Helldivers 2 English

Controlling the Chinese IME in Helldivers 2

繁體中文 · English

Helldivers 2 does not reliably handle IME state. If the system is in Chinese mode when you enter the game, keystrokes are intercepted by the IME and there is no dependable in-game way back to alphanumeric.

This page pins the game to English.

This utility is in development and unsigned, and antivirus may classify it as a virus and delete it. See the home page for the details, and judge for yourself whether to use it.

Why ordinary IME tools fail here

The game reads the keyboard directly and does not accept the kind of instruction other programs use to switch input languages. Its anti-cheat also stops other programs from seeing which program it is — so a rule that names an executable never applies to it.

This utility works around both: it identifies the window by its class (a name every window has) and switches through Windows' own input settings rather than instructing the game.

One requirement

The utility must run as administrator or it cannot see this game at all. The game itself runs as administrator, and Windows does not let a lower-privileged program read a higher-privileged one's windows — not even the window class. Without it, the app line reads (unknown) and there is nothing to enter.

Install with ...-setup-admin.exe (the administrator one) and tick Start automatically at logon — it then starts elevated at logon with no UAC prompt. Restart as administrator in the tray menu elevates on demand.

Steps

1. Install ...-setup-admin.exe from Releases, ticking Start automatically at logon.

2. Start Helldivers 2, then press Win + D to reach the desktop.

   Do not Alt-Tab to another program. The utility remembers the last foreground program; the desktop and taskbar are excluded, but other programs are not — Alt-Tab into a browser and step 5 captures the browser's class.

3. Find the tray icon at the bottom right — Windows 11 hides new icons behind the ⌃ chevron next to the clock.

4. Right-click it → App language bindings...

5. Check what was captured before capturing it: hover the tray icon, and the app line should read class:stingray_window. If it names something else, that is what will be captured — return to the game and press Win + D again.

6. Press Use window class. The field fills with class:stingray_window, the same value the app line showed.

7. Choose English (United States) under Language.

8. Press Add / update.

9. Return to the game.

You do not need to look that class up — the button fills it in from the program you were last in.

Checking it worked

Hover the tray icon; do not click it. Clicking makes the game lose focus, so you see the wrong thing. On success the app line reads class:stingray_window, the bound and actual languages match, and the last attempt says it took effect.

class: rather than a file path is expected, not a fault: anti-cheat blocks reading the game's location, so the utility uses the only identity it can see.

Only want the game rule

Untick Keep mode across windows in the tray menu. Bindings keep working.

Troubleshooting

Symptom	What to do
App shows (unknown)	Not running as administrator. Tray menu → Restart as administrator
Bound language shows (no rule)	The rule does not match. Check it is exactly the class: string the tooltip shows
The list shows a different program	That was the foreground program when you pressed Use window class. Select it, press Remove selected, return to the game and press Win + D again
Last attempt says it did not take effect	Please report it, but see below
Updating asks you to close the program	You used the no-administrator installer and elevated by hand. Reinstall with ...-setup-admin.exe
Setup ends with CreateProcess failed; code 740	A bug in v0.7.1, fixed in v0.7.2. The install itself completed — start it by hand, or install v0.7.2
It does not start at logon	Tick Start automatically at logon during setup, or from the tray menu — while elevated it registers an elevated scheduled task

What this does not do

It does not modify the game, read its memory, or interfere with it. Switching goes through Windows' own input settings, and where that does not work it gives up quietly rather than forcing anything — those techniques are what anti-cheat exists to catch, and a false positive costs you the account.

Other games

The same approach works for any program whose executable cannot be seen: Use window class fills in its class for you. Games built on the same engine may share a class name.