How to fix Windows 11 is mixing French, English and Dutch languages

youssef afrighe 0 Reputation points
2026-09-12T19:37:05.5533333+00:00

Hello,

My Windows 11 PC is mixing several languages. Some parts of Windows are displayed in French, while other parts are still in English or Dutch.

I have already selected French (Belgium) as my Windows display language. I also set my country/region to Belgium and my regional format to French (Belgium).

I also already reset my pc but it didn't work

However, some menus, settings and system elements are still displayed in English or Dutch. U can see it in my screenshot

How can I completely change Windows to French and remove the remaining English and Dutch elements?

Thank you.
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Windows for home | Windows 11 | Input and language
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  1. Kai-H 26,580 Reputation points Microsoft External Staff Moderator
    2026-09-13T09:43:36.1+00:00

    (Please note that our forum is a public platform, and we will modify your question to hide your personal information in the description. Kindly ensure that you hide any personal or organizational information the next time you post an error or other details to protect personal data.)

    Hi, youssef afrighe

    The screenshots show that French is selected correctly, but File Explorer is still loading Dutch shell resources. This usually means the current Windows user profile has conflicting language overrides, rather than a problem with the region settings.

    Here are some suggestions you can try:

    Open Windows Terminal (Admin), select PowerShell, then run these commands one at a time:

    $Lang = New-WinUserLanguageList "fr-BE"

    Set-WinUserLanguageList $Lang -Force

    Set-WinUILanguageOverride -Language "fr-BE"

    Set-Culture -CultureInfo "fr-BE"

    These commands rebuild the language list and explicitly set French (Belgium) as the interface override for the current account. Sign out, then sign back in so the override takes effect.

    Open Microsoft Store > Library > Get updates. Install all available updates, especially any French Local Experience Pack updates, because parts of the Windows interface are updated through the Store.

    If File Explorer remains Dutch, create a temporary local administrator account and test it there. If the new account appears fully in French, the original Windows profile is damaged, and moving personal files to the new profile is recommended.

    Thank you for your patience in reading, I hope this information has been helpful to you. 

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  2. AI answer

    2026-09-12T19:37:23.9366667+00:00

    This behavior is a known Windows issue in some systems after changing the display language. Since the display language, region, and copy settings were already configured, and a Reset did not fix it, the supported next steps are:

    1. In Settings > Time & language > Language & region, confirm Français (Belgique) is the Windows display language.
    2. Under Preferred languages, remove the other installed languages such as English and Dutch if they are still present.
    3. Restart Windows.
    4. If parts of Windows are still mixed after that, perform an in-place repair install of Windows 11 using a French Windows 11 ISO.

    Important: back up files before the repair install.

    For the in-place repair path described in the support guidance:

    • Download the Windows 11 ISO in the correct language.
    • Open the ISO in File Explorer and run Setup.exe.
    • Choose the option to keep files and apps.

    A normal Reset may not solve this because the recovery image can still contain remnants of the old language. An in-place repair install is the supported fix when Windows continues to show a mixed interface after the language has already been changed.

    If the installed edition is Windows 11 Home Single Language, additional display languages are not supported. Check this in Settings > System > About > Edition. If it shows Windows 11 Home Single Language, Windows must be upgraded to Windows 11 Home or Windows 11 Pro to support multiple languages.

    References:

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