In a globalized world, the ability to customize date, time, and language settings on your Windows machine is crucial. These settings impact how information is displayed and can significantly enhance user experience, especially for those working in multilingual environments or collaborating across different time zones. This article will guide you through the process of changing the date and time format as well as the language settings in Windows, ensuring that your system is tailored to your specific needs.

Examples:

1. Changing Date and Time Format via Control Panel:

   • Step 1: Open the Control Panel. You can do this by typing "Control Panel" in the search bar next to the Start menu and pressing Enter.
   • Step 2: Navigate to "Clock and Region" and click on it.
   • Step 3: Click on "Region."
   • Step 4: In the "Formats" tab, you can customize the date and time formats by clicking on "Additional settings...". Here, you can adjust the short and long date formats, as well as the time format to match your preferences.

2. Changing Language Settings via Settings App:

   • Step 1: Open the Settings app by pressing Windows + I.
   • Step 2: Go to "Time & Language."
   • Step 3: Click on "Language."
   • Step 4: Under "Preferred languages," click on "Add a language" to install a new language pack.
   • Step 5: Select the language you want to add and click "Next," then follow the on-screen instructions to install it.
   • Step 6: Once installed, you can set it as the default display language by clicking on it and selecting "Set as default."

3. Changing Date and Time Format via CMD:

   • Step 1: Open Command Prompt as an administrator. You can do this by typing "cmd" in the search bar, right-clicking on "Command Prompt," and selecting "Run as administrator."

   • Step 2: Use the following command to change the date format:

     reg add "HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Control Panel\International" /v sShortDate /t REG_SZ /d "yyyy-MM-dd" /f

     This command sets the short date format to "yyyy-MM-dd". You can customize the format as needed.

   • Step 3: Use the following command to change the time format:

     reg add "HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Control Panel\International" /v sTimeFormat /t REG_SZ /d "HH:mm:ss" /f

     This command sets the time format to 24-hour format "HH:mm:ss". Adjust the format as required.

4. Changing Language Settings via PowerShell:

   • Step 1: Open PowerShell as an administrator. You can do this by typing "PowerShell" in the search bar, right-clicking on "Windows PowerShell," and selecting "Run as administrator."

   • Step 2: Use the following command to list available language packs:

     Get-WinUserLanguageList

   • Step 3: To add a new language, use:

     $LangList = New-WinUserLanguageList en-US
     Set-WinUserLanguageList $LangList

     Replace "en-US" with the language code you want to add.

   • Step 4: To set the display language, use:

     Set-WinUILanguageOverride -Language en-US

     Replace "en-US" with your desired language code.