To type text by using a keyboard designed for a specific language, enable the keyboard layout for each language (the input language) that you want to use. For example, if you want to type and edit text in German and Spanish using their native keyboard layouts, enable the German keyboard and the Spanish keyboard. The keyboard layout controls which characters appear on the screen when you press the keys on your keyboard. These layouts also enable you to directly type all characters for the language. This includes characters with diacritical marks, such as the umlaut (ä) in German and the tilde (ñ) in Spanish. After you change the layout, the characters on your screen might not correspond to the characters on your keyboard keys.
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Enable system support for East Asian, Southeast Asian, Indic, and right-to-left languages
When working with East Asian, Southeast Asian, Indic, and right-to-left languages, some additional set up might be required depending on your operating system.
Windows Vista
Windows Vista includes all the necessary files to support East Asian, Southeast Asian, Indic, and right-to-left languages. Just enable the keyboard or Input Method Editor (IME) (IME: A program that enters East Asian text (Traditional Chinese, Simplified Chinese, Japanese, or Korean) into programs by converting keystrokes into complex East Asian characters. The IME is treated as an alternate type of keyboard layout.) for the language that you want by following the steps in the Enable a keyboard layout in Windows Vista section.
Windows XP
- Follow the instructions in Set up Windows XP for multiple languages to install the support files for your language on your computer.
- Complete the steps in the below section, Enable a keyboard layout in Windows XP
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Enable a keyboard layout in Windows Vista
- Click the Start button, and then click Control Panel.
- Under Clock, Language, and Region, click Change keyboards or other input methods.
Note In Classic view, double-click Regional and Language Options, and then click the Keyboards and Languages tab.
- Under Keyboards and other input languages, click Change keyboards.
- Under Installed services, click Add.
- Click the plus symbol next to the language for which you want to enable a keyboard layout, and then click the plus symbol next to Keyboard.
- Select the check box next to the keyboard or Input Method Editor (IME) (IME: A program that enters East Asian text (Traditional Chinese, Simplified Chinese, Japanese, or Korean) into programs by converting keystrokes into complex East Asian characters. The IME is treated as an alternate type of keyboard layout.) layout that you want to enable. Optionally, click Preview to see a visual representation of the selected keyboard layout. When you have finished selecting keyboard layouts, click OK.
Note If you are enabling a keyboard for an East Asian language, you might also want to select the IME option.
- If you want to enable or customize how you switch keyboard layouts by using the Language bar, click the Language Bar tab, and then modify the options that you want.
Show Me in Windows Vista » 
Video created by Office Online staff writers
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Enable a keyboard layout in Windows XP
Prerequisite To enable keyboards for languages such as Chinese, Japanese, and Korean, you must first install the East Asian language files. For languages that are read from right to left or that require contextual shaping to appear, you must install the complex scripts to support these languages. For information about how to install the East Asian Language files and complex scripts, see Enable system support for East Asian, Southeast Asian, Indic, and right-to-left languages.
- Click the Start button, and then click Control Panel.
- Click Date, Time, Language, and Regional Options, and then click Regional and Language Options.
Note In Classic view, double-click Regional and Language Options.
- Click the Languages tab, and then under Text services and input languages, click Details.
- Under Installed services, click Add.
- In the Input language list, click the language for which you want to enable a keyboard layout.
- If the language that you select has more than one possible keyboard layout, select the Keyboard layout/IME check box, and then, in the list, click the layout that you want.
- If you want to be able to switch keyboard layouts by using the Language bar, under Preferences, click Language Bar, and then select the Show the Language bar on the desktop check box.
Show Me in Windows XP »
Video created by Office Online staff writers
Back to: Step-by-step: Preparing your computer to type and edit text in another language.
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