium on virtual machines.

Deploying language packs with SCCM and automation

In educational institutions and large organizations, it is very common for the IT department to want Offer additional languages ​​as installable packages from the Software Center (SCCM) without users having to delve into Windows Settings.

The usual approach is to package the language skills as CAB or as “features on demand” and install them with DISM o PowerShellHowever, several administrators have observed that, although the installation appears correct and the language pack is available, the system does not finish. "Activate" that language until the user manually selects it. as the display language in Settings.

The typical symptom is that, after selecting a language (for example, Spanish) and restarting, the language does not appear as a full option in the language section of the Settings app, even though it is offered in the dropdown menu. “Windows display language”Additionally, the keyboard layout selector in the system tray is not usually displayed until the user changes the system display to that language at least once.

This behavior causes confusion, because many users just want an additional keyboard or writing toolsDo not change the entire system language. If you only install the package but never select it as the display language, some functions will be incomplete.

How to force full language activation using PowerShell

An effective way to solve these partial activation problems is to use a PowerShell script Install the language completely, set the user's language list, copy the settings to the system, and force a restart.

Un typical script It follows this logic:

• Define a variable with the target language code, for example pt-BR for Brazilian Portuguese, it-IT for Spanish from Spain, fr-FR for French from France, etc.
• Use Install-Language o Add-WindowsCapability to install the language pack and all its language features (interface, text to speech, speech recognition, handwriting, etc.), either from online repositories or from a local ISO with the features on demand.
• Call to Set-WinUserLanguageList with the desired language and the modifier -Strength to update the current user's language list to that language and ensure it is set as preferred.
• Run Copy-UserInternationalSettingsToSystem with parameter -WelcomeScreen $True so that the user's language settings are copied to the system and the welcome screen.
• Finally, he invokes Restart-Computer -Force to restart the computer and make all changes take effect globally.

This type of script must be executed with administrator privileges And sometimes it's best to run it as a scheduled task linked to the user who will be using the computer, to avoid context issues. Although the installation progress may seem to stall at some point, it usually only takes a few minutes to complete; just let it finish.

With this approach, after the restart the language is fully applied and it avoids the need for the user to manually enter Settings to reselect the language, thus reducing possible errors and confusion.

Install languages ​​only for text-to-speech in earlier versions

Although the focus is on Windows 11, there are still environments where computers with Windows 8.1In those cases, to add text-to-speech languages ​​usable by tools such as the immersive reader, the process goes through Control Panel instead of Modern Settings.

El general flow In Windows 8.1 it is as follows:

1. Open the Control panel classic and enter the section "Idiom"The system's language list is managed from there.
2. Push the button “Add a language” to choose the desired language from the list and confirm with the “Add” button.
3. In the newly added language, select the option “Download and install language pack”Windows will download and install the package, which may require restarting your computer to apply the changes.

Once restarted, the new language will be available for text-to-speech and for the immersive readerThis allows the system to recognize the text in that language and read it aloud with the corresponding voice.

In any case, in both Windows 8.1 and Windows 10 and 11, the official Microsoft documentation on language management and keyboard layout It is a good reference for understanding how interface settings, region, date format, and physical and virtual keyboards are linked.

With all these options, from the simple user panel to processes with DISM, ADK, SCCM or PowerShell, it is possible to adapt Windows 11 to truly multilingual environments: computers that boot in different languages ​​from the installer, classrooms where each student chooses their interface, organizations that deploy voice and immersive reader in different languages, and servers that switch from English to any other language without reinstalling.

By carefully planning which language levels you need (interface, keyboard, voice, writing, OCR) and how you want to deploy them (manual, automated, custom image), you can fine-tune the entire system so that the use of multiple languages ​​is transparent to both technicians and end users. Share this tutorial and more users will know how to install extra languages ​​in Windows 11.