As a Canadian, this issue always arises whenever I need to install Windows from scratch, and the solution is unintuitive.
While installing Windows, users who do not live in the United States or United Kingdom face a difficult choice: what primary language should be selected during installation? I usually opt for US English. Microsoft then presents an option to select the language that will affect units and time formats. Fortunately, English (Canada) is an option, so I select that. Windows proceeds with the installation.
During the setup, I only select the US keyboard layout. I am a monolingual anglophone, and the Canadian Multilingual Standard keyboard is frustrating, with odd placements and a differently shaped Enter key. I make sure to never allow this keyboard layout to be installed because it significantly disrupts my workflow. I always select only the US keyboard layout. Despite this, much to my frustration, Windows still insists on injecting the Language Picker into the taskbar.
Even with just the US keyboard layout selected, this stupid thing persists in showing up in the taskbar, even though there is only one keyboard layout available. While I appreciate the option to switch spell checks between English (United States) and English (Canada), I only really want English (Canada) for spell check. Unfortunately, Microsoft doesn’t offer an easy, way to fully remove English (United States) from the system, which is why this issue arises in the first place.
Ultimately removing the language picker is not an intuitive process in the slightest. So in the interests of never having to Google this again, here is my personal guide to maximize the amount of Canadian English in Windows:
- Make sure every part of the English (Canada) language pack is downloaded and installed:
- Go to Settings > Time & Language > Language & Region.
- Find English (Canada).
- If it is not listed, add it using the Add a language button.
- If it is listed, click on the More options button (look for the three dots).
- Click on Language options.
- On the next page, click on every Download and Install button.
- For keyboards: if Canadian Multilingual Standard is listed, click on the Keyboard options button (three dots), and then Remove it.
- If you can't remove it, you will need to install the US keyboard layout first by clicking the Add Keyboard button.
- Wait for everything to finish downloading and installing. You may need to reboot.
- Change the Windows display language to English (Canada):
- Go to Settings > Time & Language > Language & Region.
- Select the dropdown next to Windows display language.
- Choose English (Canada).
- You will need to sign out and back in for the changes to apply.
- Set the region to Canada:
- Go to Settings > Time & Language > Language & Region.
- Select the dropdown next to Country or region and choose Canada.
- A restart may be required for this setting to apply.
- Remove the Language Switcher from the taskbar if it is still present:
- Go to Settings > Time & Language > Language & Region > Typing > Advanced Keyboard Settings.
- Make sure Use the desktop language bar when it's available is selected. (Unintuitive, I know.)
- If the Language Switcher doesn’t immediately disappear, click on Language bar options and select Hidden. Ensure all other options are unchecked.
- Ensure that the Welcome screen and future new user accounts are also set to Canadian English:
- Go to Settings > Time & Language > Language & Region > Advanced language settings.
- Click Copy settings....
- Under Copy your current settings to:, select Welcome screen and system accounts and New user accounts.
- Click OK.
- Restart your computer for the changes to take effect.
- Set the language for non-Unicode programs to English (Canada):
- Go to Settings > Time & Language > Language & Region > Advanced language settings.
- Click Change system locale....
- Under Current system locale:, select English (Canada).
- Consider checking Use Unicode UTF-8 for worldwide language support.