Restricts the UI languages Windows should use for the selected user: registry value PreferredUILanguagesUserHKCU\Software\Policies\Microsoft\Control Panel\Desktop
- Policy ID
- LockUserUILanguage
- Scope
- User Configuration
- Supported on
- At least Windows Vista
- Source
- Administrative Templates (.admx) for Windows 11 2026 Update (26H2) (version 1.0)
- Category
- Control Panel › Regional and Language Options
Registry
PreferredUILanguages
REG_SZUser- Enabled value
- Depends on the option value
- Element
- Restrict users to the following language:
| Item | Stored value |
|---|---|
| English | en-US |
| Japanese | ja-JP |
| Korean | ko-KR |
| German | de-DE |
| Simplified Chinese | zh-CN |
| Traditional Chinese (Taiwan) | zh-TW |
| French | fr-FR |
| Spanish | es-ES |
| Italian | it-IT |
| Swedish | sv-SE |
| Dutch | nl-NL |
| Portuguese (Brazil) | pt-BR |
| Finnish | fi-FI |
| Norwegian | nb-NO |
| Danish | da-DK |
| Hungarian | hu-HU |
| Polish | pl-PL |
| Russian | ru-RU |
| Czech | cs-CZ |
| Greek | el-GR |
| Portuguese (Portugal) | pt-PT |
| Turkish | tr-TR |
| Arabic | ar-SA |
| Hebrew | he-IL |
| Slovak | sk-SK |
| Slovenian | sl-SI |
| Romanian | ro-RO |
| Croatian | hr-HR |
| Bulgarian | bg-BG |
| Estonian | et-EE |
| Lithuanian | lt-LT |
| Latvian | lv-LV |
| Thai | th-TH |
| Traditional Chinese (Hong Kong SAR) | zh-HK |
| Serbian (Latin) | sr-Latn-CS |
| Ukrainian | uk-UA |
Apply with .reg · CMD · PowerShell
.reg
Windows Registry Editor Version 5.00 [HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Policies\Microsoft\Control Panel\Desktop] ; Options (use only one) ; English "PreferredUILanguages"="en-US" ; Japanese "PreferredUILanguages"="ja-JP" ; Korean "PreferredUILanguages"="ko-KR" ; German "PreferredUILanguages"="de-DE" ; Simplified Chinese "PreferredUILanguages"="zh-CN" ; Traditional Chinese (Taiwan) "PreferredUILanguages"="zh-TW" ; French "PreferredUILanguages"="fr-FR" ; Spanish "PreferredUILanguages"="es-ES" ; Italian "PreferredUILanguages"="it-IT" ; Swedish "PreferredUILanguages"="sv-SE" ; Dutch "PreferredUILanguages"="nl-NL" ; Portuguese (Brazil) "PreferredUILanguages"="pt-BR" ; Finnish "PreferredUILanguages"="fi-FI" ; Norwegian "PreferredUILanguages"="nb-NO" ; Danish "PreferredUILanguages"="da-DK" ; Hungarian "PreferredUILanguages"="hu-HU" ; Polish "PreferredUILanguages"="pl-PL" ; Russian "PreferredUILanguages"="ru-RU" ; Czech "PreferredUILanguages"="cs-CZ" ; Greek "PreferredUILanguages"="el-GR" ; Portuguese (Portugal) "PreferredUILanguages"="pt-PT" ; Turkish "PreferredUILanguages"="tr-TR" ; Arabic "PreferredUILanguages"="ar-SA" ; Hebrew "PreferredUILanguages"="he-IL" ; Slovak "PreferredUILanguages"="sk-SK" ; Slovenian "PreferredUILanguages"="sl-SI" ; Romanian "PreferredUILanguages"="ro-RO" ; Croatian "PreferredUILanguages"="hr-HR" ; Bulgarian "PreferredUILanguages"="bg-BG" ; Estonian "PreferredUILanguages"="et-EE" ; Lithuanian "PreferredUILanguages"="lt-LT" ; Latvian "PreferredUILanguages"="lv-LV" ; Thai "PreferredUILanguages"="th-TH" ; Traditional Chinese (Hong Kong SAR) "PreferredUILanguages"="zh-HK" ; Serbian (Latin) "PreferredUILanguages"="sr-Latn-CS" ; Ukrainian "PreferredUILanguages"="uk-UA"
CMD
