Language pack installation fails with error code 0x800f0950

Question

Hey all, I am trying to add a secondary language pack (Japanese) to my Windows installation so I can use the IME keyboard layout. I go to Time & Language settings, click "Add a language", and hit install. The progress bar gets about halfway through, then fails completely with error code 0x800f0950. I have a stable internet connection, so I don't get why it's failing.

Answer 1

If your computer is managed by a WSUS environment, this would be expected unless the admins have configured a Features on Demand (FOD) repository and setup the group polices as noted in this article

https://www.ajtek.ca/wsus/how-to-install-net-3-5-rsat-tools-and-other-optional-components-with-wsus/

Answer 2

Hi Siti Omar,

The error code 0x800f0950 usually means Windows Update cannot retrieve the required Features on Demand packages. This is most often caused by a Group Policy or WSUS configuration blocking optional component installation. If your PC is joined to a domain with WSUS, you can bypass it by pressing Windows + R, typing regedit & navigating to HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Policies\Microsoft\Windows\WindowsUpdate\AU. If you see a value named UseWUServer, double‑click it and change the data from 1 to 0. Then restart the Windows Update service in services.msc so Windows will connect directly to Microsoft’s servers. As an alternative, you can open an elevated PowerShell window and run: DISM /Online /Add-Capability /CapabilityName:Language.Basic~~~ja-JP~0.0.1.0 This forces Windows to install the Japanese IME components directly from Microsoft’s payload servers.

If either the registry adjustment when WSUS is in use or the DISM command works, your Japanese input tools should install correctly. Please click “Accept Answer” if this resolves your issue.

Tracy.