Windows 11 keeps automatically adding a "ghost" keyboard layout based on my region

This looks like the same thing I ran into, and your "add it in Settings, then remove it" trick is actually the right fix. It isn't caused by a registry key or a policy: Settings shows the language list of your user profile, while Win+Space shows the layouts loaded in your current session. A layout that is loaded but missing from the profile appears in the switcher, but there is nothing to remove in Settings. Adding it makes it a real entry, and removing it then unloads it.

The same trick from PowerShell:

$l = Get-WinUserLanguageList
$l.Add("en-US"); Set-WinUserLanguageList $l -Force   # use the tag of your ghost layout
$l.Remove(($l | Where-Object LanguageTag -like 'en-US')); Set-WinUserLanguageList $l -Force

In my case it came back after a couple of weeks, so I wrote a small free, open-source tool that compares the three lists (profile, live session, Preload), shows which layout is the phantom, and does the add-and-remove for you with a backup first (a ready-made EXE, no PowerShell needed): https://github.com/loglux/KeyboardLayoutFixer/releases/latest

Screenshots of what the scan looks like are in the project README: https://github.com/loglux/KeyboardLayoutFixer#readme

I don't know yet what makes it return, so I can't promise a permanent cure; the tool just makes the fix one click.

Hi Mykhailo Saigak,

Thank you for reaching out and for clearly explaining the behavior you’re seeing. In multi‑language setups, Windows may periodically synchronize input settings across different system contexts (such as the sign‑in screen, system services, or applications). When these contexts are not fully aligned, an additional keyboard layout can temporarily appear in the language switcher, even if it is not listed in Language & Region settings.

To help keep Windows using only the keyboard layouts you’ve explicitly selected, please try the following targeted workarounds:

1, Sync language settings system‑wide

• Open Control Panel > Clock and Region > Region > Administrative tab
• Select Copy settings…
• Check both Welcome screen and system accounts and New user accounts
• Apply changes and restart

2, Disable per‑app input switching

• Go to Settings > Time & language > Typing
• Open Advanced keyboard settings
• Turn off Let me set a different input method for each app window

3, Review Office language preferences (if applicable)

• Open Word or Excel > File > Options > Language
• Remove any editing languages you do not actively use
• Restart the device

If the layout continues to reappear, an advanced registry cleanup related to language indexing may help. This should be done carefully and only after backing up the registry.

Let me know if you need further assistance, feel free to ask me by clicking "Add Comment" or "Add Answer" if you cannot add comment so your response will be visible. Thanks for your effort.

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Open the old Control Panel

At the top of Control Panel, set View to Icons

Select Region

Select the Administrative Tab on the resulting dialog

Click Change System Locale in the 'Language for non-Unicode Programs' section

Set the language in the drop down to the same as the System location/Language

Restart (not shut down) the PC.

.

Open the Settings App, then go to Time & language - Language & region

Scroll down to the 'Additional Settings' Section.

Click the Copy button on both settings in that section.

Restart (not shut down) the PC