:: Options (use only one) :: English reg add "HKCU\Software\Policies\Microsoft\Control Panel\Desktop" /v "PreferredUILanguages" /t REG_SZ /d "en-US" /f :: Japanese reg add "HKCU\Software\Policies\Microsoft\Control Panel\Desktop" /v "PreferredUILanguages" /t REG_SZ /d "ja-JP" /f :: Korean reg add "HKCU\Software\Policies\Microsoft\Control Panel\Desktop" /v "PreferredUILanguages" /t REG_SZ /d "ko-KR" /f :: German reg add "HKCU\Software\Policies\Microsoft\Control Panel\Desktop" /v "PreferredUILanguages" /t REG_SZ /d "de-DE" /f :: Simplified Chinese reg add "HKCU\Software\Policies\Microsoft\Control Panel\Desktop" /v "PreferredUILanguages" /t REG_SZ /d "zh-CN" /f :: Traditional Chinese (Taiwan) reg add "HKCU\Software\Policies\Microsoft\Control Panel\Desktop" /v "PreferredUILanguages" /t REG_SZ /d "zh-TW" /f :: French reg add "HKCU\Software\Policies\Microsoft\Control Panel\Desktop" /v "PreferredUILanguages" /t REG_SZ /d "fr-FR" /f :: Spanish reg add "HKCU\Software\Policies\Microsoft\Control Panel\Desktop" /v "PreferredUILanguages" /t REG_SZ /d "es-ES" /f :: Italian reg add "HKCU\Software\Policies\Microsoft\Control Panel\Desktop" /v "PreferredUILanguages" /t REG_SZ /d "it-IT" /f :: Swedish reg add "HKCU\Software\Policies\Microsoft\Control Panel\Desktop" /v "PreferredUILanguages" /t REG_SZ /d "sv-SE" /f :: Dutch reg add "HKCU\Software\Policies\Microsoft\Control Panel\Desktop" /v "PreferredUILanguages" /t REG_SZ /d "nl-NL" /f :: Portuguese (Brazil) reg add "HKCU\Software\Policies\Microsoft\Control Panel\Desktop" /v "PreferredUILanguages" /t REG_SZ /d "pt-BR" /f :: Finnish reg add "HKCU\Software\Policies\Microsoft\Control Panel\Desktop" /v "PreferredUILanguages" /t REG_SZ /d "fi-FI" /f :: Norwegian reg add "HKCU\Software\Policies\Microsoft\Control Panel\Desktop" /v "PreferredUILanguages" /t REG_SZ /d "nb-NO" /f :: Danish reg add "HKCU\Software\Policies\Microsoft\Control Panel\Desktop" /v "PreferredUILanguages" /t REG_SZ /d "da-DK" /f :: Hungarian reg add "HKCU\Software\Policies\Microsoft\Control Panel\Desktop" /v "PreferredUILanguages" /t REG_SZ /d "hu-HU" /f :: Polish reg add "HKCU\Software\Policies\Microsoft\Control Panel\Desktop" /v "PreferredUILanguages" /t REG_SZ /d "pl-PL" /f :: Russian reg add "HKCU\Software\Policies\Microsoft\Control Panel\Desktop" /v "PreferredUILanguages" /t REG_SZ /d "ru-RU" /f :: Czech reg add "HKCU\Software\Policies\Microsoft\Control Panel\Desktop" /v "PreferredUILanguages" /t REG_SZ /d "cs-CZ" /f :: Greek reg add "HKCU\Software\Policies\Microsoft\Control Panel\Desktop" /v "PreferredUILanguages" /t REG_SZ /d "el-GR" /f :: Portuguese (Portugal) reg add "HKCU\Software\Policies\Microsoft\Control Panel\Desktop" /v "PreferredUILanguages" /t REG_SZ /d "pt-PT" /f :: Turkish reg add "HKCU\Software\Policies\Microsoft\Control Panel\Desktop" /v "PreferredUILanguages" /t REG_SZ /d "tr-TR" /f :: Arabic reg add "HKCU\Software\Policies\Microsoft\Control Panel\Desktop" /v "PreferredUILanguages" /t REG_SZ /d "ar-SA" /f :: Hebrew reg add "HKCU\Software\Policies\Microsoft\Control Panel\Desktop" /v "PreferredUILanguages" /t REG_SZ /d "he-IL" /f :: Slovak reg add "HKCU\Software\Policies\Microsoft\Control Panel\Desktop" /v "PreferredUILanguages" /t REG_SZ /d "sk-SK" /f :: Slovenian reg add "HKCU\Software\Policies\Microsoft\Control Panel\Desktop" /v "PreferredUILanguages" /t REG_SZ /d "sl-SI" /f :: Romanian reg add "HKCU\Software\Policies\Microsoft\Control Panel\Desktop" /v "PreferredUILanguages" /t REG_SZ /d "ro-RO" /f :: Croatian reg add "HKCU\Software\Policies\Microsoft\Control Panel\Desktop" /v "PreferredUILanguages" /t REG_SZ /d "hr-HR" /f :: Bulgarian reg add "HKCU\Software\Policies\Microsoft\Control Panel\Desktop" /v "PreferredUILanguages" /t REG_SZ /d "bg-BG" /f :: Estonian reg add "HKCU\Software\Policies\Microsoft\Control Panel\Desktop" /v "PreferredUILanguages" /t REG_SZ /d "et-EE" /f :: Lithuanian reg add "HKCU\Software\Policies\Microsoft\Control Panel\Desktop" /v "PreferredUILanguages" /t REG_SZ /d "lt-LT" /f :: Latvian reg add "HKCU\Software\Policies\Microsoft\Control Panel\Desktop" /v "PreferredUILanguages" /t REG_SZ /d "lv-LV" /f :: Thai reg add "HKCU\Software\Policies\Microsoft\Control Panel\Desktop" /v "PreferredUILanguages" /t REG_SZ /d "th-TH" /f :: Traditional Chinese (Hong Kong SAR) reg add "HKCU\Software\Policies\Microsoft\Control Panel\Desktop" /v "PreferredUILanguages" /t REG_SZ /d "zh-HK" /f :: Serbian (Latin) reg add "HKCU\Software\Policies\Microsoft\Control Panel\Desktop" /v "PreferredUILanguages" /t REG_SZ /d "sr-Latn-CS" /f :: Ukrainian reg add "HKCU\Software\Policies\Microsoft\Control Panel\Desktop" /v "PreferredUILanguages" /t REG_SZ /d "uk-UA" /f
PowerShell
# Common: create the key New-Item -Path 'HKCU:\Software\Policies\Microsoft\Control Panel\Desktop' -Force | Out-Null # Options (use only one) # English New-ItemProperty -Path 'HKCU:\Software\Policies\Microsoft\Control Panel\Desktop' -Name 'PreferredUILanguages' -PropertyType String -Value 'en-US' -Force | Out-Null # Japanese New-ItemProperty -Path 'HKCU:\Software\Policies\Microsoft\Control Panel\Desktop' -Name 'PreferredUILanguages' -PropertyType String -Value 'ja-JP' -Force | Out-Null # Korean New-ItemProperty -Path 'HKCU:\Software\Policies\Microsoft\Control Panel\Desktop' -Name 'PreferredUILanguages' -PropertyType String -Value 'ko-KR' -Force | Out-Null # German New-ItemProperty -Path 'HKCU:\Software\Policies\Microsoft\Control Panel\Desktop' -Name 'PreferredUILanguages' -PropertyType String -Value 'de-DE' -Force | Out-Null # Simplified Chinese New-ItemProperty -Path 'HKCU:\Software\Policies\Microsoft\Control Panel\Desktop' -Name 'PreferredUILanguages' -PropertyType String -Value 'zh-CN' -Force | Out-Null # Traditional Chinese (Taiwan) New-ItemProperty -Path 'HKCU:\Software\Policies\Microsoft\Control Panel\Desktop' -Name 'PreferredUILanguages' -PropertyType String -Value 'zh-TW' -Force | Out-Null # French New-ItemProperty -Path 'HKCU:\Software\Policies\Microsoft\Control Panel\Desktop' -Name 'PreferredUILanguages' -PropertyType String -Value 'fr-FR' -Force | Out-Null # Spanish New-ItemProperty -Path 'HKCU:\Software\Policies\Microsoft\Control Panel\Desktop' -Name 'PreferredUILanguages' -PropertyType String -Value 'es-ES' -Force | Out-Null # Italian New-ItemProperty -Path 'HKCU:\Software\Policies\Microsoft\Control Panel\Desktop' -Name 'PreferredUILanguages' -PropertyType String -Value 'it-IT' -Force | Out-Null # Swedish New-ItemProperty -Path 'HKCU:\Software\Policies\Microsoft\Control Panel\Desktop' -Name 'PreferredUILanguages' -PropertyType String -Value 'sv-SE' -Force | Out-Null # Dutch New-ItemProperty -Path 'HKCU:\Software\Policies\Microsoft\Control Panel\Desktop' -Name 'PreferredUILanguages' -PropertyType String -Value 'nl-NL' -Force | Out-Null # Portuguese (Brazil) New-ItemProperty -Path 'HKCU:\Software\Policies\Microsoft\Control Panel\Desktop' -Name 'PreferredUILanguages' -PropertyType String -Value 'pt-BR' -Force | Out-Null # Finnish New-ItemProperty -Path 'HKCU:\Software\Policies\Microsoft\Control Panel\Desktop' -Name 'PreferredUILanguages' -PropertyType String -Value 'fi-FI' -Force | Out-Null # Norwegian New-ItemProperty -Path 'HKCU:\Software\Policies\Microsoft\Control Panel\Desktop' -Name 'PreferredUILanguages' -PropertyType String -Value 'nb-NO' -Force | Out-Null # Danish New-ItemProperty -Path 'HKCU:\Software\Policies\Microsoft\Control Panel\Desktop' -Name 'PreferredUILanguages' -PropertyType String -Value 'da-DK' -Force | Out-Null # Hungarian New-ItemProperty -Path 'HKCU:\Software\Policies\Microsoft\Control Panel\Desktop' -Name 'PreferredUILanguages' -PropertyType