Restrict user locales
Verified with Windows 11 25H2 — updated on July 30, 2026
Supported on: At least Windows Vista
Path in the GPO console
User Configuration\Administrative Templates\System\Locale Services Description
This policy setting restricts users on a computer to the specified list of user locales. If the list is empty, it locks all user locales to their current values. This policy setting does not change existing user locale settings; however, the next time a user attempts to change their user locale, their choices will be restricted to locales in this list. To set this policy setting on a per-user basis, make sure that you do not configure the per-computer policy setting. The locale list is specified using language tags, separated by a semicolon (;). For example, en-US is English (United States). Specifying "en-CA;fr-CA" would restrict the user locale to English (Canada) and French (Canada). If you enable this policy setting, only locales in the specified locale list can be selected by users. If you disable or do not configure this policy setting, users can select any locale installed on the computer, unless restricted by the "Disallow selection of Custom Locales" policy setting. If this policy setting is enabled at the computer level, it cannot be disabled by a per-user policy. If this policy setting is disabled at the computer level, the per-user policy is ignored. If this policy setting is not configured at the computer level, restrictions are based on per-user policies.
Registry
Software\Policies\Microsoft\Control Panel\International Value name: RestrictUserLocales
Enabled: RestrictUserLocales = 1
Disabled: RestrictUserLocales = 0
MDM / Intune (CSP)
./User/Vendor/MSFT/Policy/Config/ADMX_Globalization/LocaleUserRestrict_1 Microsoft Learn documentation Mapping data: Microsoft Learn (CC BY 4.0)
Export Builder
BETAConfigure the state, scope and options, then generate .reg, PowerShell, Intune and SCCM outputs — or add the setting to a multi-setting collection.
These exports write the registry — this is not a managed GPO. ⓘ
.reg file
Windows Registry Editor Version 5.00
; Exported from gporais.com
; Policy: Restrict user locales
; State: Enabled
; Supported on: At least Windows Vista
[HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Policies\Microsoft\Control Panel\International]
"RestrictUserLocales"=dword:00000001
"AllowableUserLocaleTagList"=""More formats (PowerShell, Intune, SCCM)
PowerShell
# Exported from gporais.com
# Policy: Restrict user locales
# State: Enabled
# Supported on: At least Windows Vista
# Warning: In SYSTEM context (the Intune default), HKCU targets the SYSTEM profile. Run this script using the logged-on credentials.
$path = 'HKCU:\Software\Policies\Microsoft\Control Panel\International'
New-Item -Path $path -Force | Out-Null
Set-ItemProperty -Path $path -Name 'RestrictUserLocales' -Value 1 -Type DWord
Set-ItemProperty -Path $path -Name 'AllowableUserLocaleTagList' -Value '' -Type StringIntune XML
OMA-URI: ./User/Vendor/MSFT/Policy/Config/ADMX_Globalization/LocaleUserRestrict_1
Data type: String
Value:
<enabled/>
<data id="AllowableUserLocaleTagList" value=""/>Intune Remediation
# === Detection script ===
# Exported from gporais.com
# Policy: Restrict user locales
# State: Enabled
# Supported on: At least Windows Vista
# Warning: In SYSTEM context (the Intune default), HKCU targets the SYSTEM profile. Run this script using the logged-on credentials.
function Test-RegistryValue {
param(
[Parameter(Mandatory = $true)][string]$Path,
[Parameter(Mandatory = $true)][string]$Name,
[object]$Expected,
[ValidateSet('String', 'DWord', 'MultiString')][string]$Kind = 'String',
[switch]$Absent
)
try {
$item = Get-ItemProperty -LiteralPath $Path -Name $Name -ErrorAction Stop
} catch {
return $Absent.IsPresent
}
if ($Absent.IsPresent) { return $false }
$actual = $item.$Name
if ($Kind -eq 'DWord') { return ([int64]$actual) -eq ([int64]$Expected) }
if ($Kind -eq 'MultiString') {
$actualValues = @($actual)
$expectedValues = @($Expected)
if ($actualValues.Count -ne $expectedValues.Count) { return $false }
for ($i = 0; $i -lt $expectedValues.Count; $i++) {
if ([string]$actualValues[$i] -ne [string]$expectedValues[$i]) { return $false }
}
return $true
}
return [string]$actual -eq [string]$Expected
}
$checks = @(
(Test-RegistryValue -Path 'HKCU:\Software\Policies\Microsoft\Control Panel\International' -Name 'RestrictUserLocales' -Expected 1 -Kind DWord)
(Test-RegistryValue -Path 'HKCU:\Software\Policies\Microsoft\Control Panel\International' -Name 'AllowableUserLocaleTagList' -Expected '' -Kind String)
)
if ($checks -notcontains $false) {
Write-Output 'Compliant'
exit 0
}
Write-Output 'Non-compliant'
exit 1
# === Remediation script ===
# Exported from gporais.com
# Policy: Restrict user locales
# State: Enabled
# Supported on: At least Windows Vista
# Warning: In SYSTEM context (the Intune default), HKCU targets the SYSTEM profile. Run this script using the logged-on credentials.
