Finding Windows 10 Language Packs

2018-05-07: Reworked to show Windows 10 1607, 1703, 1709, and 1803 language packs together.  Removed Windows 10 1511.

We’ve had a few Windows 10 releases now, and each release has its own set of language packs.  For organizations with Windows 10 Enterprise E3 or E5 subscriptions (formerly called Software Assurance) we recommend that you get your media from the Volume Licensing Service Center (VLSC).  Once there, you can access the downloads from the “Downloads and Keys” link.

Some have pointed out that it can be a little challenging to find the language packs corresponding to each release, so here’s a quick reference to find them.

Make sure you search for the right thing

The Windows 10 Enterprise language packs are published with a “MultiLanguage” language, which is why people usually struggle to find them.  Change the “Language” drop down to “MultiLanguage” and then search to see this:

Translate the dates

Since the language packs are posted with a "Released on" date, you need to translate those dates into the corresponding Windows 10 version:

  • "Released Jul '16" = Windows 10 version 1607
  • "Released Mar '17" = Windows 10 version 1703
  • "Released Sept '17" = Windows 10 version 1709
  • "Released Mar '18" = Windows 10 version 1803

Note that the Windows 10 VL media available on VLSC might be updated once after its release, so the date on those ISOs could be later.  But language packs are not updated after the release.  That means that after installing a language pack, you always should reinstall the latest cumulative update, to pick up any missing language resources.  (The installation process from WU/WSUS is smart enough to only download the missing language pieces, assuming you are using express updates.)

For more information

You need to understand that language packs in Windows 10 have been restructured.  The typical single-CAB-file structure has been replaced with a more modular design.  So you need to add multiple pieces in order to get the "complete" language support.  (If you only install the basic language pack and don't install the other pieces, you'll notice that Windows 10 will attempt to download the others from Windows Update - if your devices are configured to point to WSUS, they may not be able to download those.  Windows 10 1803 will display a notification when this happens.)  To see the details on these pieces, check out the documentation at /en-us/windows-hardware/manufacture/desktop/add-language-packs-to-windows.