microsoft / microsoft/PowerToys

[Shortcut Guide] Core UI remains English when PowerToys language is German

Open Beginner friendly
#50,032 0 comments 0 reactions 0 assignees View on GitHub

Nobody has claimed this yet.

Area-Localization Issue-Bug Issue-Translation Needs-Triage Product-Shortcut Guide
Dominant language
C
Stars
139k
Forks
8.6k
PR merge metrics
PR metrics pending

Description

## Microsoft PowerToys version

0.101.2312.0

## Utility with translation issue

Shortcut Guide

## Language affected

German (`de-DE`)

## Steps to reproduce

1. Change the PowerToys language to German.
2. Fully restart PowerToys so the selected language is applied to newly launched utility processes.
3. Open PowerToys Settings > Shortcut Guide.
4. Open the Shortcut Guide overlay.
5. Enter a search with no matches.
6. Open a shortcut row's context menu.

PowerToys Settings itself opens in German, confirming that the selected language was applied.

## Actual phrases

Several Shortcut Guide Settings strings remain English, including:

- `Hold Windows key`
- the Windows-key action description
- `Open Shortcut Guide`

The Shortcut Guide overlay also remains English for core product chrome, including:

- `Shortcut Guide`
- `Search shortcuts`
- `Close`
- `Settings`
- `Pinned shortcuts`
- `Recommended shortcuts`
- `Pin`
- `No results found`

This report does not include application-manifest names or descriptions, which are allowed to remain English under the current manifest limitation.

## Expected phrases

The core Shortcut Guide Settings labels and overlay chrome should use their German-localized equivalents when PowerToys is configured for German.

## Why the current behavior is wrong

The PowerToys Settings window title and navigation switch to German after restart, while Shortcut Guide-specific Settings text and the overlay remain English. This is an unintended English fallback in the utility, not a machine-wide language-selection failure.

## Possible implementation clue

`src/modules/ShortcutGuide/ShortcutGuide.Ui/ShortcutGuideXAML/App.xaml.cs` initializes the WinUI application without applying `LanguageHelper.LoadLanguage()` through `ApplicationLanguages.PrimaryLanguageOverride`, a pattern used by other PowerToys WinUI utilities.

Contributor guide

Open the contributing guide

First steps

  1. Read the whole issue, then the project's contributing guide.
  2. Comment on the issue to say you are picking it up — it saves two people doing the same work.
  3. Fork the repository and make your change on a branch.
  4. Open a pull request that references the issue number.

Research direction

Read src/modules/ShortcutGuide/ShortcutGuide.Ui/ShortcutGuideXAML/App.xaml.cs and compare its initialization with the LanguageHelper.LoadLanguage() pattern used by other PowerToys WinUI utilities. After applying the language override, verify that restarting PowerToys in German localizes the listed Shortcut Guide Settings labels and overlay chrome.

Written by the indexing model from the issue text.

Assessment

Tech stack
csharp
Domain
desktop, localization
Issue type
Bug
Difficulty
2/5
Estimated time
1-3 hours
Activity status
Active
Clarity
Clearly specified
Newbie friendliness
78/100

Get new issues in your inbox

A short digest of beginner-friendly GitHub issues.