Ukelele layout no longer works properly in Outlook/Word after macOS update

[Arsen Petrosov]

Hi everyone,

After the latest macOS update, my custom Ukrainian keyboard layout (created with Ukelele) stopped working as expected — especially in Microsoft Outlook and Word.

Here’s what I’ve noticed:

• Outlook and Word no longer automatically detect the input language.

• As a result, spellcheck doesn’t work unless I manually change the language, which makes things quite frustrating.

• In macOS Settings, under the input source, I now see a warning message instead of the usual keyboard layout preview thumbnail (which previously allowed you to view the layout):

  “The developer of this input source can monitor everything you type, including sensitive information such as credit card numbers or your home address.”

Before the update, everything worked smoothly: language detection, spellcheck, and the keyboard layout preview were all functioning without any issues. I’m guessing Apple has changed how it handles third-party or custom input sources.

Has anyone experienced the same problem? Is there any workaround or fix to restore spellcheck and language recognition with Ukelele custom layouts?

Any input would be much appreciated.

Thanks a lot,

Arsen

[Sorin Paliga]

Arsen,

If the keylayout includes all the information regarding language, I do not see why it should not work. I cannot reproduce what you say.

I do not understand the phrasing ‘especially in Microsoft Outlook and Word’. What does ‘especially’ mean here? Only these two apps, but not others? 

Perhaps you may upload your keylayout here so we may test too. 

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[Tom]

For Office stuff to recognize the language, make sure you are using the .bundle format and that the language is specified inside that.

[Sorin Paliga]

Tom, he says all worked OK until the last macOS update, so the lack of the bundle may be his problem? That is why I asked him to upload his keylayout.

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[Sorin Paliga]

His keylayout is in a bundle and is assigned uk-UA, so it seems OK so far.

On 3 Jun 2025, at 21:41, Sorin Paliga <sorin....@gmail.com> wrote:

Tom, he says all worked OK until the last macOS update, so the lack of the bundle may be his problem? That is why I asked him to upload his keylayout.

On 3 Jun 2025, at 21:33, Tom <thge...@gmail.com> wrote:

For Office stuff to recognize the language, make sure you are using the .bundle format and that the language is specified inside that.

On Tuesday, June 3, 2025 at 11:04:56 AM UTC-7 Arsen Petrosov wrote:

Hi everyone,

After the latest macOS update, my custom Ukrainian keyboard layout (created with Ukelele) stopped working as expected — especially in Microsoft Outlook and Word.

Here’s what I’ve noticed:

• Outlook and Word no longer automatically detect the input language.

• As a result, spellcheck doesn’t work unless I manually change the language, which makes things quite frustrating.

• In macOS Settings, under the input source, I now see a warning message instead of the usual keyboard layout preview thumbnail (which previously allowed you to view the layout):

  “The developer of this input source can monitor everything you type, including sensitive information such as credit card numbers or your home address.”

Before the update, everything worked smoothly: language detection, spellcheck, and the keyboard layout preview were all functioning without any issues. I’m guessing Apple has changed how it handles third-party or custom input sources.

Has anyone experienced the same problem? Is there any workaround or fix to restore spellcheck and language recognition with Ukelele custom layouts?

Any input would be much appreciated.

Thanks a lot,

Arsen

[Arsen Petrosov]

It looks like I've send a file only to Sorin.

So, I'm attaching it once again but for everyone.

Thanks again.

вторник, 3 июня 2025 г. в 21:44:04 UTC+3, Sorin Paliga:

[Gé van Gasteren]

Hi Arsen,

1. I have installed your layout and you’re right, MS Word is a problem: 

The first time I change to your layout, Word’s language indicator switches correctly, but after that, I can switch to and from another language’s keyboard layout, but the language indicator doesn’t change anymore.

This is not in MS Word 365, but Word for Mac version 16.95.

I don’t use Outlook, so I haven’t tested that.

2. The dramatic message shown in the System Settings > Keyboard > Input Sources can be ignored.

Yes, input methods can theoretically log your keyboard and pass it on to whoever they want, but the keyboard layouts produced by Ukelele are in a much simpler category and can’t really be called "input methods" in that sense.

Only, macOS doesn’t distinguish between plain keyboard layouts and sophisticated input methods, and that is the reason you get that daunting message.

To view this discussion visit https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/ukelele-users/403449b8-91cf-41ac-ab8a-87ef5ab3dc9bn%40googlegroups.com.

[Arsen Petrosov]

Hi Gé van Gasteren!

Big thanks for your involvement. I'm almost totally fine with the message. Main problem is the spellcheck...
I've found the information that there are some difference between Word and Outlook. Word uses his own dictionary while Outlook uses the system one. 

But still problem is the same. Impossible to spellcheck if the language is not detected properly.

вторник, 3 июня 2025 г. в 22:52:20 UTC+3, Gé van Gasteren:

[Gé van Gasteren]

Hi Arsen,

I think I’ve found the culprit: In the language settings for the bundle, you have not only specified the language, but also entered "Ukraine" for the region.

When I removed the language settings and then re-assigned the language to Ukrainian, but left the other fields alone, the layout worked properly.

So the language field (in Ukelele’s bundle window) should not read "uk-UA" but just "uk".

See if you get the same result! 

[Arsen Petrosov]

Hi Gé van Gasteren!

OMG, it actually worked!

I've change the .bundle just like you've said about an hour ago. And no issues from that moment.

Thank you very much for your help!

Strange situation, btw. Hope it will be fixed in future updates. 

But I still don't know and don't understand the purpose for the "region" section. So if it's not really necessary – let it be.

Thank you again. 

If smth will change – I'll keep in touch.

среда, 4 июня 2025 г. в 02:02:42 UTC+3, Gé van Gasteren:

[Gé van Gasteren]

OMG, it actually worked!

I've change the .bundle just like you've said about an hour ago. And no issues from that moment.

Thank you very much for your help!

I’m glad it worked and thanks for the feedback!

My trouble-shooting process was a bit messy, so I wasn’t quite sure this was actually the solution.

With Microsoft, one never knows what works and what doesn’t; that’s the only fixed rule there ;-)

Maybe the string "uk-UA" simply wasn’t recognized, as opposed to "uk", although that must remain a guess, as I have no idea how the bundle info is read by MS Word.

[John Brownie]

The general rule is to use as few qualifiers as possible to define the language. Unless you know that there are different resources such as dictionaries/spell checkers, just use the language code. Script is the other thing that can be necessary for a handful of languages, while variant is almost never used.

John