If you have a computer used by many people, you might want to setup the same display and keyboard input languages plus format and location settings to all user accounts. If you have to do this manually for more than one user account, it already is a lengthy process. Fortunately, Windows 7 offers a simple way for you to configure all these settings on your main user account and have them copied to other user accounts or all the accounts about to get created on your computer. This tutorial will show how.

Log on using an account with administrator permissions. Then, open the Control Panel and go to ’Clock, Language and Region’. Now click on ’Region and Language’.

This opens the ’Region and Language’ window.

NOTE: an alternative is to use the Start search box - type the word region and click on the ’Region and Language’ search result.

Go to the Administrative tab and click the ’Copy settings’ button.

This opens the ’Welcome screen and new user accounts settings’ window. Here you can see the settings in use for the current user, the Welcome screen and all new user accounts. For each of them, you are shown the display & input languages plus the format and location being set.

Now you have three options: check the ’Welcome screen and system accounts’ box, check the ’New user accounts’ box or check them both. There’s also the fourth option of not checking any of these boxes and simply closing the window. But then you won’t have a reason to read and follow this tutorial, would you? :)

Let’s see what happens in each of these three scenarios:

• ’Welcome screen and system accounts’ - when enabled, this option first copies all the settings from the current user to all other system accounts: the local system, the local service and the network service. These system accounts are used generally by Windows services and not by normal people, trying to long on to their computers. :)
  It also copies the settings from the current user to the Welcome screen so that they are applied during the user log on procedure. Then, it copies the same settings to all new user accounts which get created after the option is enabled. However, it will not copy the settings from the current user to existing user accounts, used by other people, with one exception: if an existing user account has not specified a display language, the display language used by the current user will become the display language used also by that other user account. The other settings will remain unchanged though. A bit confusing, i know. But that’s how it is. :(

  

• ’New user accounts’ - when enabled, this option copies the settings of the current user to all new user accounts which get created after the option is enabled. This includes all types of accounts: Guest, standard & administrator. Existing user accounts are not impacted in any way by this option.

  

• Checking both options - the end result is the same as when you enable only the ’Welcome screen and system accounts’ option.

Conclusion

As you can see, the procedure is not very complicate and it can be helpful at times, especially when you start setting up your computer and creating user accounts for each of the people about to use the same computer. If you have any questions, don’t hesitate to ask via the comments form below. Also, if you want to know more about display & input languages plus format, location and date settings, check out the articles recommended below.

Related articles

Install and Change to a New Display Language in Windows 7 Ultimate & Enterprise
Install and Change to a New Display Language in Windows 7 Home and Professional
Change the display of dates, times, currency, and measurements
How to Change the Keyboard Input Language
Customize the Date, Time and All Related Settings