How to Change the Default Language Shortcut in Windows

If one of your keyboard keys stopped working, it can be a big deal when it’s used for shortcuts. If you’re multilingual and need to switch between different languages, you have a few good shortcut options. But if they’re a bit of a hassle to use, here’s a guide when you need to get Windows 11 change default language shortcut.

Option 1 – Change Shortcut for Language Selector in Settings (“Left Alt + Shift”)

The stock keyboard shortcut of “Win + Space” doesn’t show up in shortcut settings, so we’ll focus on the common (and more well-known) alternative “Left Alt + Shift.”

Step 1. Go to Settings, then to “Time & Language.” Alternatively, you can click on the language selector in the toolbar and select “More keyboard settings.” Choose “Typing.”

Step 2. Select “Advanced keyboard settings, then choose “Input language hot keys.”

Step 3. Select the option you want to change from the list (in this case, “Between input languages”) and click on “Change key sequence.”

Step 4. You can unassign the shortcut or put it on “Ctrl + Shift” or the “Grave accent” key ` (physically located to the left of the “1” above the QWERTY keyboard). Click “OK” to save.

The “Switch Keyboard Layout” option is only useful if you have set up a language to be used with multiple keyboard layouts (such as UK and US English).

If you want, you can go back and change language input shortcut in Windows to immediately switch to a particular language. Your options here are a combination of “Ctrl” or “Ctrl + Shift” or “Left Alt + Shift” and a number, tilde, or grave (on some keyboard, tilde and grave are on the same key with Shift, so one of the options is impossible). You’ll need to click “Enable key combination” to make the change.

Option 2 – Windows 11 Change Default Language Shortcut “Win + Space”

Typically, you’d need to use a third-party script tool to remap hotkeys that Settings can’t reach. However, you can also use an official Microsoft app called PowerToys to make “Win + Space” do something else, thus preventing if from changing the input language.

Step 1. Go to the Microsoft Store and search for “PowerToys.” You should get a result called “Microsoft PowerToys.” Download the app from the store and follow the setup if needed.

Step 2. PowerToys should get installed and run in the background at all times. You can access it via search or through the toolbar by double-clicking on the icon.

Step 3. Expand “Input and Output” on the left-hand side and select “Keyboard Manager.”

Step 4. Toggle “Keyboard Manager” on and select “Remap a shortcut.”

Step 5. Click on “Add shortcut remapping” then click on the pen icon on the left.

Step 6. Press “Win + Space” and click on “OK.”

Step 7. On the right, click on the pen and enter a shortcut you already know to replace it with. If you just want to disable the shortcut, keep that field empty and the mapper will list it as “Undefined.” Click “OK” on the top-left to save the shortcut remapping or the bin icon to remove it.

You can also remap the shortcut to work only in specific apps (the field on the right, before the bin icon), but this might get confusing.