Installing Languages on Windows

Question

I have a few queries regarding the installation and management of languages on Windows 11:

• Why is the PowerShell Install-Language cmdlet so slow? It can take up to a half-hour to complete, much longer than using the Settings GUI and just kind of absurd for a modern system.
• Why is installing languages through Settings so slow? While still faster than PowerShell and in some cases nigh instant, some actions, such as downloading and installing the "basic typing" feature for a language, can take around 10 minutes to complete, despite being displayed as mere 1 MB downloads.
• Installing a language through the GUI does several things that are split up among PowerShell cmdlets... Install-Language only handles adding the components to your system, while for the language to be used in any capacity it needs to be added to the language list with Set-WinUserLanguageList. The Windows display language is determined simply by whichever language is at the top of the list (or if an override was set with Set-WinUILanguageOverride).
  • Set-WinUserLanguageList can be used to add languages that are not installed to the list. What happens in this case, what are the implications?
  • How does one set an input method/keyboard layout for a language in PowerShell? There's a Set-WinDefaultInputMethodOverride cmdlet but like the WinUILanguageOverride command it seems not to be the "proper" or "normal" way to do it and instead an... override. How can adding, removing and reorganizing keyboard layouts for a language be done in PowerShell?
  • How can the features of a language, such as text-to-speech, handwriting, "basic typing" etc. be managed on PowerShell? The documentation for Install-Language mentions an "-ExcludeFeatures" flag but there isn't much in the way of details or examples.
  • Out of curiosity, can languages also be managed through generic commands such as the -Package, -WindowsOptionalFeature or -WindowsCapability groups?.

***moved from Windows / Windows 11 / Input and language***

Answer 1

Hello André Fertig de Oliveira,

thank you for posting on the Microsoft Community Forums.

1. PowerShell Install-Language Cmdlet Slowness can be caused by several reasons:

• Network Speed: The cmdlet has to download language packs from Microsoft's servers, so slow internet speeds can significantly impact installation time.
• Server Load: Microsoft's servers can sometimes be under heavy load, which can result in slower download speeds.
• System Resources: If your system is under heavy load, it can take longer for the cmdlet to process the installation.
• Component Installation: The cmdlet might be installing several components (basic typing, speech, etc.), which can take a considerable amount of time.

2. Slowness in Installing Languages Through Settings.

Even though using the Settings GUI can be faster, it can still be slow due to similar reasons as stated above. Additionally:

• Background Processes: Windows might be performing other background tasks that can affect installation speed.
• Component Dependencies: The seemingly small size (1 MB) might just be the direct download size, but it could require additional dependencies to be fetched and configured.

Other questions about PowerShell are out of this forum's scope, you can post them in the Q&A forum, where there will be a dedicated engineer to provide you with a professional and effective response.

Here is a link to the Q&A forum: https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/answers/questions/

Hope it helps.

Best regards,

Lei

Answer 2

Oh, I had no idea about that forum; thanks!