String -Value 'hu-HU' -Force | Out-Null # Polish New-ItemProperty -Path 'HKCU:\Software\Policies\Microsoft\Control Panel\Desktop' -Name 'PreferredUILanguages' -PropertyType String -Value 'pl-PL' -Force | Out-Null # Russian New-ItemProperty -Path 'HKCU:\Software\Policies\Microsoft\Control Panel\Desktop' -Name 'PreferredUILanguages' -PropertyType String -Value 'ru-RU' -Force | Out-Null # Czech New-ItemProperty -Path 'HKCU:\Software\Policies\Microsoft\Control Panel\Desktop' -Name 'PreferredUILanguages' -PropertyType String -Value 'cs-CZ' -Force | Out-Null # Greek New-ItemProperty -Path 'HKCU:\Software\Policies\Microsoft\Control Panel\Desktop' -Name 'PreferredUILanguages' -PropertyType String -Value 'el-GR' -Force | Out-Null # Portuguese (Portugal) New-ItemProperty -Path 'HKCU:\Software\Policies\Microsoft\Control Panel\Desktop' -Name 'PreferredUILanguages' -PropertyType String -Value 'pt-PT' -Force | Out-Null # Turkish New-ItemProperty -Path 'HKCU:\Software\Policies\Microsoft\Control Panel\Desktop' -Name 'PreferredUILanguages' -PropertyType String -Value 'tr-TR' -Force | Out-Null # Arabic New-ItemProperty -Path 'HKCU:\Software\Policies\Microsoft\Control Panel\Desktop' -Name 'PreferredUILanguages' -PropertyType String -Value 'ar-SA' -Force | Out-Null # Hebrew New-ItemProperty -Path 'HKCU:\Software\Policies\Microsoft\Control Panel\Desktop' -Name 'PreferredUILanguages' -PropertyType String -Value 'he-IL' -Force | Out-Null # Slovak New-ItemProperty -Path 'HKCU:\Software\Policies\Microsoft\Control Panel\Desktop' -Name 'PreferredUILanguages' -PropertyType String -Value 'sk-SK' -Force | Out-Null # Slovenian New-ItemProperty -Path 'HKCU:\Software\Policies\Microsoft\Control Panel\Desktop' -Name 'PreferredUILanguages' -PropertyType String -Value 'sl-SI' -Force | Out-Null # Romanian New-ItemProperty -Path 'HKCU:\Software\Policies\Microsoft\Control Panel\Desktop' -Name 'PreferredUILanguages' -PropertyType String -Value 'ro-RO' -Force | Out-Null # Croatian New-ItemProperty -Path 'HKCU:\Software\Policies\Microsoft\Control Panel\Desktop' -Name 'PreferredUILanguages' -PropertyType String -Value 'hr-HR' -Force | Out-Null # Bulgarian New-ItemProperty -Path 'HKCU:\Software\Policies\Microsoft\Control Panel\Desktop' -Name 'PreferredUILanguages' -PropertyType String -Value 'bg-BG' -Force | Out-Null # Estonian New-ItemProperty -Path 'HKCU:\Software\Policies\Microsoft\Control Panel\Desktop' -Name 'PreferredUILanguages' -PropertyType String -Value 'et-EE' -Force | Out-Null # Lithuanian New-ItemProperty -Path 'HKCU:\Software\Policies\Microsoft\Control Panel\Desktop' -Name 'PreferredUILanguages' -PropertyType String -Value 'lt-LT' -Force | Out-Null # Latvian New-ItemProperty -Path 'HKCU:\Software\Policies\Microsoft\Control Panel\Desktop' -Name 'PreferredUILanguages' -PropertyType String -Value 'lv-LV' -Force | Out-Null # Thai New-ItemProperty -Path 'HKCU:\Software\Policies\Microsoft\Control Panel\Desktop' -Name 'PreferredUILanguages' -PropertyType String -Value 'th-TH' -Force | Out-Null # Traditional Chinese (Hong Kong SAR) New-ItemProperty -Path 'HKCU:\Software\Policies\Microsoft\Control Panel\Desktop' -Name 'PreferredUILanguages' -PropertyType String -Value 'zh-HK' -Force | Out-Null # Serbian (Latin) New-ItemProperty -Path 'HKCU:\Software\Policies\Microsoft\Control Panel\Desktop' -Name 'PreferredUILanguages' -PropertyType String -Value 'sr-Latn-CS' -Force | Out-Null # Ukrainian New-ItemProperty -Path 'HKCU:\Software\Policies\Microsoft\Control Panel\Desktop' -Name 'PreferredUILanguages' -PropertyType String -Value 'uk-UA' -Force | Out-Null