The system locale allows you to use the specified language for non-Unicode programs. If your Windows system uses a default en-US locale, the Japanese text in a game won’t display correctly. In this tutorial we’ll show you how to change system locale in Windows 10, using Control Panel or Command Prompt.

Note: You must log into Windows 10 as administrator to set a different system locale. Changing system locale doesn’t affect the language in menus & dialog boxes for Windows or other programs that do use Unicode.

Method 1: Change System Locale in Windows 10 Using Control Panel

1. Open the Control Panel in Large icons view, click Region.

   

2. In the Region dialog that opens, select the Administrative tab and then click Change system locale.

   

3. Select the desired language from the Current system locale drop-down list, and click OK.

   

4. Restart your computer for the changes to take effect.

   

Method 2: Change System Locale in Windows 10 Using Command Prompt

1. Open Notepad (or any other text editor), then copy and paste the following text into it. Replace en-US with the language tag for your desired system locale. To see all supported language tags in Windows, please refer to this article.

   <gs:GlobalizationServices xmlns:gs="urn:longhornGlobalizationUnattend">
<gs:UserList>
<gs:User UserID="Current" CopySettingsToDefaultUserAcct="true" CopySettingsToSystemAcct="true"/>
</gs:UserList>
<!-- system locale --><gs:SystemLocale Name="en-US" />
</gs:GlobalizationServices>

   

2. After editing, save the file as a .xml file. Let’s say D:\locale.xml.
3. Open the Command Prompt in administrator mode. Copy and paste the following command line and press Enter.

   control.exe intl.cpl,, /f:"D:\locale.xml"

   

4. Reboot your computer to apply the new system locale settings.