UK Keyboard Layout Changed to USA

UK keyboard layout may behave like a US keyboard even when Windows settings appear correct

Summary: We recently encountered a Windows 11 PC that began behaving as though it had a US keyboard after a restart. The @ and quotation-mark keys were reversed, yet Windows showed English (United Kingdom) and only the United Kingdom keyboard layout was installed. Here is how to check and correct the problem.

What Are the Symptoms?

The most obvious sign is that the @ and quotation-mark characters appear in the wrong places.

On a standard UK keyboard:

  • Shift + 2 should produce ".
  • The key beside the Enter key should produce @.

When Windows uses a US keyboard layout, these two characters are effectively reversed.

This can be especially confusing because the letters and numbers continue to work normally. Users may initially assume that the keyboard itself is faulty.

Why Does This Matter to Businesses?

A keyboard-layout problem may sound like a minor inconvenience, but it can quickly interfere with normal work.

It can cause:

  • Email addresses to be entered incorrectly.
  • Passwords to fail unexpectedly.
  • Users to become locked out after repeated password attempts.
  • Incorrect punctuation in documents and customer communications.
  • Problems entering symbols into accounting and business applications.
  • Confusion for support staff when every visible Windows setting appears correct.

Extra care should be taken at the Windows sign-in screen. A password containing @, ", £ or another layout-dependent character may not be entered as expected.

Check the Windows Keyboard Settings

First open:

Settings → Time & language → Language & region

Confirm that the following settings are correct:

  • Windows display language: English (United Kingdom)
  • Country or region: United Kingdom
  • Regional format: English (United Kingdom)

Select the three dots beside English (United Kingdom) and then select Language options.

Under Keyboards, confirm that United Kingdom is installed.

Remove US or United States-International if either appears and is not required.

Microsoft confirms that Windows display language and keyboard layout are separate settings. Changing the keyboard layout does not necessarily change the Windows display language, which explains why Windows can appear correctly configured while typing with a different layout. (Microsoft Support)

Try Switching the Active Keyboard Layout

Press:

Windows key + Space

This cycles through the keyboard layouts currently available to the user.

Select:

English (United Kingdom)
United Kingdom

When pressing Windows key and Space does nothing, Windows normally believes that only one keyboard layout is installed. (Microsoft Support)

Restart the Computer

Before making further changes, save all work and restart the computer once.

The active input profile may simply not have loaded correctly during the previous restart or update process.

In the case we investigated, the computer had already developed the problem following a restart. However, we did not perform a second restart before applying the PowerShell repair, so we cannot confirm whether restarting by itself would have resolved it.

When Windows Shows UK but Still Types as US

In our case, Windows showed:

  • English (United Kingdom)
  • United Kingdom regional settings
  • Only the United Kingdom keyboard installed

PowerShell also reported the correct UK input profile, but the physical keyboard continued to behave as though the US layout was active.

The problem was resolved by rebuilding the affected user’s UK language and input profile and then restarting the computer.

Open Windows PowerShell while signed in as the affected user and run:

$LanguageList = New-WinUserLanguageList "en-GB"
$LanguageList[0].InputMethodTips.Clear()
$LanguageList[0].InputMethodTips.Add("0809:00000809")

Set-WinUserLanguageList $LanguageList -Force
Set-WinDefaultInputMethodOverride -InputTip "0809:00000809"

Restart the computer after running the commands.

Microsoft documents Set-WinDefaultInputMethodOverride as the command used to set the default input method for the current user account. Without an override, Windows dynamically chooses an input method from the user’s language list. (Microsoft Learn)

The value used above:

0809:00000809

represents English (United Kingdom) with the United Kingdom keyboard layout.

Important Warning for Multilingual Users

The PowerShell commands above create a new language list containing only English (United Kingdom).

They are therefore intended for users who require a standard UK-only Windows configuration.

Do not use them unchanged on a computer where the user intentionally switches between several languages or keyboard layouts. The additional languages would need to be added back to the language list.

Was This Caused by a Windows Update?

The problem appeared within 24 hours of a Windows 11 restart during the July 2026 update period, so a recent update is an obvious possible cause.

However, we cannot confirm that Windows Update caused it.

At the time of writing, Microsoft does not list UK keyboards changing to a US layout as a recognised issue with the current July 2026 cumulative update for Windows 11 versions 24H2 and 25H2. Microsoft’s update information currently states that it is not aware of any issues with that update. (Microsoft Support)

It is therefore more accurate to describe this as a possible post-update or post-restart input-profile problem rather than a confirmed Windows Update bug.

Windows may have loaded a stale, hidden or inconsistent input configuration even though the Settings application and PowerShell both displayed the correct UK values.

What Fixed the Problem?

The following sequence successfully resolved the problem on the affected Windows 11 computer:

  1. The visible language and keyboard settings were checked.
  2. Windows showed only the correct United Kingdom keyboard.
  3. The user’s language and input profile was rebuilt using PowerShell.
  4. The computer was restarted.
  5. The keyboard returned to normal UK behaviour.

Because the PowerShell repair and restart were performed together, we cannot prove whether the commands were essential or whether another restart alone would also have worked.

For that reason, our recommended order is:

  1. Check the visible keyboard settings.
  2. Use Windows key and Space to check the active layout.
  3. Restart the computer.
  4. If the problem remains, run the PowerShell reset.
  5. Restart once more.

Our Advice to UK Businesses

Do not immediately replace the physical keyboard if the @ and quotation-mark keys suddenly become reversed.

Check the Windows language and keyboard configuration first, particularly when the problem begins after an update, restart or user-profile change.

Where the visible settings are already correct, restarting may resolve a temporary input-profile problem. If it does not, rebuilding the affected user’s UK language profile can restore the correct keyboard behaviour.

We will update this article if Microsoft confirms that a particular Windows 11 update is responsible.