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I search a solution to create presets for all the set of current keyboard layouts (that are "active" in language bar, and accordingly in "installed services" in "Text Services and Input Languages") and switching to (choosing) the needed according to current task(s).

The fact is I work with many languages (and therefore with multilingual soft) and from task to task the fixed set of active layouts is needed; for example, for one job there must be only En, Ru (Russian) and Ka (Georgian) layouts in the language bar and for anoter - only En, Fr, Hy (Armenian). Switching (w. Alt+Shift) between more than three (and even more than two) layouts is embarrassing but even more embarrassing is the common way to temporarily add/remove these layouts. So the only decent way in this case would be something like presets.

Is there any utility that can easily create such "presets" of current layouts, even if with minimum functionality (that is, set one layout as default, set one as active etc.)? I've searched hard but didn't find solution/soft even close to my needs. P.S. Preferably it mustn't be autohotkey-like solution, but some soft/utility.

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After thorough searching and testing I've found only two solutions responding reasonably to needs described above.

I. The first is rather brutal — create .reg files with [HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Keyboard Layout] section for each "current layouts set" and save them e.g. to the desktop (and one can make equally well an autohotkey macro for accessing them).

II. The second is using the notorious Keyla utility BUT you DO have to make some arrangements both in the Keyla and in the "Text Services and Input Languages" module. Or you risk to seriously damage your brain trying to catch its desperate logic.

After installing Keyla (DON't download x64 version for Win7 x64 — it doesn't work! Take second link in DL-page) I've tried to understand under which option one can get the properly working layout-switcher. Since in Keyla there are two tabs and several options in each tab, it exists a certain (not meager) number of combinations. For testing I've included En, Ru and Ka active languages (En as default) and made tables for some blocks of possible options combinations. And to say, just failed to get a good cognitive dissonance provided by extraterrestrial logic that conforms to no rational cause-and-effect relations. (E.g., if you check in the first tab "Отключить сочетание клавиш из настроек Windows", leave blank the field above, and in the second tab assign "Alt left + Shift Left" to only "Ka"-layout, -- you'll get actually only "En" w/o switching. With assigning this to only "Ru"-layout -- you'll get switch between "Ru" and "Ka" (and so on). And this is regardless of what is in the third column! Inversely, if you fill in the first tab the field "Сочетание клавиш..." with "Alt left + Shift Left", then regardless of what is staying in the SECOND column you'll have another brain shock filling the third one. For if you check with "Да" "En" and "Ka" layouts, actually you'll have only "En"-"Ru" toggle but with "Да" in all (Ru, En and Ka) you'll get, to your surprise, the toggle "En"-"En"-"Ka".)

So, the only correct way to properly use Keyla is:

  1. Install keyla-0.1.9-setup.exe (not x64!);
  2. Go to your "Text Services and Input Languages" (from Control Panel, Lang. Bar or as you wish);
  3. Add needed layouts (as in "Installed Services" section);
  4. Go to "Advanced Key Settings" tab, click "Change Key Sequence" and disable ALL combinations (check "Not assigned");
  5. Start Keyla and:

    5.1. In the first tab press (when clicking focus in the grey field — indeed it is active in spite of its "greyness") desired key combination - for me it's Alt left+Shift left;

    5.2. Next checkbox leave unchecked (I suspect now it's no odds, but nevertheless);

    5.3. In second tab leave the second column ("Сочетание клавиш") blank for all layouts, but the third column check with "Да" or "Нет" corresponding to your current tasks.

This algorithm works properly. I hope this "investigation" may help someone else who experience need to work with different languages and layouts sets and to change them often.

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