$path = 'HKCU:\Software\Policies\Microsoft\Control Panel\International'
New-Item -Path $path -Force | Out-Null
Set-ItemProperty -Path $path -Name 'RestrictUserLocales' -Value 1 -Type DWord
Set-ItemProperty -Path $path -Name 'AllowableUserLocaleTagList' -Value '' -Type StringSCCM scripts
# Exported from gporais.com
# Policy: Restrict user locales
# State: Enabled
# Supported on: At least Windows Vista
# SCCM Configuration Item guidance:
# Create a Configuration Item of type "Setting: Script".
# Discovery script: use the Detection script below.
# Remediation script: use the Remediation script below.
# Compliance rule: the Discovery script output equals 'Compliant'.
# === Detection script ===
# Exported from gporais.com
# Policy: Restrict user locales
# State: Enabled
# Supported on: At least Windows Vista
# Warning: In SYSTEM context (the Intune default), HKCU targets the SYSTEM profile. Run this script using the logged-on credentials.
function Test-RegistryValue {
param(
[Parameter(Mandatory = $true)][string]$Path,
[Parameter(Mandatory = $true)][string]$Name,
[object]$Expected,
[ValidateSet('String', 'DWord', 'MultiString')][string]$Kind = 'String',
[switch]$Absent
)
try {
$item = Get-ItemProperty -LiteralPath $Path -Name $Name -ErrorAction Stop
} catch {
return $Absent.IsPresent
}
if ($Absent.IsPresent) { return $false }
$actual = $item.$Name
if ($Kind -eq 'DWord') { return ([int64]$actual) -eq ([int64]$Expected) }
if ($Kind -eq 'MultiString') {
$actualValues = @($actual)
$expectedValues = @($Expected)
if ($actualValues.Count -ne $expectedValues.Count) { return $false }
for ($i = 0; $i -lt $expectedValues.Count; $i++) {
if ([string]$actualValues[$i] -ne [string]$expectedValues[$i]) { return $false }
}
return $true
}
return [string]$actual -eq [string]$Expected
}
$checks = @(
(Test-RegistryValue -Path 'HKCU:\Software\Policies\Microsoft\Control Panel\International' -Name 'RestrictUserLocales' -Expected 1 -Kind DWord)
(Test-RegistryValue -Path 'HKCU:\Software\Policies\Microsoft\Control Panel\International' -Name 'AllowableUserLocaleTagList' -Expected '' -Kind String)
)
if ($checks -notcontains $false) {
Write-Output 'Compliant'
exit 0
}
Write-Output 'Non-compliant'
exit 1
# === Remediation script ===
# Exported from gporais.com
# Policy: Restrict user locales
# State: Enabled
# Supported on: At least Windows Vista
# Warning: In SYSTEM context (the Intune default), HKCU targets the SYSTEM profile. Run this script using the logged-on credentials.
$path = 'HKCU:\Software\Policies\Microsoft\Control Panel\International'
New-Item -Path $path -Force | Out-Null
Set-ItemProperty -Path $path -Name 'RestrictUserLocales' -Value 1 -Type DWord
Set-ItemProperty -Path $path -Name 'AllowableUserLocaleTagList' -Value '' -Type StringBuilding a multi-setting collection? Add this setting and generate combined .reg / PowerShell / GPO scripts.