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[Fix] Can’t Type @ and Other Symbols in Windows 8 or Later, Incorrect Character Appears on Screen

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NOTE: This tutorial will also work for Windows 8.1 and Windows 10.

Many Windows 8 users (mainly Indian users) are facing a weird problem. Whenever they try to type @ symbol, an incorrect character “ (double-quote) appears on screen. Same thing happens when they try to type double-quote (“), the @ symbol appears on screen. It becomes very frustrating as the users can’t type their email ID in emails, etc.

The same problem also occurs with some other special characters such as #, ~, `, | and \.

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Now the question comes why does this problem occur and why are only a few Windows 8 users facing this annoying problem?

The answer is simple! This problem is coming mainly in those Windows 8 systems which contain Windows 8 downloaded from Microsoft Store using the Upgrade assistant and which were not upgraded to Windows 8 but the user did a clean installation of Windows 8.

Actually when you download Windows 8 setup files using Upgrade assistant, its downloaded from a server which is not in your local country and this Windows 8 setup comes with United Kingdom set as the default country. When you upgrade your existing Windows OS to Windows 8, the setup automatically adopts the existing country and language settings but if you perform a fresh installation of Windows 8, it automatically sets United Kingdom as default country and English (United Kingdom) as default system language. That’s the main reason behind this problem.

The solution is very simple. You just need to change the country and system language in Windows 8 to your own country and language and it’ll solve your problem.

So if you are facing this annoying problem, check out following simple steps to fix it:

1. Press WIN+R keys to launch RUN dialog box, then type intl.cpl and press Enter. It’ll open Regional Settings. Alternatively you can also open it from Control Panel.

2. Now go to “Administrative” tab and click on “Change system locale” button.

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Change_System_Locale_Windows_8.png

3. Now select the correct language and country from the drop-down box. If you are living in India, select “English (India)” option.

Change_Country_Windows_8.png

Apply the changes and Windows will require a reboot.

4. After reboot, you’ll get a new language changing icon near the clock in Taskbar. Click on the icon and select the new language from the given list:

Change_System_Language_Windows_8.png

That’s it. It’ll fix the problem and you’ll be able to type @ and other symbols without any problem.

5. Now you’ll need to set the newly added language as default system language. To do this, click on “Language preferences” option present in the above mentioned list. It’ll open Language window. You can also open it from Control Panel.

6. You’ll see that the new language is shown below the previous language. Click on the new language which is English (India) in our example, and then click on “Move up” button.

Change_Language_Preference_Windows_8.png

7. It’ll make the new language as default system language. Now you can remove the previous language by clicking on it and then clicking on “Remove” button.

Remove_System_Language_Windows_8.png

That’s it. The above mentioned steps will fix the problem and you’ll get Windows 8 in your own locale.

Check out following video showing the complete method live in action:

Published in: Troubleshooting Guides, Windows 10, Windows 8

About the author: Vishal Gupta (also known as VG) has been awarded with Microsoft MVP (Most Valuable Professional) award. He holds Masters degree in Computer Applications (MCA). He has written several tech articles for popular newspapers and magazines and has also appeared in tech shows on various TV channels.

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Comments

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  1. I have win 8.1 installed and facing prob, with keyboard .the above step could not help me…..only the keys UIOPJKLM are not being typed…….pls help….

  2. thanks a lottttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttt,,,,,,,,,,,,…………………………,.

  7. Wow! That was awesome. Thanks for your help without that I was getting irritated. Thanks a lot.
    GBU:-)

  11. … this does not help my problem of not being able to type the section symbol. and im american. so that doesnt help. please give me some help…

  13. Didn´t fix my problem. There was nothing wrong with my language settings )all settings are set to US English=. It keeps changing. Sometimes the keyboard is fine and other times it changes back. I haven´t done anything to my settings to make the change. As you can tell it´s still messed up!

  14. Thanks very much it was very small but no body have ever able to kill the issue thanks very much.

  16. Hi VG,

    I got the same problem after restart my pc. But, the problem is that I can’t log in coz my computer has password . I can’t type with symbol to log in .

    There is no other option to reach to the desktop . The only one option is BIOS setting.

    Can you pls help ?

  17. Thank you Vishal for your quick response.
    It worked perfectly for windows 10 as well.

  18. i am facing problem with shift ,ctrl keys in windows 8.
    they are not working at all -both shift keys and control keys.
    can any one help me please.

  19. Thanks! Apparently, it is a universal problem. I am not an Indian but your solution helped me to fix this keyboard issue.

  20. I had the same problem but a much simpler solution without rebooting:

    1) control panel > language
    2) add language English > English (United Kingdom)
    3) click on the newly added language English (United Kingdom)
    4) click Remove

  22. This really helped in the key board layout.

    Now I am one happy user.

    Rgds MM

  26. I have tried holding different keys while powering up….all goes to my login, which I do not have my password….as I had mine set to open without, then now it wants a password, which I don’t have
    HELP !!!!!

  29. i am so angry and frustrated i want to scream just paid 1600 pesos to fix this HP desktop replacement and nothing is where it should be the comma, ampersand etc. only the alphabet is correct

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