InputLocale

  • Article

InputLocale specifies the input language and the input method for input devices, such as the keyboard layout. This setting is used by Windows Setup and Windows Deployment Services.

The input locale (also called input language) is a per-process setting that describes a language (for example, Greek) and an input method (for example, the keyboard). There can be multiple input locales installed, and the user can switch between input locales. Users can add and remove input locales through the Languages tab of the Regional and Language Options program in Control Panel.

Note

This setting can be applied only during the windowsPE configuration pass. To specify language and locale settings during the oobeSystem or specialize pass, see the InputLocale setting in the Microsoft-Windows-International-Core component.

For the list of supported languages, locales, and identifiers, see Supported Language Packs and Default Settings.

Note

This setting is required for all unattended installations. To prevent the Windows Setup user interface (UI) from displaying, you must configure this setting. For a complete list of required settings, see Settings to Use for an Unattended Installation.

Value

Input_locale

Specifies the input language and the keyboard layout for a Windows installation.

Input_locale can be one of two values:

  • A language identifier. For example, to use the default keyboard layout for English (United States) that corresponds with the QWERTY keyboard, you can specify the value en-US.
  • A locale ID and keyboard layout represented as hexadecimal values. For example, for en-US, use 0409:00000409. The first 0409 value represents the locale ID of the input language and the second 00000409 value represents the keyboard layout.

To specify more than one input locale to add support for more than one keyboard type, you can specify multiple values separated by semicolons. For example, you can specify <InputLocale>en-US; fr-FR; es-ES</InputLocale> to add support for English (US), French (France) and Spanish (Spain) keyboards. The first value listed is used as the default keyboard.

The valid keyboard layouts that can be configured on a computer are listed in the following registry key: HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\ControlSet001\Control\Keyboard Layouts

For a list of the default input locale values, see Supported Language Packs and Default Settings.

This string type supports empty elements.

Parent Hierarchy

Microsoft-Windows-International-Core-WinPE | InputLocale

Valid Passes

windowsPE

Applies To

For the list of the supported Windows editions and architectures this component supports, see Microsoft-Windows-International-Core-WinPE.

This setting is available to OEMs and system builders.

XML Example

The following XML output shows how to set the input locale to the English (United States) Dvorak keyboard.

<InputLocale>0409:00010409</InputLocale>
<SystemLocale>en-us</SystemLocale> 
<UILanguage>en-us</UILanguage> 
<UserLocale>en-us</UserLocale>

See Also

Concepts

Microsoft-Windows-International-Core-WinPE
Microsoft-Windows-International-Core