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How to fix Bash question mark instead of Y in Windows 10

Many users faced an issue when Bash in Windows 10 does not install properly. Before downloading, instead of the confirmation character "Y" it shows a question mark. When this happens, this is how it looks:

C:\Users\username>bash
— Beta feature —
This will install Ubuntu on Windows, distributed by Canonical
and licensed under its terms available here:
https://aka.ms/uowterms

Type "?" to continue: ?
????? ??????????, ????????? ????????. ??????????? ?????…

Here is how to fix it.

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It looks like this issue affects only Windows 10 users with non-English language. To fix the issue, you need to switch the operating system language to English, reboot the OS and then re-install Bash.

Here is what to do.

  1. Download English MUI/Language Pack from here: MUI language pack for Windows 10 build 14316 – direct links. If you are running the build version other than 14316, you can just install the appropriate MUI pack using Windows Update as described below.
  2. Press Win + R keys together on the keyboard to bring up the Run dialog.
    Tip: see the ultimate list of all Windows keyboard shortcuts with Win keys.
  3. Type the following in the Run box:
    lpksetup.exe

    lpksetup windows 10
    Press Enter.

  4. The "Install or Uninstall display languages" wizard will appear on the screen.
    install language pack Windows 10
    Click the Install display languages button.
  5. On the next page of the wizard, click Browse and pick the *.cab file of the MUI language you downloaded. In these screenshots, there is a Russian MUI package. In your case, it will be an English package.
    browse for language CAB Windows 10
  6. Click the Next button and wait till it is installed. This can take a considerable amount of time and disk space.
  7. To switch to the installed language pack for your user account, you have to open the following Control Panel applet:
    Control Panel\Clock, Language, and Region\Language
  8. Click "Add a language" there and add the English language you installed:
    add a language Windows 10add new language Windows 10
  9. Click the Options link on the right side of the installed English language.Windows 10 language options link
    There, you will find the ability to activate English as the main display language.
    set display language Windows 10
  10. Restart Windows 10.

Once this is done, follow these instructions to install Bash once again: How to enable Ubuntu Bash in Windows 10. Now, it will be installed properly.

Windows 10 install mc

After doing this, you can set your previously used language again in Windows 10. Everything will work as expected.

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Author: Sergey Tkachenko

Sergey Tkachenko is a software developer who started Winaero back in 2011. On this blog, Sergey is writing about everything connected to Microsoft, Windows and popular software. Follow him on Telegram, Twitter, and YouTube.

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