Install Multi-Language Acrobat on a Multi-Language RDP Server

Report · Jul 30, 2019

We got an RDP server with French and English Sessions. We want are Acrobat Reader DC to open in the language of the sessions. Is it possible and how can we do that? The session language of the user is determined by a GPO.

Report · Jul 30, 2019

Have a look at the following registry entries:

Language Settings

Language (Language Settings)

Language settings control the application's user interface language.
This preference category contains the following subfeature(s):

Language (MUI Settings)

Multilingual User Interface (MUI) installers allow you to install any combination of supported languages. For example, you can install French, German, and Spanish simultaneously and then switch among those languages within the product. The user interface changes to the appropriate language automatically. With 11.0, all Acrobat installers are MUI installers. MUI installer features include:

Support for more than one language so that users can switch languages.
Automatic selection of the language based on the language of the current OS.

MUI usage requires a MUI installer identified by '_mui' in the filename. The base installer is an MSI file, and MUI-specific MSP updates are also periodically released. These can only be applied over the base MUI MSI install. Not all updates provide MUI-only patches. For example, 10.0 and 10.1 include MUI installers while 10.0.1, 10.0.2, and 10.0.3 do not.

Summary table

bUseMUI	For MUI installers, specifies whether the application should use the OS language for all users.
MUICache	An application generated key created for MUI products when the application should use the OS language.
UseMUI	For MUI installers, specifies whether the application should use the OS language.
UseMUI	For 10.1 and later, if UseMUI is not present in HKCU, then this value specifies whether to use the OS language.

UseMUI

Data type

boolean: DWORD value > REG_DWORD

null

8.0 < 11.0

Language\UseMUI

Not lockable

For MUI installers, specifies whether the application should use the OS language.

Details

Pre 10.1 : If UseMUI exists with or without a value (since the value is not read at all), Reader ignores the language specified by current and instead chooses a language based on the OS language. UseMUI suppress the language selection dialog. Note also that the key is actually a directory on the left with no corresponding value on the right.

For 10.1 and later (deprecated with 11.0) , possible values include:

The key doesn't exist: The installer or user specifies the language. The null case should be rare; for example, it could occur after an initial launch of the program after upgrading from an earlier version.
The key does exist: Same as the operating system.

For 10.1 and later, UseMUI is both a key and a new boolean value UseMUI on the right.

GUI mapping

Preferences > International > Application Language > Same as the operating system

UseMUI

Data type

boolean: DWORD value > REG_DWORD

Default

null

Version #

10.1 < 11.0

HKLM Path

HKLM\SOFTWARE\Adobe\Acrobat Reader\(version: 10.0 or later)\

Summary

For 10.1 and later, if UseMUI is not present in HKCU, then this value specifies whether to use the OS language.

Details

Refer to the identical HKCU setting for details.

bUseMUI

Data type

boolean: DWORD value > REG_DWORD

Default

null

Version #

11.0+

HKLM Path

HKLM\SOFTWARE\Adobe\(product)\(version)\Language\UseMUI\

Summary

For MUI installers, specifies whether the application should use the OS language for all users.

Details

MUI installers only. Replaces UseMUI. Possible values include:

0: The default of 1 does the following sets the language to the OS language for all users and disables the language selection dialog on application startup for any user. This is particularly useful for multiuser installations where the language selection dialog would normally appear if a different user logs in, Citrix installations, and so on.
1: A value of 0 results in the language selection dialog appearing at first launch for every newly logged in user of the machine.

For Acrobat this property is not applicable. When Acrobat is installed with MUL serial number and LANG_LIST=ALL, the launch language would be the same as OS language unless a language transform is also applied.

MUICache

Not modifiable Top > Language > Language (MUI Settings) > MUICache

Data type

Default

Application generated

8.0+

Language

Not lockable

An application generated key created for MUI products when the application should use the OS language.

Language (to use in product)

These preferences set general settings for both MUI and non-MUI products. See also Intl.

Summary table

current	Specifies the current application language when UseMUI is not present.
next	Specifies the application language to use on next startup when UseMUI is not present.
select	Specifies that the language should be selected at application startup.
UI	For Acrobat, stores the language selected at the time of installing the initial major version using Setup.exe.

current

Data type

string: Binary value > REG_BINARY

varies

8.0+

Language

Not lockable

Specifies the current application language when UseMUI is not present.

Details

current is a directory with a keyname of "(Default)". By default, the value specifies the default installer language; for example, English (acrord32.dll) for an en_US installer. Selecting Spanish, for example, would change the value to locale\es_es\rdlang32.esp. If the key has a null value, the language selection dialog appears and prompts for a language selection. If UseMUI is present, the OS language is used as the application language.

With 10.1 and later, current always represents the language used by the current or last terminated session. current doesn't tell what language to use, but rather records which language is in use. When UseMUI is enabled with a value of 1, current will represent the language selected by MUI on-the-fly. Changing or deleting "current" doesn't trigger the language section dialog. The language selection dialog is triggered by next only when UseMUI is off. Possible values include:

User-specified

GUI mapping

Preferences > International > Application Language > (user specified language)

Data type

string: Binary value > REG_BINARY

varies

8.0+

Language

Not lockable

Specifies the application language to use on next startup when UseMUI is not present.

Details

next is a directory that uses a blank keyname of (Default). By default, the value specifies the default installer language; for example, English (acrord32.dll) for an en_US installer. Selecting Spanish, for example, would change the value to locale\es_es\rdlang32.esp. If the key has a null value, the language selection dialog appears and prompts for a language selection. If UseMUI is present, the OS language is used as the application language. The language selection dialog is triggered by next only when UseMUI is off.