Chinese characters on the first screen after switch on

Anonymous
2024-01-09T12:53:49+00:00

The screen before I put my PIN in (I don't know if that is the lock screen or called something else) has suddenly started to use Chinese traditional language. I have checked and updated the region in control panel and copied the settings to lock screen and even ticked the new use box, as suggested by other solutions. I've rebooted several times but it still comes back as Chinese. When I click on the area that (I assume is saying) I want more information on the screen, it opens up MSN page with Chinese stories and information. How do I change the settings to show English text again?

Why has this happened? I have not changed any settings in my system prior to now.

I also can't get a screenshot because as soon as I touch a key the PIN request screen comes up replacing the screen with the Chinese characters in it.

Windows for home | Windows 11 | Input and language

Locked Question. This question was migrated from the Microsoft Support Community. You can vote on whether it's helpful, but you can't add comments or replies or follow the question.

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  1. Anonymous
    2024-01-13T01:32:55+00:00

    Having this same issue the past couple of days. Instantly thought I had been hacked. Microsoft better get their act together on this.

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  2. Anonymous
    2024-01-10T05:49:32+00:00

    Dear Woodsy65

    Thank you for posting in the Microsoft community.

    Regarding your question, we recommend you to check the following settings

    Press WIN+R and type Control - View in the upper right corner - Categories - Change date, time or number format - System Management - Select Change System Region Settings - Change to your region, e.g. USA.

    On the welcome screen and new user account-check New user account-Confirm.

    For the second part, log in to account.microsoft.com.

    Select your information - on the Personal Configuration screen - Region Country - Display Language - Region Format to English.

    In the third section, you can delete the English language package and reinstall the English language package.

    This will reconfigure the language display on the lock screen.

    Hope the above information can help you.

    Best Wish

    Shawn Z  | Microsoft Community Support Specialist

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  3. Anonymous
    2024-01-13T18:50:06+00:00

    I may have found a solution.
    I contacted live support and they are now aware of the issue. they suggested a windows restore which would solve it.

    But what worked for me is much simpler.

    1- I went to settings/personalization : switched from windows spotlight to picture
    2- Tried to lock the screen but no change

    3- switched back to windows spotlight

    now it's back in english. hope this helps

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  4. Anonymous
    2024-01-30T23:08:27+00:00

    I had the same issue and found a fix. The issue appears to be with Windows Spotlight. If you turn it off; then the odd language text on your lockscreen will go away. That's the only fix I could find that worked.

    To turn off Windows Spotlight, you go to Settings -> Personalize Your Device -> Browse More Backgrounds, Colors, and Themes -> Lockscreen -> Personalize Your Lockscreen. Then from that dropdown, select something other than Windows Spotlight. That will turn it off and make the foreign language text go away. Obviously the bug is within Windows Spotlight, and until Microsoft gets that fixed, there's nothing else you can do to fix the issue.

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  5. Anonymous
    2024-01-12T15:33:38+00:00

    I have the same problem on my Windows laptop and desktop computers. I've cleared my cache, cookies, and reset Edge to defaults. My Windows language preferences show English as the preferred language, yet I still get the foreign characters on my opening screen. This is really frustrating. Funny thing (but not funny Ha-ha), I don't see non-English language characters when using my Mac-mini!

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