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How to delete a custom keyboard layout in Windows?

If the keyboard layout was installed using a Windows installer, you would normally uninstall it using its entry in the Add/Remove Programs dialog.

The custom keyboard layout I want to delete was installed using a Windows installer (.msi). Due to an installer problem, it does not have an entry in the Add/Remove Programs dialog. However, it appears in the keyboard drop-down list in the Keyboard And Language Options dialog. I want to remove it from this list since this particular layout has some problems.

If you are curious how this happened: I was playing around with the Microsoft Keyboard Layout Creator tool. I created an installer for my custom keyboard layout and some things got screwed up over multiple install-uninstall testing sessions of this layout.

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3 Answers

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do you still have the .msi? Perhaps you can run it with msiexec /u? Or re-install it again?

Basically, it should be impossible that a .msi does not create an uninstall entry (and will not be rolled back when you try to install any other .msi). If you removed the uninstall entry manually, you can still uninstall it via msiexec /u, but you will need to find the installer GUID for that (which can be hard to find if you have a lot of stuff installed...)

If that fails: The entries themselves are in the registry at HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\ControlSet001\Control\Keyboard Layouts, so you can at least remove the entry for your layout (if not uninstall the .dll and stuff).

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Thanks, I was able to delete it by finding it in the above Registry location. :-) – Ashwin Aug 29 '09 at 1:50
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up vote 1 down vote

gotcha.

that'd be a registry key under HKLM\System\CurrentControlSet\Control\Keyboard Layouts

since it is a custom layout, you'll have to go through all subfolders to find it.

note: prudence demands to create a backup (right click > export) before you delete the folder from the registry. :)

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up vote 0 down vote

Start > Control Panel > Regional and Language Options > Languages > Details

in the section 'Installed Services' highlight the Keyboard Layout in question and click Remove and then Apply/OK

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Molly: Please read my question again carefully. I want to remove the keyboard layout from the available list of layouts in Windows itself. – Ashwin Aug 22 '09 at 16:21
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